Chapter Six
Harper
Jack was going to kidnap my sister.
No—past tense was wrong. Why would he call off his plan? The guy was single minded; just thinking about him reliving his past as he told me it had my adrenaline racing. He’d been so passionate about destroying my stepfather. He’d made it sound easy. I was too smart to think taking down Mister Big was anything close to the word “easy.”
In the elevator, I tapped my hand on the metal wall. I’d never forgive myself if I assumed Jack would change his plan. Did Callum really take everything from him? Remembering Jack’s bloody body in the alley seven years ago, I shivered.
I understood his desire.
I really, truly did.
But Cena… she was my heart. I couldn’t put her in danger. Besides, I’d lasted this long, I knew what Callum could do to me. The devil you know is better than the devil you don’t.
And I didn’t know Jack.
The elevator dinged; I jumped out, scanning the lobby. The security desk was empty—that wasn’t strange, Hector was usually lax in his duties. What mattered to me was that Jack was nowhere in sight. Good, I wanted him gone. Even if I wanted to grab his hands and talk him out of his suicidal mission, to tell him to give up on revenge and just waste time with me… I knew it was foolish.
Breathing faster by the second, I stormed down the sidewalk in the warm air. I didn’t breathe easier until an hour later when, as I stood sentry outside her school, my sister walked outside. Her eyes lit up at the sight of me. “Hap! Look what I made!” She ran to me, lifting some sort of paper bag with hearts on it. “It’s a homemade kaleidoscope—oh!” Cena couldn’t finish because I’d crouched down, scooping her up and squeezing her tight.
She’s safe. For now, she’s safe.
“Hap?” she asked, muffled in my chest.
“Sorry!” I set her down, but my hand stayed on her shoulder. “Just happy to see you.”
She searched my face. The perfect pink bow of her mouth became a thin line. “Something’s wrong.”
“No, no, I’m just having a weird day.”
“Hm.”
Pulling her with me, I eyeballed every person on the street as we walked back towards the condo. “Tell me about school.”
“Wait, where’s lover boy?”
A tiny flutter corrupted my heart. “Jack is busy. Don’t worry about him.”
“I like him. He seems nice, even if he does have a lot of tattoos.”
A smile escaped me. The sickness in my stomach overwhelmed the small burst of joy. “Hey, how about we do some errands together?”
“Sounds boring.”
“Drat. I didn’t know ice cream at the Dairy Queen near the bank was boring. Guess I’ll have to think of something else.”
Whatever distrust she’d wielded faded away. “Wait! I take it back!”
Laughing, I hoisted her onto my shoulders. It was a quick jog to the condo, and as I passed the doors, I couldn’t keep myself from looking inside at the lobby desk. Is Hector STILL gone? The lack of security, in my current state, infuriated me.
“Can I get whipped cream?”
“Huh?” I asked, pulled from my thoughts.
“And chocolate syrup,” Cena said, buckling herself in. “I’ve been very good lately. I probably deserve it.”
Pursing my lips, I turned the engine over and drove my Taurus out of the lot. “You’re right, Cena. You deserve whatever you want.”
I meant it.
* * *
When I finished handing over my envelopes of cash to the scrutinizing bank clerk, I headed back to Cena. She was sitting in one of the fluffy chairs along the wall, trying to wrap two lollipop sticks together. Her tongue was blue when she smiled. “Was it still there?”
I knew she was talking about more than the money I was stowing away for our future. “Of course it was. As pretty as ever.”
“I can’t wait until I can wear it.” She hopped down, following me out the doors into the sun. “But I’m not supposed to until I’m older, right?”
“Right,” I said seriously. “It’s a necklace for adults.” Frankly, the emerald necklace wasn’t meant for anyone. Mom had worn it only twice that I’d seen. I was shocked to find it buried deep in her dresser, beneath her old pregnancy clothes. It had to be worth a fortune. I’d been uncertain about Cena’s future and my own back then, so stashing the necklace in a secret bank box was my only solution.
One day, Cena found a photo of mom wearing the necklace and cuddling a newborn version of her. Cena’s chubby hand was grasping an emerald. She’d thought it was beautiful, magical… so I’d taken her to the bank. When I saw how huge her eyes had gotten at the sight of the necklace… I’d promised it would be hers.
But she had to keep it a secret.
We had a lot of secrets.
Outside, the picnic table’s red umbrella turned everything pinkish from the sunlight. It made our vanilla ice cream look like it was really strawberry. Cena’s face was sticky; her smile gigantic. If anything hammered home how I’d made the right choice not to work with Jack, this was it.
I wanted to stay with her as the sun set. But I knew I couldn’t. “Come on, time to go.”
Cena wiped her hands on her napkin. Her voice was low, which wasn’t normal. “Work tonight?”
Standing, I watched her closely. “That’s right.”
The napkin twisted in her fingers, just like the lollipop sticks earlier. “Hap… what do you do for work?”
A spider of fear crawled through my chest. “I’m a waitress, you know that.”
“Mn.” She tossed the napkin in the trash.
“Cena… why are you asking this?”
There’s nothing sadder than a small child’s defeated shrug. “Daddy was talking to Manina.” That was our weekly maid. “She was cleaning the kitchen, and I heard him say to her that he could get her a job where you work. That didn’t make her happy.”
“Oh, that…”
“Are you happy there?”
I was lost for words. Kneeling, I brushed her hair from her face. “Cena,” I said, waiting until she looked at me. “Work is work. You do what you have to, it’s okay if you’re not happy. Lots of people don’t like their jobs.”
Resting her hands on my shoulders, she said solemnly, “But you should always be happy. I want you to be happy.”
Inside of me, the storm that had been boiling for hours broke apart. Cena was in my arms, crushed in a hug, before I thought it over. But why even think? Loving her was an instinct, and of all the things out there, I trusted it the most. “I love you,” I whispered. “You make me happy. Did you know that?”
“I love you, too.” Usually she struggled to get free. Not this time.
As we drove back home, my mind was a wreck. Cena wanted me to be happy, but did she know what that meant? Did she suspect my job wasn’t waitressing, but something more sordid? Her innocence was something I’d taken for granted. She was only eight, and I did my best to shield her, but the condo we lived in was frequented by people all touched in various degrees by my stepfather. Security, the maids, the women he took home, business associates…
How much longer could I keep Cena from seeing the dirty truth?