A trait she inherited from her brother.

“Would she do that while pregnant?”

I study him. “Rae has had a rough life, drugs became her way of coping, she sees that baby as a burden ... so, yeah, it’s highly possible.”

“What are you going to do?”

I rub my temples. “I don’t honestly know.”

And I really don’t.

How much more am I supposed to take?

 

 

CHAPTER 10

THEN – MADDIE

“Shut the fuck up, Rae!” York barks, slamming his fist down onto the counter so hard glasses go flying, shattering across the floor into a thousand tiny pieces.

“What’s wrong with you, York?” Rae cries, her bottom lip trembling. “Why are you so angry at me?”

“Because I’m fuckin’ sick of you doing nothing for yourself. Get off your lazy ass and work, you’re old enough now.”

Rae’s eyes flick to me, and I open my mouth to speak, but York barks, “Speak, Maddie, and I’ll fucking go off. This is none of your business.”

“York,” I say softly, my voice fragile. “She’s young. She’s still a teenager. You don’t have to yell at her and speak to her like that.”

York turns to me, eyes flashing with rage. “Don’t you fucking tell me how to speak to my sister. What would you know about raising a child, let alone a young fucking woman?”

His eyes are bloodshot and completely wild. It terrifies me, more than I’m willing to admit to myself. It’s like with every passing second he’s changing. Turning from a man into a monster. I know it’s drugs, I’m not stupid, but every time I try to bring the conversation up, he flies off the handle. The only time I can talk to him is when he’s high.

He never remembers what he says.

It’s like talking to a wall.

But I want to help him. I want to help Rae. That’s what you do when you love someone ... right?

“Please, York,” I try again, keeping my voice as placid as I can. “She’s just being a normal teenager. You’re being so hard on her. Maybe we can all talk and—”

Slap.

It comes out of nowhere and shocks me so heavily I stand there, face stinging, eyes wide, horrified. York stands in front of me, glaring down at me, panting with a rage I’ve never seen on a person. “You fucking deserved that,” he hisses.

“York!” Rae cries, pressing her hand over her mouth. “Stop!”

I take a shaky step back, still in shock. “Y-y-y-y-you hit me,” I whisper, rubbing my cheek.

“I slapped you. I told you to shut the hell up ...”

I take another step back. “I’m leaving, I’m ... I can’t ...”

I turn and rush towards the front door, picking up my keys on the way. Who is this man? This ... this ... monster? It’s not the man I fell in love with. It certainly isn’t the man I want a future with. My cheek burns from the force of his slap, and when I reach the front door, a hand curls around my upper arm, jerking me back. “You’re not going out there to cry abuse, Maddie. I slapped you. I didn’t fucking punch you.”

“Let me go. Now.”

My voice shakes, but it’s firm. Firm enough for him to jerk his head back a little to look down at me clutching my cheek. His eyes flash, and his face gets softer, just a little. “I didn’t mean to hurt you,” he says, his voice still far too hard for my liking. “You just won’t listen to me ...”

“Let me go, York.”

“No,” he grunts. “I said sorry. It won’t happen again. Now, can we go to bed?”

I stare up into his eyes, and my body is screaming for me to run, to just barrel out the door and never look back, but my feet seem to be firmly placed on the ground, like I can’t move even though I want to.

“Come on, sugar,” he purrs, his voice going sweet, too sweet. “Please? I’m sorry, baby. I’ve just had a hard day. Come to bed.”

My feet still won’t move, not in either direction. His eyes flick to Rae, and he calls, “Come here, little sis. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

She doesn’t move either.

It’s like both of us are waiting for a bomb to go off, for him to explode all over the place again just as we get close enough.

“I think I’d rather just go to bed,” she says, rubbing her arms. “Is that okay?”

He studies her, and then nods sharply. “Yeah, of course, exactly what you should have done in the first place. Good girl.”

She nods and turns, disappearing down the hallway, leaving me with the monster that lurks right beside me.

“Come on, Maddie. Don’t be upset. Please. It was a slap. I’m sorry. I swear it won’t happen again.”

I swallow the lump in my throat and look up at him. “You hurt me. You’ve never hurt me before. You scared me, York.”

He reaches down and I flinch. His hand pauses, but carefully he rubs a thumb over my cheek. “Sorry, baby. Come on. Come to bed with me. I’ll make it better.”

He’s being so kind.

Maybe it was a mistake after all.

Maybe ...

“Okay,” I whisper. “Okay, York.”

“Good girl. That’s my good girl. We’ll all go do something together tomorrow, something fun, make up for it, okay?”

I nod, my knees shaking as he leads me down the hall.

I should have walked out that front door.

I don’t know it yet, but dammit, I should have run while I had the chance.

~*~*~*~

I push the front door open and step inside to see York and Rae on the couch, laughing hysterically about something. Empty pizza boxes are strewn across the coffee table, seemingly days old. I went out of town for work for two nights, and I certainly didn’t expect to come home to this. It’s been a long time since I’ve heard them laugh together, so I say nothing about the horrible mess as I step inside.

“Hey, guys,” I say and both of them stop laughing and look over.

“Baby,” York says, standing and walking over, scooping me up into a hug. “Missed you.”

He did? My heart swells. He hasn’t said nice things like that to me for so long, I’ve forgotten what it feels like. I have wondered if the man I love so much is even still in there, but now I’m seeing that he is. So maybe there is hope. Maybe.