Burdened (A Burdened Novel) (65 page)

He jumps
from the loveseat, coming at me full-speed. I stand, catching him by his throat before he can attack. I lift him, and slam him hard on the floor. I smirk cockily as I loosen my grip. “Don’t get yo ass whooped, Scott.” He pushes my hand away.

“That won’t happen
,” he says, rising from the floor, replying to my original statement as he pushes me back.

I do
n’t retaliate. “Watch yourself, Scott. We’ll see,” I say, sitting back down on the couch. “You just need to get yo shit together. I can’t keep saving all four of us because you can’t figure it out.”

“Everything that h
appened was an accident.” He sits back down. “I’ve apologized for it. I know I messed up and went about everything the wrong way. And no, she is not accepting, and it’s the bond forcing her to accept me. I get that!” he says forcefully. “I just don’t know how to fix it, yet. But we’ll figure it out,” he says calmer.

“Figure what out?”
Olar asks, joining us.

“Nothing
. Just discussing our lovely relationships,” I answer him.

“Okay, so
have you figured out what you’re going to do about Tracey and Roehl?”

I shake
my head. “Just wait for right now.” It is a bad situation, and being honest with myself, I don’t know what his plan is. But I know he will do anything to get what he wants. I also know that I will murder him, trying to get what’s mine.

“Okay.” He sits
on the opposite side of the couch from me. “I need to stay here for a while.”

“I know.
Lunis is after you. Good job,” I state sarcastically.

“Ha
, ha. Thanks, again.”

“Don
’t thank us, Olar,” Scott starts. “Because all you really did was add to our headaches. You
should
be saying ‘sorry.’”

Olar looks at me. “What?
!” I say at his look, asking me to object. “You
did
add to our headaches. We took care of a minor situation for you, causing a bigger one. Why did you go after his family, anyway—indebting yourself? Then, letting him know it was a
family decision
?”

Olar
sits back into the couch, taking a moment. “I fell in love with this girl; she wasn’t my mate. They killed her, thinking she was, and I sought out revenge. She made me happy, and she didn’t need to die because of their assumptions and their need to make us miserable.

“
I did,” he continues, “kill his sister and his mother…and tell him our family was after his family. He sent me a message, saying I had a debt established and owed him three lives, not including my own.”

I’m not surprised by the news
—it is the basis of my life. “Yeah, well, thanks for that. Stay as long as you need. Help me look out for the family and not kill Taylor. Keep an eye out for Tracey and Glen, and help us figure out what we’re going to do about Roehl.”

I look at him and he nods
, asking, “Are you going to help Taylor?”

“No.” I’m short. Taylor means nothing to me anymore. She i
s just another person around here taking up space.

I ge
t up, leaving the living room. Nathan passes me on my way out. “Where are you going?” he asks, not looking at me.

“To check on Tracey.” I keep
walking. I don’t fuck with him either. I’m contemptuous of him after that jackal bitch attacked Tracey.

My family is killing me.

“Nathan, you
know
I wouldn’t hurt Tracey,” he calls behind me. I ignore him. I don’t know shit. They’re all the same and hope they live, each time they walk past me.

I walk
to the front to look out the window. Tracey is next to my mom, thinking about the placement of the flowers. She isn’t a ‘dig in the dirt and get dirty’ type of girl. But she is doing it because she thinks it’s what my mom wants. She wipes the left side of her face, getting dirt smudged on her cheek. I shake my head at that. She knows she has dirt on her hands, and she touches her face.

Her hair i
s pulled back—messily—sitting on the top of her head. She is
sexy as shit
, standing there with her dirty white tank and long shorts. I bought her some all-white shoes that she decided she was going to leave on when she made the decision to help my mom with the flowers. They are dirty now, and will be going in the trash when she takes them off. I don’t clean shoes.

She looks in my direction and notices
me staring. She smiles at me. I don’t return her smile; I just stare at her. She is the best thing God has blessed me with, and I don’t deserve her. He may not have made me, but there is nothing in me that believes he didn’t take a part of me to make her—molding her exclusively for me.

She doesn’t know the half of how happy she makes me and how much I appreciate her staying at my side.

She also doesn’t know what our lives are getting ready to turn into
, with the fucked up shit my family has brought upon us.

Hey
, you okay
? her voice sings through my mind. Her heart is steady and calm.

Yes, baby
. You helping
? I respond, looking at her. Looking at her body and thinking about the way it feels against mine—and the things I hold back from doing to that body.

Something like that
. I smile at her as she scrunches her nose, looking around at the flowers. She looks back to me, and kisses the air.
I love you
.
I’ll be in shortly
.

I nod.

For once in my life…I’m happy.

“Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good”

Romans 12:21

Thank you to the most high for increasing my territory and turning my small rain puddle into a sea of possibilities. Thank you to those who support me and my dreams and continue to believe in me regardless of the unexpected obstacles that a placed in my path. You all are awesome. Thank you to the readers for reading this book. You all make it happen, make it possible, and make small dreams turn into huge realities.

Love life's loves PA.

A love for reading transpired into an admiration for writing at a young age for
Peiri Ann. Starting off in writing poetry and short stories she indulged in the possibilities of creating new worlds and lives to live within them opening a window of unanticipated possibilities. In high school a pin and notebook never left her grasps and in college the pin was replaced by a keyboard and the notebook replaced by a computer screen. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and certified in business management. When Peiri Ann is not writing, reading, doing homework, or working in the downtown of Chicago she enjoys spending time with her little girl.

WWW.PEIRIANN.COM

Make sure you keep an eye out fo
r
Tainte
d
. Book II of A Burdened Novel