Let Me Go (16 page)

“Why?” He’s too laid back.

“Just go. Some guy’s there. Paige.”

“Sadie! Stay here. I’ll be right back,” he yells into the receiver and I hear the front door slam shut.

“Okay, where are you?” he asks and I can hear his footsteps crossing the street. “There’s a beat up blue Honda in the driveway.”

“I’m turning down Park right now.” I skid around the corner, finally speeding down our street.

“Get the fuck out,” Brady screams just as I throw the car into park in front of the house.

Adrenaline rushes through my veins as nightmare situations flash in my head. If she’s safe, if Matty’s okay. Regret that I should have stayed with them pours out of me. Was the creep waiting for them to come home?

I run up the small hill in front of our house, the screen door wide open. Matty’s small body shakes on the stairs and I point upstairs. “Matty, go upstairs and I’ll be right there.” The kid scurries up, his bare feet barreling up the wooden stairs.

When I enter the living room, Paige is on the ground, holding her cheek and Brady’s on top of the piece of shit. “Get off him, Brady.” I come alongside of him, my voice surprisingly calm because I’m about to go MMA on the man, and there’s no tapping out in my ring.

Brady hears the anger in my voice and places his hands on my chest. “Let’s just talk to him. Calm down, Rob.” My fists clench at my sides and my blood is pumping so fast, I’m afraid I’ll pass out. I haven’t felt this way since that night long ago when I was trying to save another girl from something extremely different.

When the middle-aged man wobbles to his feet, I punch him in his face and he stumbles back down. “Who is this, Paige?” I keep my eyes glued to his, waiting for one of them to answer.

“Matty’s dad, Carl.”

“Carl, huh? Tell me Carl, why the fuck do you think you’re allowed to come into my house?” I glower down above him for an intimidation factor. I’m younger and a hell of a lot stronger than him.

He scoots back on his hands and feet until his back hits our wall. “I’m here for Matty.” He crawls up the wall and I see now, I have a few inches on him, too.

“If you’re here for Matty, why on Earth are your hands on Paige?” I step chest to chest, peering down on him once again. It’s taking everything inside of me not to beat the shit to a pulp.

He leers over to her and I punch the wall next to his face. He startles, eyes wide, focusing on me once again. “Don’t look at her. Look at me, dipshit.” I point to my eyes.

“I don’t know.” His face is pure white.

“You don’t know?” I huff and I catch Paige standing now from the corner of my eye. “Well, then why are you here for Matty?” I cross my arms across my chest and Brady sits on the edge of the couch, remaining close in case I need him.

“Linda told me to come and get him.” He shoves his hands in his pockets.

I glance over to Paige and her eyes fall to the floor and she shakes her head. I guess I’m not the only one with a fucked-up family. “Well, Linda should have called Paige.”

He nods. “And you should have kept your slimy hands off of her.” He nods again. “Tell me why you didn’t?” I egg on because that guilt is already embedded in me that I didn’t stay with her to keep fuck heads like him away.

“What do you want me to tell ya? You have me cornered with a second guy in the wing. I need the money.” He peers at her through the corner of his eye.

“Money?” I cock my head.

“Well . . . yeah,” he stutters and I so want to cold cock him.

“Why would you come to Paige for money?” Paige stalks over, placing her hand on my arm. When Carl doesn’t answer, I inch forward. “Why?”

His head rears back, hitting the wall. “Her dad.”

My head spins to her and her eyes widen in surprise. The Infiniti, nice clothes, movers. “Your dad?” I question and she nibbles on the inside of her cheek and nods.

“You don’t even know who her dad is?” Carl scoffs and my hand lands on his throat, pinning him to the wall.

As Carl’s nails are scratching at my hands in an eager attempt for air, I keep my focus on Paige. “He supports me. Carl seems to think since we are related through Matty, he deserves some of the money I get from my dad.” She steps up to him, her hand on my forearm. “He’s the reason I left my last apartment.”

My arm falls and she links my fingers with hers. Damn, she has a way with me not many have had before her. “Well, he won’t be the reason you leave this one.”
I think we both know it will be me.

I tighten my grip on her hand. “Forget this address. You should feel damn lucky you didn’t barge in here when her other two roommates were here. They’re crazy mother fuckers.” He doesn’t need to know Chrissy’s all of five-four. Even though, I do imagine she can hold her own pretty well. Then I inch closer. “See, Paige is mine and I don’t like it when people fuck with what’s mine. I strongly suggest you don’t come here again.” I painfully release my hand from Paige’s in order to punch the wall for dramatic effect again. He flinches. “Never. You hear me? Or you’ll be face to face with my Glock.” I don’t own a gun, but this asshole is on a need to know basis. This will only insure he won’t bother Paige again. “Matty will stay with us tonight and be returned to his mother tomorrow.” I double-check with Paige, only finding sadness as she nods. “Maybe.” I add because I’m not sure Linda is the best person for Matty, Paige either for that matter.

He takes a deep breath and I step back, making sure Paige joins me. Brady hands her an icepack and she places it on the small of her back. “This is good-bye, Carl.” I wait for him to escape toward the door. He finally does and I follow him. “Brady, I’ll be right back.”

“Rob, he’s not worth it.” Paige moves to come forward, but I hold my hand up in the air. She stops and her shoulders fall.

The door slams shut when I follow and Carl’s footsteps move faster than mine did that time Carly’s dad found me in her bedroom. Crossing the lawn, I wait by my car until he backs out of the driveway. My arms crossed over my chest, making sure he knows exactly what will be waiting for him if he returns. Once he’s no longer visible, I climb into my Mustang and pull it up the driveway.

I stop outside the back door and stare up at the sky. Praying for that shooting star to cast a wish on. If I didn’t need anything else in my life, the girl inside just scared the crap out of me and I’m pretty sure she sensed how much her safety affected me. This incident only makes it harder to convince myself that keeping my distance is best for her.

I enter through the screen door and bypass the kitchen straight to the living room. Matty is wrapped up in Paige’s arms as she rocks him back and forth. Brady widens his eyes at me and rolls back on his heels behind them. “Do you guys want to stay at my house for the night?” he hesitantly asks, peering over the couch.

Paige lifts her head, one curl falling down over her eyes, silently asking me. “No, we’ll be fine, but thanks for everything, Brady.”

Paige turns her head to him. “Thank you so much, Brady. I really appreciate you coming over so fast,” she adds, and Brady gives a silent nod.

“If you change your mind, you still have a key, right Rob?” He makes his way to the door and I follow.

“Yeah. Thanks, man.”

He shoots me a look and knowing smile that it’s time to talk and tell Paige why exactly I’m so fucked up. Just as he slips through the doorway, he turns my way. “Call me if you need me.”

I nod and lock the door behind him. Turning around, I find Matty wrapped around Paige like a koala as she starts up the stairs. I hold my hands out and Matty gladly switches to me. We quietly go upstairs and I examine Paige’s room. Her drawers lie on the carpeted floor, pieces of clothing sporadically lying wherever they landed after being swung. When I turn to find her, she lowers her eyes and fixates on her feet. My stomach churns for what she went through and knowing I should have stayed is like a knife to my gut.

Recovering fast, I inch back from Matty so he can see me. “Guess what bud? You get to sleep in my bed.”

“Really?” His excitement brings a smile to my face. The only damn one in the last twenty minutes.

Backtracking to my bedroom, we step in and Paige peers around at the dirty clothes overfilling my hamper and the pile of dust on my dresser. She swipes her finger across my nightstand and holds it up in the air. “Hey, do you see a bald head?” I point to my forehead. “I’m not Mr. Clean.” She leans against the door frame as I tuck in Matty.

“Are your sheets clean at least? I mean, Matty won’t need to be disinfected tomorrow morning?” Tucking the kid under my comforter that, to her astonishment, I did wash last week, I glance back at her.

“Nah, he’s all good.” I can’t make a snarky flirtatious comment back because the guilt weighs heavy on my chest from leaving her alone. Why bother with the front that I just want in her pants? If that was the case, I wouldn’t be allowing her brother to sleep in my bed right now.

Her sympathetic eyes dig into my soul as she crosses the room. Ignoring me, a waft of her perfume hits my nostrils in her passing to my bed. She bends down and squeezes the comforter under his body. “Snug as a bug.” Matty smiles up to her. “Night, little guy.” With a quick kiss on his forehead, she stands up and I’m envious of the love she gives so freely.

“Paige?” Matty calls out when she steps back.

“Yeah, sweetie?” She gives her attention back to him, sitting down on the bed.

“Can I live with you?” Oh shit. I slowly step out of the room, wanting to give them privacy.

“Oh, Matty. I wish you could. Someday, I promise.”

“Why not now? Mommy forgets everything. I wanted to play baseball and she said she’d sign me up, but Zach already started playing.”

“Did you have fun today?” Paige distracts him and he nods with a huge smile on his face.

“I did. Tara’s a little bossy, but I had fun.” He moves to sit up, but Paige places her hand on his chest to keep him down.

“We’ll plan another day with them soon. I promise.” She’s trying to appease him and I agree with the kid, he’s better off somewhere else.

“Tomorrow?” Paige laughs and kisses his forehead again.

“You have school, but soon. Now, go to bed.” Another sweet brush of her lips on his cheek and she steps away from the bed. Anyone standing by can see how close their relationship resembles mother and son instead of sibling.

“Good night, Paige. Good night, Rob.” He rolls over on his side, probably about to fall asleep.

“Good night, bud.” I leave the room, moving down the hall to Paige’s.

I hear my bedroom door close and then Paige is in the doorway. She watches me start to set the drawers back in her dresser, placing clothes back in. “You don’t have to help.” Her arms cross over her chest as she leans against the wooden frame. It’s a knife to the heart finding her eyes devoid of the usual bliss. Instead, they’re dull as rocks.

“I don’t mind. Maybe I can see your unmentionables.” I lighten the mood, hopeful to yank her away from her crappy family life.

“Rob, you’re being too polite.” She breaks the threshold of her room and begins piling items in her arms.

“I
can
be a gentleman.” I purposely bypass her underwear drawer to one filled with a dozen composition books.

“Surprise to me.” The coy uplift of her lips as she peers over to me and my stomach flips. “But those.” She points to the books in my arms. “Are personal.” She snatches them from my hands.

“Your diaries?”

“Yeah . . . journals.” She places them in a bin and shoves them under her bed. “I’ll be changing that spot after you leave.”

“Am I in one?” I lean over her shoulder and she glares over to me.

“Nope.”

“Come on, I have to be in one.” My fingers tickle her ribcage and she squirms. “Not even a mention of how hot I am, or my eyes?” She turns in my arms and I flutter my eyes a few times. “People do say they’re my best quality.”

She shoves me off and I stumble back. “You’re so conceited.” In turn, her butt lands on her bed.

“It’s my best personality trait.”

“So you think.” Standing up, she makes her way to another drawer.

“You’re telling me you aren’t the least bit turned on by how confident I am?” I sit on her bed and watch her pick up some of her stuff as I straighten her nightstand.

“I think . . . no . . . I know it’s an act.” Her eyes never glance up; instead she focuses on the task of folding clothes. Not even a tremble of her voice. She’s the confident one and she knows a fake when she spots one. I’m the leopard with the big spots in the corner.

“Part maybe, but I do think I’m fucking hot and you’d be lucky to nail me.”

“Do you, now?” She turns around, props herself up against the wall and hugs her knees into her chest.

“Yep.” I let the ‘p’ pop out of my mouth and when my eyes move back up, hers are fixated at something on the floor. A lone picture catches my eye, and she reaches for it. As soon as it rests in her hand, her lips turn down. “Paige?” I break the distance, sitting next to her on the floor.

“It’s funny. How you go through life, never knowing the truth about your parents. You think you do, but once you get older, the things you assumed were good weren’t.” She’s losing me, but I’m certain she’s about to tell me something she doesn’t share with many. “Matty wants to live with me. Of course he does.” She shrugs her shoulder, sniffling although no tears have fallen.

“I can’t say I blame him. Your mom doesn’t—” How do tell someone, their mom doesn’t give a shit about him or her. I’m not one to dig into other people’s drama, because I have enough of my own.

“She wasn’t always like that. There was a time when I believed she was the perfect mom.” She flips the picture over and shows me. It’s a young girl in a big, frilly pink princess dress and from the amount of unruly curly brown hair, it’s obviously Paige. The woman next to her, a much younger version of Linda, with her arms tight around her as they smile at the camera.

“You were adorable. What were you, six?” I inspect the picture closely, spotting her one freckle that sits under her right eye.

She focuses on pieces of lint on the carpeting. “She took me on a trip to Disneyworld. Bought me that dress. We stayed a whole week and my dad met us there for the final night. I remember hearing my parents talking and being so excited because they were getting along. My dad held my mom’s hand as we strolled through the park and it was like my own fairytale come true. They were my live version of Cinderella and her prince.” Her voice shakes. “Then my dad came to say good-bye to me the next morning.” A tear falls from her eye and I inch closer, but she holds her hand up in the air and I halt. “For two days we stayed up in that hotel room. My mom would order me food from room service, but she never ate it herself. She just slept in bed, depressed for not having my dad while I watched television. Around twelve I realized what really happened during those times when I thought we’d be a happy family.”