Let Me In (5 page)

“This is
my
home.
My
stuff,” she insisted, punctuating her words with a jab of a finger at Talia.

Talia’s pulse hammered hard in her throat. She had a sick feeling this was going to get ugly. There was no way she could keep Liam from seeing this, and no way for her to protect her mother any longer if she remained uncooperative. “Then maybe you should leave and I’ll take care of it.” Just this one last time. After this, she was done. She couldn’t keep doing this to herself anymore.

A film of perspiration shone on her mother’s forehead. Her eyes had a wild gleam to them, a kind of panic borne of desperation. She shook her head sharply. “No. I don’t want you here—I don’t want any of you here! I just want to be left alone!” Her voice shredded.

The words hurt, but Talia should have expected it. “I understand that, but by law your landlord has the right to—”

“Just go, and tell them to get out of here!”

“It’s not that simple—”

Someone knocked sharply on the front door. Her mother’s eyes darted to the entryway, and Talia watched them fill with a kind of fear and despair that made her neck prickle. She stared at her mother, at a loss for words as her only family member stormed off into the bedroom, too cluttered for her to shut the door behind her.

Stalling for time, Talia opened the front door to find a man in his forties wearing a shirt and tie standing on the doorstep. The landlord, no doubt. He looked surprised to see her there.

“Is Kiyomi here?”

“Yes. I’m her daughter.” She couldn’t tell if she was blushing or pale; her body was alternately flipping from hot to cold. She didn’t dare glance over at Liam’s pickup, knowing he was watching everything.
Please let him stay there.
“I’ve just arrived back from overseas yesterday, so I’m only finding out about the eviction notice now.”

The man’s expression hardened. “By my research, this is the third time she’s been evicted in five years, so I doubt it’s that much of a surprise to either of you. Not only is that disgusting mess in there ruining my rental property, it’s a fire hazard, and I’ve had enough. She’s had more than enough chances to clean it up. No more.”

“I understand,” she replied calmly, forcing aside the shame threatening to swallow her. “Are you making her leave today?” Not that she expected him to have sympathy or understanding for her mother’s condition. No one else did. Her mother had started hoarding things after one of her boyfriends had left her a few years back, but the current situation was beyond out of control. Anyone could see that.

“That’s right. These men are here to clean the place out.” He gestured to five young men standing on the front lawn, watching them curiously. She’d bet none of them had ever seen a hoard this bad before. “Please step aside, Miss, and let them get to work.”

That would set her mother off, big time. “Could you at least let me get her out of here while you—”

“You bastard! Get out!”

She barely had time to duck as a paperweight flew past her head and shattered against the doorframe before falling to the dirty carpet. The landlord backed up a hasty step, hands outstretched.

Talia whipped around to find her mother charging at the door
. Oh, shit.
“Mom, no!”

Her mother ignored her, grabbing things from the piles around her and hurling them at the front door. Books, toys, small pieces of furniture, whatever she could throw.

Talia stepped over a mound of things, accidentally breaking something with her foot. “Mom, stop!”

An old radio sailed past her head, missing her by inches. It crashed against the wall and broke into pieces. Her mother was screaming obscenities, her face bright red, eyes wild with rage and desperation. Talia threw out a hand to block her, but she barreled past her to lunge at the landlord, grabbing fistfuls of his hair and yanking. “You get out! Get out of my house!”

The landlord shouted and shoved her off him.

Talia caught her around the waist as she staggered backward, dragging her back inside. Her heart raced wildly. “Don’t do this, Mom. Please don’t do this.”

Her mother fought her with everything she had. Jesus, she was hysterical, her anger giving her petite body an almost superhuman strength. Talia’s muscles strained, trying to hold her back, but her pleas to calm down went unheeded.

“Get her out of here before the police do it for you,” the landlord snarled angrily, shoving through the front door. His hair was mussed, red welts marking the side of his face where her mother had scratched him. He pulled out his cell phone and there was no doubt he was calling 911.

Talia tightened her hold on her mother when she lunged at him, still throwing whatever she could find despite Talia’s attempt to pin her arms. A heavy crystal ashtray flew past and caught the landlord square in the chest. The impact doubled him over.

“You crazy psycho!” he yelled, still holding the cell phone to his ear. “She’s crazy!” he told whoever was on the other end. “She’s attacking me and her own daughter, for Christ’s sake. She needs to be locked up.”

“Cowardly bastard!” her mother snarled through clenched teeth, bucking against Talia.

Talia locked her arms around her mother’s body, immobilizing her, and gave her a hard shake. She had to get through to her. Her heart pounded so hard she felt sick. “Mom.
Mom!
Stop it, calm down. You have to calm down.” Dear God, were they going to have to call the paramedics in to tranquilize her?

Her mother only screamed in outrage and fought harder when the cleanup men came in and started shoving trash into their bags, casting cautious glances at them both. “It’s my stuff! Get your hands off my stuff! It’s
mine
…” Her voice cracked on the last word, and Talia felt tears sting her eyes. Christ, she sounded insane. Like she truly believed having all this junk around was more important than anything else, including having a roof over her head.

Including me.

The thought tore her up inside. She’d suspected it for a long time, but having it thrown in her face this way was almost more than she could bear. The strength in the slender body she held shocked her. Her mother was shorter by a few inches, but even with her military training it was like trying to hold back an enraged pit bull. She gritted her teeth while her mother thrashed in her hold, every muscle straining to contain her.

The struggles turned frenzied. “Get your goddamn hands off my stuff!” she shrieked, twisting and arching in Talia’s constraining arms. Enraged, she threw her head back and smashed the back of her skull into Talia’s chin.

Bright lights exploded before her eyes as the shock of pain radiated through her body. Talia could hear one of the men yelling something, trying to pull her mother off, but the smaller woman twisted sharply and knocked them off balance.

They hit the ground and fell into a pile of junk. Talia battled to maintain her hold. She tasted blood and knew she’d cut her lip open but couldn’t let go. If she did there was no telling what her mother might do.

The faint sound of sirens wailed in the distance, growing louder with each passing second. If she let go her mother would attack someone and be hauled off to jail for sure.

Sharp nails raked down her forearms despite her attempts to grab her mother’s hands. She hissed in a breath at the hot sting and growled in outrage, dodging more blows from her mother’s head. She clipped her chin again, dazing Talia. Her grip on the flailing wrists slipped. A sound of protest tore from her throat. She reared up to grab her mother again, but someone wrenched her from Talia’s arms.

Shocked, she rolled to her hands and knees and looked up. Liam held her mother a foot off the ground with her back to his chest, her hands pinned behind her in an unbreakable grip while one powerful arm locked around her waist, despite how hard she fought to get free. In a practiced move he flipped her onto her stomach on the filthy carpet and straddled her thighs, holding her down with his body weight and the force of his forearm across the back of her neck to immobilize her.

When she met his gaze, the grim expression on his face shook Talia to the core.

“Wait outside,” he commanded brusquely.

Horrified that he’d seen this and had to intervene, she felt the pressure of tears building in the back of her throat. Her jaw throbbed and her lip stung. Her mother’s screeching voice made her want to clap her hands over her ears and hide in a dark hole. Knowing there was nothing more she could do to help, she climbed to her feet and rushed from the house on unsteady legs.

* * *

Liam stood back as the cops took Talia’s mother to the cruiser in handcuffs. And she wasn’t going easily. She was still swearing and yelling, yanking against the officers’ restraining grip on her arms. When they put her in the back of the car and shut the door, things finally got quiet.

He resisted the urge to drag a hand through his hair. Christ, he’d known Talia was hiding a few skeletons in her family closet, but he’d never guessed it was anything like this. When she’d said her mother was ill, he’d thought she’d meant cancer or some other terrible disease. Clearly, physical illness wasn’t the problem.

One of the cops stopped to speak briefly to Talia, who stood near his truck with her hands over her mouth, her expression full of horror. Damn, she had to be dying inside, watching this happen to her mother. Liam waited until they’d finished before striding over to join her as the cruiser pulled away. Instead of looking at him, she lowered her eyes and wrapped her arms around herself.

He hadn’t the faintest idea what to say. Though he wanted to hold her, something told him she’d only push away. “You okay?”

It came out automatically, because obviously she wasn’t okay. Her lower lip was swollen and she had a darkening bruise at the side of her jaw. Red welts from the claw marks on her arms. The haunted look in her eyes gutted him. They were full of shame. Shame and grief.

She nodded. “I’m really sorry you had to see that.” Her voice shook. She covered her face with her hands, shoulders shuddering as she sucked in an unsteady breath.

“Hey.” He reached for her but she turned away, composing herself before speaking.

She cleared her throat. “They’re going to keep her overnight until the bail hearing tomorrow. Would you mind taking me back to the hotel?”

Of course he didn’t mind, but he couldn’t pretend nothing had happened. Capturing her chin in his hand, he gently forced her head up until she met his eyes. The tears she was fighting so hard to hide clung to her lower lashes. His muscles knotted with the need to pull her to him, hold her close. Help ease the pain he knew was raging inside her, in any way she’d let him.

“No, don’t.” She jerked her head away, refusing to look at him. “Just…don’t. Please.”

He bit back a sigh, wishing there was something more he could do. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt this helpless. “Okay. You ready, then?”

“Yeah.”

The drive back was silent and seemed to take forever. He could all but feel the tension in her body, her muscles pulled tight. “Cold?” he asked when she rubbed her hands over the arms of his jacket she wore. He had the heat on high already to take some of the chill out of the cab.

She shook her head.

They were almost to her hotel when she spoke again. “Swear to me you won’t tell your family about this.” Her voice was low, strained.

What?
He shot her a startled glance. “Tal, it’s nothing to be ashamed of—”

“Swear it, Liam. On your honor.”

He knew damn well if he didn’t she’d disappear the moment he let her out of the truck. And not just into her hotel room. The stubborn woman would vanish from his and his family’s lives entirely. He couldn’t stomach the thought. “All right. I swear.”

Apparently satisfied, she sat there stiffly until he pulled up in front of the lobby doors. “Thanks, for stepping in when you did. I couldn’t hold her anymore.”