Chapter Fourteen

Bryn

Tory had already been fired from her new job within the first week. She wasn’t going out and searching for a new one. Instead, she was going out and not coming home for days at a time. It had been a couple years since she had done this. The last time, I had threatened to get custody of Cullen, and she had straightened up.

This time, I wasn’t sure I was going to threaten her anymore. The older he got and the more he was exposed to, the more he would remember. The more he would be affected by her choices. Marley had thankfully understood my family issues and given me two weeks off work while I worked on getting things handled at home.

It had been Tory and me most of my life. Saving her from her own mistakes was all I knew. It was what I did. But was it fair to Cullen for me to keep doing it? I couldn’t even leave him at home anymore at night with her, for fear he would be left alone. The trauma that caused him would never truly go away. It would leave a mark on him.

Last night, I had called Tory’s cell over and over but gotten no answer. It was getting closer to ten, and she still hadn’t called or come home. I sat on the sofa with Cullen curled up beside me while we watched his favorite superhero cartoon. Times like this, I could convince myself he was stable and he would be fine. But I knew his little mind was working.

His mother wasn’t here. She wasn’t here when he went to bed. She wasn’t here when he woke up. He knew she didn’t have a job. All of this was there in his head, and I never wanted him to feel as if his mother didn’t love him. I wanted him to feel loved, but was my love enough?

“Aunt Bryn?” His voice broke into my thoughts, and I looked down at his upturned face.

“Yeah, buddy?” I asked.

“Is Mama okay?”

That was it. What I knew was in his head. He was doing all the things normal little boys did, but he had fears no little boy should have. Such as the fact that he was worried about his mother. I honestly had no idea if she was okay. When I got my hands on her sorry ass, she might not be okay.

“Yes,” I replied, hoping it wasn’t a lie.

He frowned. “Why didn’t she come home again?”

When he had been little and she stayed out like this, he hadn’t known what was happening. Now, he was old enough for it to worry him. She was going to have to make a choice. Tory’s behavior had to stop now. Today.

“She’ll be home soon,” I told him because I was about to make some calls and get her home.

I had a good idea where she was. She had been over there the past few times I had gone searching for her.

Patting his leg, I stood up. “Want some more eggs?” I asked.

He shook his head. “Can I have more bacon?”

I had two slices left from what I had cooked earlier. Walking over to the counter, I took his small plastic red plate that had Superman on it and put the last two slices of bacon on it. Taking the plate back to him, I checked to make sure he had enough milk in his cup before going back to my bedroom to make another call to my sister.

When her phone rang three times without an answer, I thought it would go to voice mail again, but the sound of someone breathing met my ear.

“Whaaat? It’s fucking too early for this shit,” Tory groaned into the phone.

Anger pounded in my veins, and my grip on the phone tightened. “It’s almost ten. Your son is asking for you. Get your sorry ass home, Tory. I’m done with you acting like you have no responsibilities.”

The doorbell rang, and I ignored it. Whoever it was could wait.

“You’re home with him. He’s fucking fine. Stop being so damn self-righteous. Jesus.” Tory’s words were running together and slurred, as if whatever she had taken wasn’t out of her system yet.

“If I am going to raise Cullen, then I will do it legally. Do you understand what I am saying to you? Last time was a threat in hopes of waking you up. This is a warning. I will do it. I’m not protecting you anymore. He is too important.”

She laughed then. A dark, wicked laugh that reminded me of our aunt. “Sure you will. You won’t take him from his mama.”

I opened my mouth to say more when the other end went dead. Jerking the phone from my ear, I checked to be sure the call had ended. It had. She’d hung up on me. Tossing the phone to the bed, I let out an angry scream as quietly as I could, so Cullen didn’t hear me. Then, I took a minute to calm myself.

I wasn’t sure when Tory would be home, but I’d told Cullen it would be today. I needed to distract him. Take him somewhere. Rubbing my temples, I heard another voice in the living room and panicked, remembering the doorbell. Rushing to the bedroom door, I jerked it open and went to the living room to check on Cullen.

“Aunt Bryn made breakfast,” I heard Cullen say as he stood in front of Rio, who was just inside the door. “I ate all the bacon.”

Rio’s gaze lifted from Cullen to fix on me as I stood just inside the room, watching them. Why was he here? I hadn’t done anything to him. I hadn’t called Henley even though she had given me her number. He had no reason to find me and come to my home.

“Can I help you?” I asked.

Cullen turned to look back at me. “I checked out the window, like you said,” he told me. “I remembered him from the cupcake and doughnut shop.”

I gave Cullen a reassuring smile. We would discuss never opening the door for anyone later, but right now, I needed to deal with Rio.

“Go on back to your show, Cullen. Let me talk to Rio,” I told him.

He hurried back over to the sofa and covered himself up with the blanket. I waited until his focus was fixed on the television before turning back to Rio.

“Why are you here?” I asked Rio. I also wanted to know how he had known where I lived, but I didn’t ask. Best to keep this short and get it over with.

“Can you step outside?” he asked me, glancing at Cullen, then back to me.

I shook my head. “No. He’s not …” I paused, hating to admit that Cullen felt insecure and feared being left alone. It made me sound like a neglectful aunt. Although leaving him with his mother was neglectful on my part, it would seem. “With Tory not here, I don’t need to walk out that door. He won’t—” I stopped again. There was no easy way to say this.

“He will think you left him too,” Rio said with his mouth in a tight, disapproving line.

He didn’t have to tell me how wrong it was for a four-year-old little boy to even have that kind of fear. I was aware it was wrong. I knew how screwed up Tory was making him. I hated her for it.

I nodded but said nothing more.

Rio cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck hard with one hand. Then, he motioned for me to come closer to him. I walked softly so Cullen wouldn’t notice until I felt I was close enough for him to whisper and me to hear it.

“She’s in trouble. Place she’s at is a meth house. They’re being raided as we speak. I just got word she was there.” His words were low and quiet enough that I didn’t think Cullen could have heard him over the television.

I stood there, unable to respond. My heart hurt for the little boy who wanted his mother to come home, for the sister I loved and had fought for most of my life, and yet I was relieved. Because I wouldn’t have to fight her over Cullen. If she had chosen drugs over her son, then no matter how I felt about my sister, I had to protect my nephew.

“She needs help. He needs security.” Rio’s words sounded more like an accusation than a suggestion.

I didn’t want to discuss my life with him. He wasn’t someone I trusted.

“Thank you for letting me know,” I said, walking around him and opening the door, then stepping back in an invitation for him to leave.

He didn’t move. “Do what is right for the boy.”

The whirlwind of emotions churning inside me made me feel like I was going to explode. Rio March had no right to judge me and assume that I would do anything less than what was best for my nephew. I had been taking care of him and protecting him since he was born. Rio didn’t know that though because he’d chosen not to get to know me. The person I had become.

“Good-bye, Rio,” I said tightly, thankful I had been able to control my words around him.

He moved then, and as he walked toward the door, he paused. “The kid deserves better than this life. You know that as well as I do. Let him have the life we didn’t get.”

My knuckles gripped the door so hard that they turned white. I glared at him, unable to check my words. He had pushed me too far.

“Y-y-you know n-n-noth-thing about his life or m-mine. You assume be-be-because you became a-a-an elitist ass-asshole. I do not n-n-need your advice. I’m capable of taking care of th-th-things myself.” Although I spoke quietly, I struggled once again with my words.

I did not like Rio March. I hated him. Everything about him. Especially how he’d made me become that weak, broken girl who couldn’t speak without stuttering.