Page 91 of My Turn

Closing my eyes, I leaned against my closet door. “I can’t.”

“You can stalk me and show up on my balcony, in my room, in my fucking closet, but you can’t come over when I need you? I guess you really are just a deranged stalker who confused obsession with caring about me.”

“You’re kidding, right?”

“Does it sound like I’m kidding, Erebus?”

I laughed, dropping my face into my palm. “Of all the people in your life, you’ve decided to get attached to me. Do you understand how insane that is? I’ve hurt you. I’ve tied you up, tattooed your pussy, watched you sleep, I fuckingraped you, and you want me to come over and listen to your problems.”

“I…”

“Ignore the goddamn teacher. When he doesn’t get what he wants, he’ll leave you alone. In the meantime, find something else to cure your loneliness.”

I ended the call and dropped onto the bed. Everything I said made my chest hurt. I didn’t regret a single thing I did to Alana except get too close. Because my lines got blurred, I had to say cruel words to her. I knew they would strike deep. That was why I had to do it.

My original intent was to merge the two parts of me, but this could still work. It was time for me to put her back together and,hopefully, I’d be able to salvage the situation. Erebus was done, put away for good. Now, it was Jayce Weste’s turn.

*****

“How’d the hearing go?” I asked as I set a mug of coffee on the island in front of my dad.

He grunted and took a sip. I could tell from the crease in his brow that it hadn’t gone how he’d wanted. It couldn’t have been a total disaster since he didn’t look angry enough for that. He was never good at hiding his temper when it heated, but he always kept himself from lashing out. He just wore his emotions on his sleeve.

I leaned my elbows on the counter. “That good, huh?”

“That guy, her stepfather, I don’t like him. He’s got this smug look about him, like he’s holding onto a royal flush, but I don’t know what advantage he thinks he has.”

“He’s conceited. I bet his lawyers fed him some bullshit about him having the upper hand.”

“Maybe. This started as a discussion about who will hold Alicia’s estate and now, we’re pursuing custody. He shouldn’t be sitting in that room with a smirk on his face.”

“What happens now?”

“The judge wants us to have visits with Alicia, to establish a relationship. Poor girl. It’ll be so awkward for her at first.”

“She’ll love everyone,” I assured him. “I know you’re worried, but I can’t imagine the judge not allowing you a place in her life, even if it’s not any sort of custody. It was never your decision not to be there for her.”

“After meeting Mr. Everhart, I want more.”

“How much more?” I asked before taking a long drink of my coffee.

“Everything, honestly. I don’t think she should be with some guy who isn’t even related to her. And I know he’s her stepdad and I want to respect that, but… I don’t trust him.”

It was hard not to smile at his reaction to Mike. I agreed with him wholeheartedly. If we wanted to be involved with Alicia, we had to get him out of the picture. Not only was he a snake; he had too much of a connection to both me and Alana. There would always be conflict there.

I wished I could just kill the guy, but it would be too suspicious. On top of that, it would only make things harder. There was no guarantee Alicia would be placed with my parents- not right away, at least. I didn’t want her put into some foster home, even for a day.

“You should fight him,” I suggested. “Hire someone to dig something up on him and go for full custody.”

Dad snorted. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

“I’m serious. I’ll help pay for it.” When he still looked skeptical, I put a hand on his arm. “Let’s be real, Dad. Jake wanted to take Alicia from Mike. Hailey wanted Jake to have her. It’s pretty obvious that she needs to be with us.”

Slowly, he nodded. “You’re right. I know that you’re right. It’s just such a big thing and tomorrow…”

He cut himself off, taking a shuddering breath. I didn’t need him to finish that sentence. Tomorrow was the anniversary of Jake’s death. It was going to be a really bad day and I wasn’t sure where Alana would be on the spectrum of grief. I had to be prepared for anything.

Chapter 34

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