Page 103 of Fourth Point Of Contact

“Everything good?” I asked, watching him warily.

“Harper’s taking her home right now and getting her settled.”

I nodded, unsure of what else to say. Except… “Listen, about what I did?—”

“It’s all good. Thank you… I mean, if you hadn’t called in everyone, things might not have gone so well.”

“So, you’re not going to hit me?” I asked, grinning just in case that was still on the agenda.

“Not today. You’re too fucking weak anyway. You know what they say about kicking a man when he’s down.” He glanced at my mom, giving her a smile and nod. “Besides, I wouldn’t want to kick your ass in front of your mother.”

“I appreciate that.” And I was fucking serious. The last thing I needed was my mom getting even more worried about me.

“Anyway, when Eden’s settled, you might want to stop by and see her.”

“I doubt she wants to see the man she associates with that fucking hole.”

“You’re her hero,” he grinned. “When she finally spoke, she asked where the man was who saved her. Of course, that was after she asked for Raven, but you were still included.”

My heart warmed at that. At least something good came out of the whole fucking thing. She was safe with Edu and Harper, and he seemed to finally be accepting that.

“I’ll see when I can stop by.”

“Don’t wait too long. I would hate for her to think you don’t want to see her.”

In truth, I didn’t know that I was ready for it. I could still smell the stench from that fucking hole, and I didn’t want her to see that on my face when I met her. But she was just a kid, and if she wanted to see me, I’d make sure I was ready.

I nodded and headed for the steps, ready to take on my mom. Chase pulled out, leaving me all alone. Fuck, I really wanted to send her away.

“Hey, Mom.”

“How was work?”

I really didn’t want to talk about it. “Fine.”

“I can’t believe they would send you on a job in this condition. What if you had hurt yourself?”

“It’s fine, Mom. It was for one of the guys.”

“And you still did it? Did you even get paid?”

She didn’t get it, so I didn’t bother arguing with her. There was just no point. “So, what’s for dinner tonight?”

“About dinner…”

Nervousness skittered over her face as she glanced behind her. I made my way up the steps, taking it easy since sitting had made me stiff. Whatever was going on, I wasn’t in the mood for it.

“Mom, not tonight.”

“What do you mean?” she chuckled, grabbing my bag from me as I reached the top step.

“I mean, I’m not in the mood for any shit tonight.”

“Language,” she chastised, treating me like I was five. “You’d better run upstairs and clean up.”

I paused, slowly turning to face her. “Clean up for what?”

“Well, when you called and said you were on your way home, I was at the store, and I happened to be talking to Mira Jefferson.”

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