I release her hand and cock an eyebrow. “You don’t sound remorseful.”
“I’m not,” she replies, lifting her chin. “She deserved it.”
“Want to tell me what happened?” I ask, making it clear from my tone I’m okay if she doesn’t. She certainly didn’t want to say anything in front of Mr. Cresten.
Janelle’s eyes don’t fall away as I expect them to. “Before Christmas break, I made the mistake of telling that girl about some of my past. No real details, but the general gist of why I moved here. It was in confidence, and I thought she was my friend, so I thought she’d keep it secret.”
“And she didn’t,” I guess.
“I returned two days ago to the entire school whispering behind my back. When I confronted her about it, she got nasty. Told me she was never my friend. And I was okay with ignoring her and all the others after that.”
I fill in the remainder of the story. “But she said something awful about it… or about you… something that sparked extreme anger. And you hit her.”
“I don’t regret it,” she asserts confidently, but in the next breath whispers, “Riggs is going to be so mad. He might send me back to my mom.”
“No,” I exclaim vehemently. “He’ll never do that. He might be mad, but whatever the reasons that led him to take you, it was done with the idea he wasn’t ever letting you return.”
“You don’t know that,” she insists.
But somehow, I do. The man I don’t like, who kisses like a devil in the best of ways, I know he’d give his life for his sister if it came down to it.
“Trust me.” I put my arm around her shoulders and pull her into a half hug. “Riggs might be mad, but then again, he might not. Hell, a good chunk of his job is fighting people after provocation. It would be hypocritical of him not to think it didn’t run in the genes.”
Janelle giggles, and I’m relieved the heaviness of the moment has passed. I glance down at her hand. “Do I need to take you to the doctor?”
She wiggles her fingers for me to see. “Nothing broken.”
“Want to go home or my place?” I ask.
“Can we go to the bookstore?” She looks so hopeful, and I know it’s become a haven for her.
“Sure,” I say, opening the passenger door. “But I’ll need to let Riggs know what’s going on.”
“Actually,” Janelle drawls, looking at me beseechingly, “can we tell him when he gets back tomorrow? I don’t want to do anything to ruin his concentration for the game tonight.”
“That’s fine,” I agree. Nothing would be served by telling him right now, other than to make him mad or worried and throw him off his game. It can wait. “Let’s go to the bookstore.”
CHAPTER 12
Riggs
I’m trying to hold my anger in check as I step off the elevator and move down the hall toward my front door. The anger has been on a low simmer since getting a call from the principal at Janelle’s school yesterday afternoon. It appears my little sister punched another girl and has been suspended for a week.
While I’m pissed at Janelle for making a poor choice, most of my anger is reserved for Veronica. Mr. Cresten gave me an earful about her—calling her a disrespectful harridan who was no doubt casting a bad influence upon Janelle. The man blustered for fifteen minutes about Veronica’s character. He admitted that he was inclined to only suspend Janelle for three days, but given Veronica’s rude diatribe, he made it a week so that the parental units and guardians knew that their child’s behavior at school was often a direct reflection of what they learned from those at home.
It didn’t quite sit right that Janelle was being punished for Veronica’s misdeeds, but after a lot of apologizing and basic ass-kissing with the promise of a nice donation to the new library under construction, Mr. Cresten agreed to rescind her entire suspension. Oh, and I also had to promise that Veronica would not be allowed on school grounds again.
Fine by me.
I don’t want her around my sister again, no matter how damn good she kisses. I need someone responsible and mature who will watch Janelle when I’m gone.
Slipping the key in the lock, I open the door and immediately see Janelle and Veronica in the kitchen. I smell garlic and tomatoes and onion, and my stomach rumbles.
I disable the alarm and rearm it after shutting the door. My rule with Janelle is the alarm is on at all times. By the time I turn back around, both women are looking at me from the kitchen. Janelle’s wearing an expression of extreme worry, and Veronica looks guarded.
They have no clue I know about Janelle’s suspension, and I’m annoyed that Janelle didn’t bother to tell me but left it up to Mr. Cresten to deliver the bad news.
Letting my duffel bag slide to the floor, I wait in the living room as Janelle approaches, Veronica behind her.
“Welcome back,” she says, attempting a bright tone but failing miserably. “You played a great game last night.”
“Thanks,” I reply, and I wait her out.
“So… um… I got in some trouble at school,” she says, and I give her credit. She doesn’t let her gaze drop in fear or embarrassment.
“Let me guess,” I drawl, my voice dripping with displeasure. “You punched a girl and got a week’s suspension.”
Janelle’s mouth sags open. “Mr. Cresten called you.”
“The bigger question is, why didn’t you?” I ask, but I don’t give her an opportunity to reply as my simmering anger overflows like lava. “How could you be so stupid as to hit another person at school?”
Janelle blanches, and Veronica steps forward. “Hey… don’t talk to her like that.”
I whirl on Veronica, pointing a finger. “You don’t have a say. You totally overstepped your bounds at Janelle’s school, and it’s your fault she got a week’s suspension versus only three days. Mr. Cresten was appalled at the way you talked to him, and it was an embarrassment to Janelle.”
Veronica flushes but it’s Janelle who responds. “Don’t you dare blame any of this on Veronica,” she snarls. “And stop being an asshole. It’s beneath you.”
“An asshole?” I snarl right back at her. “After the way Veronica acted yesterday in the principal’s office, you dare judge my behavior?”
“You have no clue how she acted,” Janelle yells, tears glistening in her eyes. “Because you weren’t there, and you only got Mr. Cresten’s side of the story. And clearly you believed him and don’t care a damn about what really happened.”
Those words strike deep in my gut because she’s not wrong. I took him at his word, but why shouldn’t I?
Then again, why wouldn’t I want to give my sister the benefit of the doubt?
I glance at Veronica, and I know she’s the reason why. It’s easier for me to blame her because I can’t stand the fact that I kissed her, that since then, she’s plagued my thoughts. I think, subconsciously, I saw this as a way to get her out of our lives.
“I wish I’d never come to live with you!” Janelle exclaims. “At least back home, I knew exactly what I was dealing with.”