Twenty-One
He Loves Me
Bella
As soon as we’re in the bathroom, I shut the door behind me. “I’m so sor—”
He kisses me hard, running his hands up my back. With one, he pulls me closer, and then grips the back of my skull with the other.
I taste him, and copper, and him. When he pulls back, taking my lip with him, his eyes are different. They smolder.
I finish my sentiment, “ry.”
“You feel better?”
“You’re asking me if I feel better when my ASSHOLE father just punched you?”
“Prolly gonna hit a few boys, too, Bella. I get it; he’s being protective. He loves you.”
“And you love me.”
He smirks. “I like you a whole lot.”
“I heard you say it to my father.”
“Yeah, pretty fucked-up kind of confessional we got going here.”
“Carter …”
He kisses me again, this time harder, and then he pulls away quicker. “Fuck.” He turns around and takes a few deep breaths. “You gotta give me a couple minutes to get my shit straight. Make that less straight.”
I laugh. “Such a waste of a perfectly good—”
Bang, bang, bang!
“Doesn’t take that long to clean up a scratch, Isabella.”
“Your father?” He jokes.
“Is that who that is?” I act all surprised.
“Go. Give me a minute.”
“I’ll give you whatever you want.”
“Not helping the situation, Isabella. Get the hell out of here.”
Laughing, I walk out the door and shut it behind me. I look around. It’s just Dad and Carly. Not good.
“Where’d they go?”
“They went to get ready for dinner. We have reservations. You should go get ready, too.”
“I’m not going anywhere like this.” I shake my head.
“You can get cleaned up. We’ll wait.”
I look at him like he’s crazy, because he is. “I may still be a bit buzzed, but I’m not leaving you alone in here.”
Tags walks out. “Bella, I’m fine. Go have fun with your family.”
“But—”
“Go,” he insists.
I walk over and grab my dad’s hand. “Let’s go.”
“I’m gonna wait here until you’re ready.”
“No, you’re not.”
“Yes, I am.”
“Isabella,” Tags says on a sigh. “It’s fine. He and I will be fine.”
Dad mumbles, “One of us will be.”
“Jase Steel, I will —”
“Carly Steel,” he cuts her off, “you will go help Bella get ready and take her pile of shit with you. Then you will—”
“You mind if I stay with you tonight?” Carly asks me. “Your father has lost his damn mind. Maybe we should find those gummies, give him a couple to help him relax, and maybe then he’ll be able to see past the wall he’s built in front of you. See that you look happy. See the little birdies chasing hearts in a halo pattern around your head.”
Dad sighs. “C, baby, please just—”
“I remember that feeling. Do you, Jase?”
She hooks my arm in hers and swipes a pile of clothes off the bed. I cringe when I see the underwear,
“Those are clean,” Tags tells her, and we both turn around. “You had shit to do. I was doing a load anyway.”
“That is very thoughtful of you,” Carly says as a dig to Dad.
“Thanks. I’ll do yours next time.”
He gives me a millisecond wink, and I smile with my whole heart.
Once in my room, Carly tosses my stuff on the bed then wraps me in a big hug. “He’s beautiful.”
I laugh and hug her back. “And he loves me.”
She steps back, holding my shoulders. “Like crazy. And I know this might be weird, but I know that look. It’s—”
I don’t know why, but I start to cry.
“Little Bell, what is wrong?”
“I’ve waited a whole lifetime to have a man look at me that way, to talk to me that way, to make me feel the way he does. I never thought I would. I thought maybe you and Dad had something that only happens once in a blue moon. But you see it, right?”
“I don’t just see it; I feel it.”
“Then why are you frowning?”
“It’s a difficult situation. No one wants to see their daughter go through what the two of you may face. Hell, you’re already facing it. You have to hide so he can get this woman to sign papers?”
“Kat on steroids,” I tell her.
She cringes. “Well, maybe she’ll find a Ricco.”
“Yeah, well, then what? Then she gets her life together and tries to get Luna? Which would be fine, you know, visitation. But apparently, she’s been in and out of rehab several times. And even if she got sober, she is a vile human being. No child deserves that.”
“What does he say about it?”
“Well, we don’t really talk about it much.”
She sucks in a breath. “The two of you need to.”
“We’re a month in; that’s pretty heavy.”
“You love him, Bella, and love makes all things possible.”
Twenty-Two
Two Dads
Tags
“I’d say sorry about the lip, but I’m not, and we deal in truths in this family.”
“I can appreciate that.” I lean back against the wall.
“Then give me some.”
“Ask anything you want.”
“You’re hell-bent on this divorce; have you even thought about custody? That’s a whole different matter.”
“One step at a time.”
“Custody should be your first step.”
“I get that you think I’m some dumb-ass punk, but I’m not. And you’ll take this and run with it like a wildfire in California, but I know how to manipulate and maneuver, and I know Mara. I’m doing this the way it needs to be done.”
“So, a divorce; how’s that been handled the past couple months you’ve been around her?”
“She’s got to be served. When I find someone to do it, without the circus around us knowing, she’ll be served.”
“How you gonna find some random person to serve her?”
“As I said, I know how to manipulate and maneuver. I’ll know if I can trust someone.”
He pushes off the wall opposite me. “Cyrus has taken care of getting her served.”
“Excuse me?” I ask.
“He knows people. She’s gonna get served, and you’ll be divorced if she doesn’t contest it within a month. Then what?”
“You do know the minute she sees all of you out to dinner with Bella, she’ll connect the fucking dots, and that puts a target on her.”
“Right, but you’re not dealing with idiots. We’re not doing the serving. It’s being handled by someone who knows how to handle shit. You could have hired a fucking cop to do it, Tags.”