Chapter 22 Episode 22
1614 Words
“Why else do you think he helped you, Belle?” My sisterlooks at me like I’m stupid, her eyes bloodshot and heavilylidded. “He came in and scooped me up like a toddler becausehe thinks you’ll fu—”
I slap a hand over her mouth. “Don’t you dare finish thatsentence.”
I wait a few seconds before pulling my hand away.
“—ck him,” she says quickly, narrowing her eyes at me in achallenge.
I groan and drag both hands down my face, but I hear Nikolaichuckle from the front seat. I snap my attention to him. “Whaton Earth is funny about this?”
“I’ve scared people a lot tougher than your sister by justlooking at them sideways, but she isn’t scared at all. It’simpressive.”
“It’s embarrassing,” I correct, glaring at Elise, who is onceagain holding onto the Big Gulp like she might be ready forround two. I reach over and twist her hair back away from herface. “It’s embarrassing for both of us.”
Elise doesn’t get sick, but the nausea keeps her quiet until wemake it back to the Zinc, thankfully.
Nikolai parks at the back of the building. “There’s a backentrance we can use so we don’t have to carry her through thelobby.”
“I’m sure that wouldn’t look great, you carrying a drunkteenager into your business,” I say.
Nikolai shrugs. “My reputation has handled worse.”
I’m not sure what that means, and I don’t think I want to ask.
Nikolai gets out and comes around to the backseat. And eventhough Elise can barely form a sentence, she reaches over andlocks the door. “No!”
“Elise,” I argue, grabbing her arm and unlocking the door,“he’s going to help you get up to bed. You need to sleep thisoff.”
“I can walk,” she insists.
Nikolai is outside the door ready to grab her, but she is flailinglike a drunk baby giraffe.
“Fine!” I snap, practically shoving her out of the car. “Trywalking and see how far you get. Go!”
Elise scrambles out of the car and Nikolai steps backgracefully, watching our family drama play out in front of him.So much for maintaining some level of professionalism infront of my client.
Though I think the ship has long since sailed on that one.
Elise is still gripping the door when I slide out behind her, andI peel her hands away from the car. “Go on. Walk inside.Impress me.”
The back entrance to the hotel is only ten feet away, but themoment Elise takes a step, her entire body dips sideways.
I lunge for her, but Nikolai gets there first. He scoops her upinto his arms. “Better leave the walking to the people whodidn’t make stupid choices tonight.”
Elise grumbles something unintelligible, but doesn’t argueanymore.
I follow Nikolai through the back door and to a serviceelevator. It takes us to the level just below the penthouse, andthen we have to switch to a separate one to get up to the finalfloor.
The moment the doors open to our suite, Elise claws atNikolai. “Put me down. We’re inside. I won’t embarrassanyone anymore.”
“Somehow, I doubt that,” Nikolai drawls.
“Come on, E,” I say as gently as I can. “You don’t want to sayanything you’ll regret. Remember, Nikolai got us out of thatgross motel room we were in. You like it here.”
The only thing I’ve really learned about parenting in the lasttwo months is that orders don’t work. It’s better to remindElise that she doesn’t want to do something.
You don’t want to fail out of your math class this far into thesemester.
You don’t want to hide out in your room all summer.
But hell if I know what she actually wants. A fact that isproven every single day of our lives together.
Nikolai waves me away. “I can handle it.”
Elise takes that as a challenge, her mouth turning up in a cruelsmile. “The only reason you’re here is because you have asmall dick.”
It’s as childish an insult as I’ve ever heard, but my mouth stillfalls open at the sheer audacity of my sister. But Nikolai justtips his head back and laughs.
Elise isn’t done, either. “You stuck us in this penthouse and ranaround town like a superhero helping my sister because youhave to make up for the fact that you suck in bed.”
I grab my sister by the collar. “Enough, Elise! That’s…”Incorrect, as I can thoroughly attest. “That’s disgusting. Don’tbe crass.”
“God, B, you try to come off like you’re so perfect all thetime,” she hisses. “You’re always putting on this show, actinglike you’re better than me. Better than everyone. But we bothcame from the same place. Don’t be mad at me because I don’tpretend.”
Nikolai sighs. “You’re the one who f****d up tonight, kid.Don’t take it out on your sister.”
“Don’t call me kid! I’m not a kid. I’ve dealt with more shitthan you could even imagine, rich boy.”
Nikolai’s dark brow arches. “The fact that you think you havea monopoly on piece-of-s**t parents is more than enough proofthat you’re an immature child. Now, let your sister put you tosleep.”
Elise’s eyes widen. I feel an epic meltdown coming on. As iftonight hasn’t been bad enough already.
“Come on, Elise,” I say, trying to push her back towards thebedroom. “Let’s get you to—”
“Don’t say a word about my mother. You don’t know myfamily! Or my life!” she screams over my shoulder at Nikolai.Then she slaps my hands away. “Get off, Belle. You’re not my—”
I know what she’s going to say. I’ve heard it a million timesthe last two months, and right now, I’m at my breaking point.
“I f*****g know I’m not your mother, Elise!” I shout in herface. She’s so shocked she stumbles back a step. A sick part ofme finds enjoyment in her surprise. “Because I take care ofyou. I make sure you’re fed and clothed. I care whether youget an education and grow up to be a decent human being. Andour mom doesn’t do any of that s**t. So if you’re so unhappyhere, why don’t you go back and live with her?”
The unloading feels amazing. Like dropping a massive weightI’ve been carrying for eight weeks.
But the moment the weight is gone, I realize I haven’t justdropped it on the ground. I’ve hung it around the neck of mybaby sister.
Elise sags. Her lower lip trembles, and just like that, my heartcracks.
I reach for her. “s**t, Elise. I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have—”
Just as a tear rolls down her cheek, Elise spins around andstorms into her room. Before I can even consider followingher, she bolts the door closed.
“She was being a brat.”
I glance at Nikolai. “Welcome to the teen years.”
“She can’t expect you to just take that s**t,” he says. “At work,it’s Roger—”
“That’s different and you know it,” he says. “Roger harassesyou at work. Then you come home to her talking to you like
that. You have to stand up for yourself, Belle.”
I sigh. “There’s a difference between standing up for myselfand being cruel. I… I shouldn’t have said that stuff about ourmom.”
I hesitate. Nikolai steps around me, catching my gaze. “Waseverything you said true?”
“That doesn’t mean it’s okay for me to say it,” I answer. “Elisehas gone through a lot with our mom. I shouldn’t have pokedher wounds like that.”
The light that was coming out from under her door is alreadyoff. I want to knock and talk this out, but I have to work onElise’s timeline. Which usually involves at least twenty-fourhours to pout and then another twenty-four hours to be shittyto me before she’s ready to make amends.
Nikolai’s thumb brushes the soft skin behind my ear. “Whatabout your wounds?”
“I’m fine,” I say, a bit too quickly to be convincing.
He arches a brow. “You’re a really shitty liar.”
His words are as rough as ever, but he’s touching me like I’mbreakable. I should hate it. I’ve never wanted to be a victim.Yet another poor soul suffering in the cycle of toxic parentingand drug addiction.
But the way Nikolai is looking at me? It makes me want to fallinto his arms and hide. I want him to hold me and tell meeverything will be okay.
Which is absolutely, completely not okay.
Not only because I’ll be back home in less than a week,hundreds of miles from Nikolai. But because if life has taughtme anything, it’s that no one is going to cuddle me close andsolve my problems.
I have to solve them myself.
So I do the impossible—I pull away from him and walk intothe kitchenette for a drink of water. “Are you thirsty?”
He shakes his head, so I pour myself a glass and chug theentire thing. When I turn back, he is standing on the other sideof the island with a cell phone in his hand.
“I grabbed this from Elise’s pocket as we were coming inside.”
“Her phone?” I ask, even though I can see the familiar hotpink sticker peeling off of the back.
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