Lev: a Shot Callers novel - Belle Aurora Page 0,29
of her mouth before I’d even finished. “Please tell me you’re joking. If you’re not, I’m going to pull over and ralph, because that’s fucking nasty.”
I leaned back in my seat, laughing. “He was my foster brother. No relation.” I grinned. “God, you’re good value.”
She smiled then, reluctantly. “Bitch.” She shook her head. “Tell me about mister brother man, then.”
“I was twelve when I first got put into foster care. I was one of the lucky ones. The first family I was placed with was the one I stayed with till I took to the streets.” My brow furrowed. I hadn’t thought about Maggie and John Peterson for a long time. “Maggie was everything I needed at a time I’d lost it all. She was wonderful. John, her husband, was just as good. He included me in everything, made it like we were a real family. They had a pair of twins, five-year-olds, who adored me. Ben and Chris.” I smiled. “I taught them how to ride a bike.” I sighed.
“Uh oh,” Nas began. “Something big is coming. I can feel it.”
“When I was sixteen, Maggie came into my room. She looked kind of worried. That was when she explained that her son from her first marriage was going to come live with us after his father had a run-in with the law. I didn’t know what the big deal was. This was her child. I mean, why was she even explaining this to me? I told her it was okay. I even told her he could have my room if he needed it, that I’d sleep on the couch.” My voice turned soft. “His name was James. He was almost eighteen, a star football player and absolutely gorgeous.”
“Boom. And there’s the kicker.”
I grinned. “He was sweet, and funny, and a total flirt. He was also the first guy to have the guts to kiss me, right in the backyard, under the noses of Maggie and John. I fell in love with him so effortlessly.” I chuckled at the memory. “Before long, we were sneaking kisses all over the place, and he would slip into my room at night after everyone else had fallen asleep.” I sighed dreamily. “We’d talk all night long until talk got in the way of kissing. And then I turned seventeen. One thing lead to another, and soon we were doing a lot more than talking and kissing, if you know what I mean.”
Nas grinned. “I do. I really do.”
“The story ends with us being careless and getting caught, Maggie blaming me for leading on her son and calling me a little tramp. Me realizing that no matter how much I loved Maggie, she was not my mother. And I was gone the next day.”
“She called you a tramp?” Nas uttered, appalled.
I nodded. “A little tramp.”
“And then you disappeared on ‘em.” Nas paused and added thoughtfully, “I’ll bet she’s thought about you every day since you’ve been gone.”
Her statement made my heart stutter. “You think?”
“Um, yeah. She called a seventeen-year-old girl a nasty name in anger and that girl took off, never to be seen again.” She snorted. “I’d say she’s paying every single day for what she did, just by the memory of you. Serves her right, stupid bitch.”
I didn’t want to believe Maggie could have been suffering from guilt this entire time. Sure, she’d called me a bad name, but it didn’t compare to the fact she’d taken me into her home and made me part of a family for close to five years. She deserved more than to live like that.
As soon as Nas dropped me off at home, I searched the house for Lev, finding him downstairs, sitting in a rocking chair, cradling a sleeping Lidiya, and speaking soft words into her curly hair.
I stood in the doorway unnoticed for a long while, watching this man be a father to his daughter. My throat thickened with emotion. Lev was proving to be more than I originally thought him to be.
With a soft clearing of my throat, Lev turned and caught my eye. I lifted my hand in a gentle wave and he lifted the little girl, carrying her across the room and tucking her into her toddler bed. He picked up the baby monitor, stepped out the room, and turned the device on. I backed away from the door as he closed it carefully.
My expression was tender when he approached. I’d forgotten my purpose momentarily. Placing a hand on his forearm,