Pushing Limits (Fighting Love #1) - kali cross Page 0,56
my back, clearing my throat. “Uh, she worked in the campaign office. After my mom won, we hung out. Actually it was during the campaign when we started spending time together. My mom didn’t like it. After she had enough, she shipped me off.”
“And, that is the whole story?” he asks.
“Yeah, in a nutshell,” I falter.
“What happened to the girl, Amber? One minute you’re with her, and months later you’re with some guy in your room.” His mouth curved in a flippant smile. “You owe me a drink, Amber Turner. Get your ass up and come over here.”
I stand pensively saying, “I don’t like this game.”
“Be honest and you’ll learn to love this game. I like giving rewards.” His mischievous grin almost sucks me into believing him. “Now, come over here and I’ll give you your punishment. Better take your drink now. It’s going to be a while before you get another one.” He pats his lap.
“I am honest. I hate liars. My mom’s a huge ass liar.” My eyes narrow and my voice sounds defensive, even to me. “I do not lie.”
“No, you just tell half the story.” His eyes are impassive as he says, “You push people away with your dry wit and sarcasm so you never have to let them get any closer. You’ve built some mighty high walls. Shoot, I could almost see you building them when I look into your eyes. Those pretty blue eyes harden and your face turns to stone. You’re not fooling anyone, especially not me,” he says, patting his lap again. Lifting his eyes to me, his low voice tries to entice me. “Tell me.”
“She died, ok?” I blurt out, grasping the beer. My knuckles shine white against the brown bottle. “She went into a convenience store to get a coke and two guys came in, shot the clerk, shot her, and ran out the back. Ok? I was in the car, I saw the whole thing. By the time I ran in, she was bleeding out. All I could do was hold her.” I instinctively rub my hands down my skirt. “All that blood, Jesus, there was so much fucking blood. I dialed 9-1-1 and they told me an ambulance was on the way. I could hear sirens in the distance.” My voice doesn’t sound like my own as I plead, “I fucking begged her to stay with me, to hold on. Not to leave me.” My voice cracks. “She died in my arms.”
He’s in front of me before I can move, reaching for me. My hand flies up as I yell, “Don’t touch me. “ I push his hands away. “What are you doing? I don’t want you to touch me.” I lean away in horror. “Are you happy now? Are you? The fucking gory details, the juice, well, you got it. You wanted to know.”
Rolling my eyes up, I say, “The media coverage was insane. My mom went into full spin mode. The deputy mayor’s daughter in a convenience store in the projects, involved in a shootout, one dead.” The tears come and I angrily try to swipe them away. “The press was everywhere. All the questions, barked in my ears. Surrounding me, so close, pushing at me. Asking who Angela was, what I was doing there, what was the nature of our relationship?”
My jaw clenches. “My mother could have told them the truth, but no-o-o-o. She had to cover her own fucking, political ass. Her PR firm worked round the clock to spin it.” I snort. “They said I didn’t see their faces. The police accepted what my mother’s people told them. I was never asked to make a statement. The police never found them – insufficient evidence.” The guilt stabs me in the gut. Churning, the bile reaches my throat. I hold my hands over my stomach, wishing it to stop spinning and turning.
My teeth grind as I sneer. “When I needed my mother, to help me, to love me, she only thought of her fucking self. I was just another problem to solve.”
I look at the table. It’s out. My voice is hollow and soft. “That’s what happened to the girl. Her name was Angela and she was my first love. That’s who she was. She was everything to me…and she died. Happy now?” My tears stream down my face and the pain stabs my heart. Sniffing, I mumble, “Please go.”
“No.” Pulling his chair around the table, he sits.