Before & After - Nazarea Andrews Page 0,50
to what I want, right? That’s why Dad first ran for office. Because you totally listened when I said I didn’t want anything to do with his political circus.”
Mary Anne makes a dismissive noise and waves a hand at Collins. “You deal with her. You’re the one who thinks her being at the benefit is a good idea.”
“She lives here. How the hell will it look if she lives here and doesn’t show up to support the campaign?” Collins says evenly.
“Give it up, Dad. I’m not coming to the fundraiser. I’m done doing the political daughter shit. I’m here, now. As your daughter to let you meet Rike. Now do you want to focus on that or should we go?”
The senator and Peyton glare at each other for a long tense moment, and then he huffs. “Will you consider it?”
“Will you drop it if I say yes?” He nods and she shrugs. “Sure. I’ll consider it.”
Brody snorts and I turn my attention on Peyton’s younger brother.
He’s got the same red hair, just a few shades darker, a wide grin, and mischievous eyes that are instantly likable. He’s the only one in her family she ever talks about. She likes her young, wild brother. I think he’s the only reason she ever goes home—even on her abbreviated visits.
“Tell me about yourself. What do your parents do?” Collins says as the waitress puts our drinks down. She takes our order and then scurries away and I have to face the question.
I shrug. “My mother was addicted to crack. We bounced around with her pimp for a while. She overdosed when I was six and I landed in the system. My father—well, he’s never been part of the picture.”
He blinks at me, and I stare, my face blank.
No one is ever completely comfortable with me dropping the info like that. And this guy—he doesn’t want me anywhere near his daughter to start with.
“Were you adopted, then?” Mary Anne asks.
“Nope. I was in and out of group homes and foster families until I aged out. Spent six months in juvie when I was fourteen for assault. When I turned eighteen, my best friend and I had a little bit of money saved up, so we got a place and that was that.”
She looks startled, and I smile. “Not exactly the pretty picture you wanted, right?”
“How serious is this?” Collins asks, his gaze on Peyton. He’s gone back to pretending I don’t exist.
“We just moved in together, Dad. Pretty fucking serious.”
“You know he’s using you, right? For your trust fund.”
“Fuck, Dad,” Brody sighs.
“What’s shocking, Dad? The fact that someone wants me or the fact that I’m not playing the dutiful daughter?” she snaps.
“I don’t need your daughter’s money, Senator. Frankly, I’ve tried to convince her to quit using it to pay for rent. I make more than enough to support us both. I’m with her because I love her.”
“Excuse me if I choose to not trust a violent felon,” he says coldly.
“That’s what everyone focuses on. My violent crimes. Peyton asked, you know. Why. The why is more important than the what, and I’d do it again. Every fucking time.”
The table is quiet and then Brody asks softly, “Why?”
“His best friend. Scott was being abused. He’d kept it quiet for a while, and pulled the attention from the other kid in the house. He made himself a target to protect them, and kept it from Rike because he knew how Rike would react.”
I close my eyes, and lean back. Let her tell the story.
“One afternoon, Rike shows up at the foster home. They haven’t seen each other in months—just emails to keep in touch and to make sure the other is safe. They’re all each other has, right? So he shows up at this foster home. It was a bad time—Scott was home with the bastard while the other kids were out and he’d managed to piss the guy off, not that it’s hard, you know. And Rike walks in on him beating the shit out of Scott. Scott’s covered in blood and piss, barely fucking conscious, and Rike—well, he’s smart. He knows it’s been happening for a while. He can read bruises like most people can read the paper. And he lost it. Attacked the guy with a glass bottle he found on the table. By the time they got Rike off the dude, he’d carved his face up and beaten him to a pulp. The guy spent a month in the hospital before