Cherry Creek - Dani Matthews Page 0,7

I say stubbornly as I settle back in my chair, my jaw set.

Caroline sighs as she sets her glass down. “Think about it, sweetheart. Khristos is offering you something you’ll never have here. He’s wealthy, and he has connections. You’ll want for nothing, and you’ll be safe. Think of your future and what moving could do for you.”

I glare at her. “I’m not going to ride someone’s coat tails to get what I want.”

“You’ll have more options than you would have here,” Khristos intervenes.

“You’re talking like I’m going with you. I’m not,” I retort. Before anything more can be said, our waitress comes up with our food on a tray. We’re all silent as she sets out our plates and asks if we need anything else. Once she walks away, I reach for my fork and ignore my mom and Khristos as I begin to eat. The topic of me leaving Missouri is over. They can’t make me go anywhere.

“Livvy,” my mom begins. “I want more for you, and I can’t give it to you here. Khristos is offering you a secure home while we live paycheck to paycheck. I want you to go with him.”

I set my fork down calmly and look at her. “I’m fine where I’m at.”

She shakes her head, and her lips pinch together slightly. “No, you’re not. Your ex-boyfriend almost killed you four days ago, we’ve got reporters hounding us left and right, and we both know school is going to be bad for you here. You need to go with him.”

I scan her face, searching for some kind of explanation for this sudden need of hers to send me off with this man that neither of us know. I’m not understanding any of this. My mom should be begging to come with, so she can live in the lap of luxury with this man. So why is she intent on staying in our seedy little apartment? “What about you?” I ask, needing to know why she wants to stick around.

“I’ll be fine. There’s…someone I’ve met, and I want to see how things go. I’ll relocate this fall,” she promises.

I mull over her explanation. If she’s staying here for a man, that would make sense. My mom’s always dating someone new, and when she falls for someone, she quickly becomes infatuated with them. A new thought enters my mind, and I shake my head and look at them both. “I need to stick around anyway. This thing with Brad is still going on, and I highly doubt the police will allow me to leave the state so soon,” I point out. There. That’s a good excuse to put an end to this conversation.

“I’ll take care of it,” Khristos says simply as he takes a sip of his orange juice, his eyes lingering on me over the rim of his glass.

I’m betting he would, too. Going by his demeanor, and the fact that he’s got money, I’m betting this man has some serious connections. And I’m in trouble here, because they both seem to have their minds set. I turn on my mom again. “Mom, you can’t be serious. How do you even know you can trust this guy?”

“He can be trusted, Livvy.”

“What part of ‘I don’t want to go’ do you not understand?”

“When you’re a mother, you’ll understand what it’s like to want to put your child’s welfare above your own. I think moving will be good for you. And I’ll be there in the fall. It’s just three months without me, Livvy. I think you can handle it.”

“But—”

“No one will know you there. You’ll start a new school without a reputation making things difficult. We both know school is going to be out of the question here. I was considering moving once this thing with Brad is done, so Khristos isn’t really suggesting anything that I haven’t thought of already,” my mom points out.

“I think we should put this conversation on hold for a bit,” Khristos speaks up. “Let’s let Livvy get to know me for the next few days, and then we’ll go from there.”

“That’s a good idea,” my mom says immediately.

“Do I get a say in any of this?” I ask with irritation.

“Of course,” they both say in unison.

Chapter Two

I stare out the jet's window as I gaze at the clouds we're flying through. My mind is a complete mess as I try to sort out my thoughts. It's been two weeks since Brad tried to kill me, and everything has changed.