Mr. Mitchell Billionaires' Club Book 2 - Raylin Marks Page 0,81
want him around Addy at all. I will leave with her if you don’t fix this right now,” she said while Derek danced around me like a buffoon.
“Derek, get up here!”
I jerked my head over in the direction of the stern man’s voice. Derek threw his hands up and stomped up toward the front door.
“Are you okay to leave Addy here?” I asked Avery, shocked she would consider it.
“No,” she sobbed into her hands after her phone slipped into her lap.
Shit. “One call, and I can have someone here to arrest him, and we’ll all be leaving together.”
“Let me go talk to his parents, and I’ll make that decision. Trust me; he’ll waste everyone’s time by being passed out by the time the cops show up.”
“All right,” I answered, seeing that this was definitely not Avery’s first shit storm with this guy.
I waited outside, leaning against the passenger side of my car. This was majorly fucked-up bullshit. No one should ever have to worry like this.
I grabbed my phone from my car and dialed my brother.
“Jimmy,” Jake answered.
“Hey, how’s your schedule right now?”
“Stuck in fucking traffic. Why?”
“If I needed you to get your ass down to Anaheim, how fast could you get here?”
“Anaheim?” Jake answered. “I guess if I made it to an off-ramp and got off this freeway, I bet around thirty to forty minutes? What the fuck are you doing in Anaheim?”
“I might need your help driving Avery. I’m in the Aston Martin and only have two fucking seats. We might need to get Addison out of here. Her dad is jacked up and high on something.”
“Holy shit,” he said. “I’ll try to be there in about thirty minutes, hopefully less.”
“Hang on. Avery is coming out now,” I said. “We might be good. I’ll call you back if I need you to drive this way.”
“All right. Let me know what’s up when you can, then.”
“Fuck all of you, then! I’m out.” Derek looked at me as he walked across his father’s patchy lawn. “Get this piece of shit out of my way before I run it the fuck over.”
“Derek, back the truck up, and just leave, goddamnit. Go sober the fuck up, and if you’re not sober tomorrow, I’m getting Addy first thing in the morning.” She looked at me after Derek jumped in his truck, backed up, and peeled out.
“Welcome to my life. Nice intro, eh?” she said.
“And Addison?” I asked.
Avery’s face was red and stained from tears. “Her grandparents called the cops on him. He won’t be back tonight.”
“Jesus.” I reached for her hand. “Are you okay. Will you be okay?”
“I’m okay now that the front door is locked, Derek is gone, and I can breathe again.”
“Where do you want me to take you?”
“Can you just drive for a while? I don’t want to go home yet. I just need to drive,” she said as she intertwined her fingers with mine. “Your hands, I’ve missed them.”
I brought the back of her hand to my lips. “And they’ve missed you,” I answered. “How about I take you through Laguna Hills, and we’ll have dinner in Laguna tonight? Sound good?”
“And if I get a call that Derek’s in jail?”
I looked over at her. “Then I’ll be profoundly relieved that he’s behind bars, and not endangering lives on the road. Who the fuck drives a truck like that and still lives with his parents?”
“A fucking addict who doesn’t know what the hell he’s doing outside of killing himself?”
“I guess so,” I said.
“His friend’s house is down that street.” She pointed down a frontage road. “He’s safely getting his fix and will pass out there.”
“He’s a jacked-up piece of shit, if you don’t mind me saying so.”
She laughed and glanced over. “That’s putting it lightly.”
We got in the car and headed on our way. I needed Avery to tell me more about how she could be okay with Addy staying at that place or anywhere near that guy. I’m sure she had reasons, but I also worried that it was his empty threats that were manipulating her too. Either way, I told her that I would stick by her and help. That’s what I planned on doing, but I needed to know more, or I would have great difficulty believing that Addy was safe from her dad tonight—or any night.
Chapter Twenty-One
Avery
I had been crying and nearly lost my shit while Jim drove me away from Addy at her grandparents. I had to just close my eyes, stay quiet, and breathe