Tall, Dark & Heartless

by R. L. Mathewson

Page 77

 

  "What the hell were you thinking, Jill?" her father suddenly roared as he kicked the bottom of the large solid bed frame, sending it flying across the room and slamming it into the wall with a sickening crack followed by the sound of glass shattering. She didn't need to look to know that the bed was probably embedded in the wall.

  She looked up at her father to meet his red eyed glare and immediately wished that she hadn't. She cringed when she saw the expression on his face, the one that used to make her feel worthless. Dissapointment. Her father was disappointed in her and she couldn't blame him, but that didn't make it hurt any less.

  "I thought you were smarter than this, Jill," he said, rubbing his hands down his face.

  "I am, Dad. If you'd just let me explain-"

  "Explain?" he cut her off with a pained chuckle. "I would love to hear how my daughter came to let a f**king leech feed off of her and mark her as his f**king property!" he snapped, his red eyes glowing more intensely with each word.

  "I'm not his property," she hastily explained, hoping to calm him enough so that they could sit down and discuss this.

  Once she explained the situation, her father would understand and realize that this whole thing was just a simple misunderstanding. Maybe she shouldn't have given Logan her blood, or at the very least maybe she should have taken some out of the infirmary, but she didn't want to risk getting caught and getting banned from the lockup unit.

  She'd miss the friendship she'd built with Logan, but most of all, she'd miss seeing Joshua. He was the reason why she was still here and if they took away her daily and nightly visits to him then she would truly be useless and she wouldn't be able to handle that.

  "You know what it means when you let a vampire feed from you, Jill," her father said, focusing his attention back on packing her things. He grabbed the clothes away from her and tossed them onto the bureau.

  "I'm not his, Dad. If you would just-"

  "I'm done listening, Jill. I'm taking you home to your grandmother tonight," he said before adding quietly, "I really thought you were past all this. "

  "What are you talking about?" she demanded as she stepped in front of him, cutting him off as he moved towards the bathroom to get the rest of her things.

  "I'm talking about all this bullshit Candy shoved down your throat, but apparently I was wrong," he said, shaking his head in disgust as he moved past her.

  She reached out and grabbed his arm to stop him. "I'm nothing like her," she said firmly.

  She wasn't.

  Over the past ten years she'd worked hard to make sure that every last ounce of her biological mother's influence was gone. She worked her butt off, she put her family first, was responsible, didn't drink, and wasn't a slut. In fact, she hadn't slept with a man since that horrible night when she was fifteen. Now she understood that she was too stupid and immature to know any better. That was a mistake that she never planned on making again.

  She was nothing like Candy. Candy only lived for herself and that definitely wasn't Jill. She always put everyone else's needs and wants ahead of her own and she bent over backwards to help anyone who asked, which is exactly how she got herself into this little mess. It was one of the tiny little problems she was trying to work on.

  She was a sucker for a sob story.

  Everyone who worked or lived at the Corner Street shelter would agree wholeheartedly to that. She'd lost count of how many times she gave people chances that really didn't deserve one. It was the reason why she was written up at work at least four times a month when she worked at the shelter. It certainly didn't help that she was quick to forgive.

  Thanks to her father, Madison, Grandma and especially Chris she was given a second chance at life and she felt like a hypocrite not giving someone else a chance. That didn't mean that she was a complete pushover no matter what anyone thought. She believed in giving second chances, but she never gave out third chances. Once someone burned a bridge with her that was it, she was done.

  So far, Logan hadn't hurt her or let her down and when she found out that he was suffering she couldn't just sit by and let it continue. He made it easier to handle this situation and she couldn't just sit by while he was in pain. It probably wasn't the wisest decision that she'd ever made, but she made sure that he understood that she was only helping him and that she wasn't signing on to serve him.

  "Then how do you explain giving yourself to a vampire?" he asked softly, looking down at her with open pity before pulling his arm away and once again moving towards the bathroom. "Get ready. We're leaving in ten minutes. "

  "Dad,-"

  "Change of plans," Chris announced as he strolled into her room, carrying Izzy, who was noticeably fuming, and Kale hot on his heels and looking close to committing murder.

  "You're not going," Kale gritted out.

  "Yeah, you keep telling yourself that, cupcake," Chris drawled lazily even as he ran an assessing eye over Jill to make sure that she was okay. Once he was satisfied that their father hadn't made her cry he let her know with a frown that they'd be having a talk later, probably a very loud talk.

  "Chris," Izzy said with a put out sigh, "put me down. I can walk. "

  "It took me an hour to lure you off that bastard's lap with a candy bar. I'm not about to go through that bullshit again," Chris snapped at his mate, somewhat surprising Jill since her brother normally went out of his way to keep his cool around his mate.

  "It doesn't count!" Izzy snapped, pointing an accusing finger at Kale. "He took it!"

  "You took my cake, woman!" Kale snapped back, which wasn't at all surprising since the two sugar addicts were constantly coming to blows over something.

  "And I'll do it again, you bully!"

  Chris rolled his eyes in exasperation as he made his way over to the desk and pulled the chair out with his foot and sat down, quickly rearranging Izzy on his lap so that she could lay her head against his shoulder while he laid a possessive hand on her large stomach.

  Jill couldn't help but smile at the sight. For a while there, she thought her brother was going to doom himself to a life of misery by sending his mate away, but thankfully Izzy convinced him that she was worth the risk. She was happy for him and for Izzy. She was especially happy with her little niece, Jessica. She loved that little girl as if she were her own.

  When Chris wasn't carrying Jessica around she was with Izzy and if for some reason Izzy couldn't watch her, then her father and Madison, Eric and even Kale watched her. Jill would have loved to have at least filled in as the baby's nanny while she was here. It would have made sense since she had no other duties and really hated not having anything to do, but it seemed that she wasn't the only one who fell in love with the little girl.

  Sometimes she felt like she had to take a number just to spend any time with her adorable niece. Of course, it made the time she did have with her niece more precious. It didn't really matter because one day she planned on having a houseful of children that she could love and cherish.

  She would make sure that her children always knew how much she loved them. She would do her best to be like Madison, who had done whatever it took to raise them and always let them know how much they meant to her even when Jill acted like a spoiled little brat. One day she'd find a good man and settle down and she'd make sure to cherish every minute of it.