Travis (1:45 pm): I can’t get them out. Who the hell invented this stupid goddamn metal brush? It’s not picking up anything!
Hannah (1:47 pm): I’ll be there in ten minutes. Give me directions.
I did, and hit send, thankful that someone was coming to help me.
I could’ve called my mother, and probably should have, but the idea of having Hannah here while I went through this was enough to make me ignore the idea of doing the right thing.
I’d just gotten through another miniscule amount of hair when I heard the doorbell ring.
My heart leapt.
“Be right back, honey,” I said.
When I opened the door, it was to find Hannah standing there, a large bag in her hands, and in a new t-shirt and a pair of shorts.
“I brought sustenance. Take me to your leader.”
I snorted and opened it wide.
“Thank you, Hannah.”
She winked. “No problem.”
And she proved that by spending the next three hours picking the world’s worst thing ever out of my kid’s hair.
***
Present day
“I don’t understand,” I groaned to the sky. “Why is it always her making waves?”
“I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a million times,” Reed grunted as he watched the TV in my living room. “You’re fucking her over. You’re fucking everybody over for that bitch’s promise that she won’t do anything, yet, she is doing stuff. Your kid is a fucking asshole. I’m sorry to say that bro, but she’s Allegra’s mini-me, and she’s damn mean. She won’t even look at me without sneering. I didn’t even do anything to her.”
That was true, and the urge to jump to my child’s defense was high.
Yet, I couldn’t argue with him.
He was right.
Hannah, Reggie, and I had done our part in this. We’d done everything right. We’d bowed to everything that Allegra requested, yet Allegra continued to fuck me over. And in turn, continued to turn our child against me.
It hurt.
And obviously, I wasn’t the only one affected.
My mom was devastated. Allegra literally hated her guts, and after losing one granddaughter who moved out of state, and the other two grandchildren in the car crash…well, that was just the icing on the shit cake.
I looked around the empty house.
TJ was at daycare, Reggie was at school, and Hannah was at work.
This was my first day off in weeks, and I didn’t know what to do with myself.
I’d been on my way into work when my brother had called, telling me in no uncertain terms that I needed to turn my life around.
“What brought this visit on?” I asked, taking a sip of my beer.
It was ten o’clock in the morning, but I needed it.
I literally thought I might die without the beer.
“I saw Hannah’s brother today.”
My stomach clenched.
“Where?”
“The hotel.”
Fuck!
“What’s he doing here?”
I didn’t bother to ask him why he was at the hotel. I knew why.
“He’s here to see the kids. Hasn’t seen them in a while.”
I pursed my lips. “Did he bring Nikki and the kids?”
He nodded.
Wonderful.
I’d have to depart my residence to allow them the ability to come over and visit without adding that certain level of uneasiness that was always around when Michael and I were in the same room.
Not that I could blame him for hating me.
If anyone had done what I’d done to Hannah to my sister, I’d feel the same freakin’ way.
Goddammit.
Two hours later, I left my house for my brother’s house, and stayed there while Hannah, Reggie, and TJ caught up with their Uncle Michael. I’d return once Michael and his crew left for the hotel they would be staying at during their visit.
Lucky for me, I didn’t have to sleep on my brother’s couch because he’d rented a room. Unlucky for me, Michael was just leaving as I was arriving. I was treated to a glare from Michael, and a sad, uncomfortable grin from Hannah.
Just wonderful.
Chapter 8
Apparently, rock bottom has a basement. Who knew?
-Hannah’s secret thoughts
Hannah
“Mom!” Reggie pulled on my hand. “Look at the dog that Travis has! It looks just like Mogley!”
Mogley used to be my ex-husband’s hunting dog. Right around the time we got divorced, Mogley started to go downhill. With no more use for his hunting dog now that Mogley was too old to hunt, he had no use for the dog.
When I’d heard that he was about to take him to a shelter, I’d taken Mogley with me.
Mogley had lived out the rest of his days in comfort, and he’d passed about ten months ago during the night.
That was the night that I’d called Travis in tears, unsure what I should do with him.
***
347 days ago
I walked out into the hall, discomforted when I’d realized that Mogley hadn’t followed into my room after an hour or so.
And I knew, the moment that I saw the large black lump on the floor, that it was Mogley.
What I hadn’t thought, was that he wouldn’t be breathing.
Sure, he was nearly eleven years old, but the ol’ boy had a lot of heart left in him.
I’d thought I had another few years with him at least.
I didn’t think, not in a million years, that he would die.
“Moge?” I called.
The black form didn’t move, and my brows furrowed.
“Moge, it’s bedtime!” I called to him, clapping my hands. “Come on, let’s go!”
Mogley still didn’t move.
Worried now, I flipped on the light, and my heart dropped.
“Moge?”
Mogley was facing me, his unseeing eyes staring toward my door.
“Moge?” My voice broke.
This time there were tears in my eyes.
“No,” I croaked. “Please no.”
Reggie would break. She’d literally break when she heard the news.
So, in order not to wake her, I let my tears fall silently.
“Oh, baby.” I dropped down to my knees, running my fingers down my baby’s soft fur. “I’m going to miss you like crazy.”
I ran my hand down the length of his body, then back up again. He’d been so big…so full of life. It didn’t feel right that he wasn’t attacking me with his tongue like he normally would have.
He was lying so still.
A tear fell to my bare thigh.
Sniffling, I stood up and walked to my room, slipping on my shorts and tennis shoes.
My intention was to lift him, to bring him outside…to do what, I didn’t know. But I knew I couldn’t leave him there. The moment that Reggie got up, she’d see him.
She’d know instantly.
Which meant I had to do this now, in the middle of the night.
Except I found out really quick that the dead weight of a one-hundred-pound dog was a lot different than one hundred pounds of moving dog.
I got him a whole foot from where he was lying before I realized that I wouldn’t be able to do it myself.
“Shit,” I wiped away more tears. “Shit, shit, shit, shit.”
I scanned through my memory, wondering who I should call. Each time I’d think of someone, I’d quickly dismiss them.
I had neighbors, but not any that I would trust coming in my house.
I also had Wednesday, but since I wasn’t sure she could help me move him anymore than I could, I knew that there was only one person that I could call.
And the moment that he answered, I knew that he’d come.
“Everything okay?”
“I need your help.”
He didn’t even
hesitate.
He came, helped me bury my friend, and then held me until Reggie woke up early.
Then, when my daughter found out about Mogley, he held her, too.
It was the single best day, and worst day, of my life.
Four hours later, my brother had my daughter, and I was at the front door to Travis’ place.
I’d buried my canine friend today with a man that I felt had my back just as much as I’d had his.
We’d become friends over the last couple weeks. We’d seen each other on and off, but each time we came into contact, sparks would fly.
I knew I wasn’t the only one feeling them. I knew it. I felt it in my very core.
So that was what had me standing on the porch of a man that’d done nothing more than offer me a shoulder to cry on, and save me from myself, each time we’d spent any length of time together.
I knocked on the door and felt my heart lurch when he opened it.
“Hannah?”
There was no hesitation inside of me at all.
I moved.
Pushing him with my hands on his chest, I went up onto my tippy toes and laid my mouth straight on his.
“I need you,” I said the moment I pulled my lips from his.
It’d been a short, sweet kiss.
But, by the look on Travis’ face, it’d gotten the point across.
Before I could do so much as explain myself, he was on me.
I had my back against his closed front door, and my legs around his hips, gasping as his mouth slammed down onto mine.
He was like a wild beast.
His beard was rasping against the sensitive skin of my neck, and his eyes were boring straight into mine.
At the same time, his hands were slipping under my shirt, and then shoving it up and over my head moments later. The next thing that went was my bra, which he deftly unclipped and let fall to the floor the moment I got my arms out of it.
He stopped at my mouth, only to drop that talented tongue to the tip of my nipple, lathing and sucking it as he practically worshipped me.
“Trav,” I moaned, fisting my hands in his hair.
He growled something unintelligible, and then switched to the other nipple.
My hands trailed down his back, relishing in the play of muscles that rippled over his strong shoulders as he hoisted me up higher on his hips.
And his reason why was answered moments later when I heard the distinct clink-clink of his belt buckle being undone.
I bit my lip and studied him, running my hands down his side.
“I’m a fucking wreck,” he told me. “I have a brother that is one crayon short of fucked up. My ex-wife is a bitch who’s turning my kid into someone that nobody likes, and I’m a workaholic.”
I blinked and stared.
“So?”
He didn’t crack a smile. “Well, I’m so fucking lost that I don’t know where to start to find my way again. If there was any sense of honor inside me at all, I’d tell you this was a bad fucking idea.”
I stared at him for a few long moments. “I have an ex-husband that calls every three weeks to make sure that I got my payment. My daughter waits for him at our door every Wednesday and Friday night hoping that this will be the week that he comes. That dog you buried? He gave it to me because he didn’t want it anymore. His new woman is allergic to dogs. Oh, and let’s not forget that I’ve not had sex in well over five years, three of those I was married. I have a job that I’m not too sure I want to keep, and an overprotective brother who comes down once a week. I’ll raise you ten.”
He grunted in reply.
Then, without another word, he hooked two arms around my ass and carried me to his bedroom.
“Well, as long as we’re agreeing that this is a bad idea,” he dropped me. “Let’s get started.”
***
Present day
“What’s with the dog?” I asked cautiously.
“It’s a bribe,” he told me. “My daughter said she’d only love me again if I bought her a puppy.”
My mouth fell open in shock.
“She did not.”
He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes.
“She did.”
My stomach tightened. “You know, right, that she was just saying that. She knows how allergic you are to them.”
I remembered him picking Mogley up, and immediately breaking out in hives wherever Mogley’s fur touched him.
It’d been horrible.
By the time Travis was done, he’d broken out in hives from wrist all the way up to his neck.
He’d told me that it was only a temporary thing, but I saw the discomfort in his eyes as he’d left that night.
And when I’d visited him a few hours later, he’d still had those hives.
He hadn’t acted like it bothered him at all, but still.
“She knows that I’m allergic.”
My mouth pinched shut. “She wouldn’t have made that request of you. It has to be Allegra trying to be funny.”
Travis shrugged. “You like dogs. Reggie is always asking for more. As long as you take care of him, and do all the loving that he’s going to need, then I don’t think it’ll matter, will it?”
Technically, that was true. Travis could be around the dog, as long as he didn’t touch the dog. The dog would have to stay off the furniture, or at least the furniture that Travis sat on. I’d have to make sure that I washed his clothes and put them away the instant that they were hung up instead of leaving them on the couch for a few days. Because it was inevitable that dog hair would get everywhere if I did.
I licked my lips, knowing that he wouldn’t budge on this.
So, instead, I walked over to where Reggie was cuddling the dog and scratched the cute little puppy’s fluffy head.
“Yeah, Trav. I’ll help.”
My brother glared at Travis, making me breathe out in frustration.
Michael and Travis likely would never get along. Even when Travis did something nice like buy my daughter a puppy that he knew would cause him discomfort.
Chapter 9
“As fuck” is my favorite unit of measurement.
-Fact of Life
Travis
Present day
“It’s all right, Tobias,” I said into the phone. “I’m calling him next.”
“Let me know if you get a hold of him,” Tobias sighed. “Oh, and I forgot to ask. How is the dog doing?”
Tobias had been the one to find me the chocolate lab puppy. He’d even gone as far as to meet me halfway with the dog.
I’d only broken out in hives for about thirty minutes before my Benadryl had kicked in, and since then, I’d taken a constant dose of the stuff.
My throat hadn’t stopped itching since I’d gotten the dog.
As for Dante? Well, I already knew what he’d do.
I didn’t reply at first, contemplating what to say.
We both knew that the possibility was low that he’d answer, but we’d try.
“The dog’s good, Toab-Toab. Hannah’s doing a superb job cleaning up the mess I left in her lap.”
At my words, Tobias started to laugh. “Have a good one, bro.”
Tobias said goodbye, and I immediately went back to my phone app and dialed Dante’s number.
He, unsurprisingly, didn’t answer.
“Dante,” I said into my phone, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Please call me. Call any of us. We just want to know that you’re okay.”
I hadn’t seen my brother in well over a month and a half. He’d completely gone off the grid since I’d seen him last, and it was an odd feeling.
Dante was normally the man that all of us could depend on. When he was the one hit with the tragedy, none of us knew what to do. How to react.
And honestly, he didn’t either.
I secretly thought that was why he’d stayed away as he had, because he wasn’t handling it all
that well. Though, who the fuck could blame him?
Someone knocked on my office door, and I put the phone down with a soft thump.
After rubbing my face with my hands roughly, I said, “Come in.”
Today was the anniversary of my sister’s suicide. The day that my sister had decided that taking her own life was the answer to the problems that she faced.
Not that my sister didn’t have her problems. They would’ve broken anybody.
When my sister was a teenager, Tobias’ good friend had raped her. Repeatedly.
She’d never fully recovered. Then, she’d gotten into drugs—which she’d been on the night that she’d been driving Dante’s family home.
After that day, she’d sobered up…or at least we’d thought that she had.
Which had been all of our faults. Tobias had really been the only one to stay on her hard. The rest of us had just been tired of it…which had been our own selfish protection act. We didn’t want to deal with it anymore. We were all sad, worn down, and had our own problems.
And honestly, we thought she was handling it better than she had been. It’d been our fatal mistake.
My hands were still on my face, my fingers pressing into both eyes. Which meant that I didn’t see her walk in.
Not until she touched my face.
“You okay?”
I dropped my hands and looked at the love of my life. The woman that I wanted, and couldn’t have.
But then a thought occurred to me.
Dante had had it all.
He’d had a wife. Two children that he adored with all of his heart. A great business.
He’d had everything that he could’ve ever asked for…and then he’d lost it.
He’d lost it, and maybe would never find something like that ever again.
Me? I’d never been happy.
Sure, I had a child. Yes, I loved her with all of my heart.
But her mother was poisoning her. Allegra was shaping her into a person that I knew wouldn’t lead to good things if we weren’t careful.
I’d let Allegra control my life. I’d made a mistake when I married her. When I’d entrusted her with my hopes and dreams.
Now, Allegra challenged those dreams…threatened to ruin them.
Go to Hail (The Hail Raisers Book 2) Page 6
