Drew (Heaven Hill Shorts Book 8)
Page 3
“You’re not…”
I put my hand up to stop her words. “I am, probably not in any way you can tell, but I am. There are certain things I’ve told people not to do with you, situations I didn’t want you involved in that I manipulated so that you wouldn’t have to be there.”
“But it was for my best interest, right?” God, even now she’s willing to make excuses for the people she loves.
“It was supposed to be, but I’m beginning to realize it’s holding me back, which is holding you back. I can’t be with you twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. It’s just not feasible, so here’s where I need your help.”
Justice scoots over closer to me, paying close attention to what I’m saying to her. “I know Caelin and Tyler have been helping you with self-defense classes.”
“If you want me to stop them, I will, but I really like them.”
“No, you’re getting me wrong, I don’t want you to stop them.”
“Then what?”
“I want you to allow me to go to one, to see what you can do.”
She shakes her head, “I don’t know if I can do it in front of other people.”
“I need to see you can take care of yourself, Justice. In order for me to begin healing, I have to know I’m not sending you out in some fight unprepared.”
“Caelin and Tyler have been taking good care of me, Daddy. I know what to do if someone tries to grab me again, we’ve been working on it.”
“I have no doubt they’ve showed you what to do, but for my piece of mind, I need to see it. Do you feel comfortable showing me?”
Her eyes are wide - she shakes her head wildly. Bending down so that I’m eye-level with her, I get real honest. “I’m not sure I can let you go out into this world, Justice, unless I know you can protect yourself. I can’t live through what we just lived through again. I will kill the next person who dares touch a hair on your head.”
“I already have Caelin’s dirty hands on my conscience,” she whispers.
“Any of us would have done it for you.”
“What if I hurt you?” Her voice is small. “I can flip Caelin over, it’s all about your center of gravity, not about how big you are. That’s why I like what they’re teaching me. I feel like I can go into any situation and have an upper hand, even though I’m young and small. It gives me a confidence I didn’t have when Travis took me. I have confidence now that if someone took me, I could get away.”
“I promise you won’t hurt me.”
She doesn’t look like she believes it.
“But what if I do?”
“I deserve it, Justice. For not protecting you. That’s my job, and I failed.”
Tears slip past my eyes as I say those words, and soundlessly she throws herself into my arms, holding my waist tightly.
“You didn’t fail,” her voice is soft long, long moments later. “Travis was sick, and if he hadn’t of hurt me, he would have hurt someone else.”
The reality of that statement is enough to drive me to drink, but instead, I hold onto her tightly.
The way I should have been doing the day she was taken.
Chapter Six
Drew
Butterflies bounce around in my stomach. I’m not usually a nervous guy, but right now I am, watching Justice and Caelin practice her self-defense moves. In just the few minutes I’ve been here, I can already see she’s learned much more than I gave her credit for.
“Sorry I’m late,” Charity comes rushing through the door of the gym, hurrying over to me. “Court ran a few minutes over and then nobody wanted to step on their damn gas pedal.”
“Didn’t get a ticket did you?” I wrap my hand around the back of her neck, pulling her under my chin so I can kiss the crown of her hair.
She winks. “I know where all the speed traps are.”
My breath ruffles her hair when I chuckle, pulling her further into me. “How’s my boy doin’ today?” I whisper into her ear because we haven’t told anyone other than the girls yet.
We don’t know for sure yet that she’s carrying a boy, but I feel it. Something in my gut when I look at her. Not to mention that dream I had. Me and a son riding side by side down the road on the back of matching Harley’s, our very own Harley in the middle.
The perfect trio.
“Craving every fuckin’ thing spicy. After this, I demand you take me for chips and the hottest salsa El Maz has.”
“Your wish is my command, baby. We just better hope,” I flinch as Caelin goes flying over Justice’s head, “That she doesn’t throw my back out or break my hip, ‘cause damn she’s good at this.”
“That’s my girl,” Charity whistles, clapping loudly.
Justice gets off the ground, beaming when she looks over at us. I swear to God, you can see her smile from the moon if you were up there looking.
“You ready, Dad?” She flicks her head to the side, where Caelin stands. “It’s your turn.”
I’ve changed into more comfortable clothes. A t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants. “Guess I’m as ready now as I’ll ever be.”
“Good luck out there, baby daddy,” Charity pinches my ass as I cross her path, walking over to where Justice stands.
Justice’s eyes, so much like mine, follow me as I get closer to her. She’s sizing me up, something I’ve never noticed her do before. I’m fucking proud of her, watching as she eyes me like maybe competition, or better yet a predator. She seems aware of her surroundings and level-headed. When I flick my eyes down to where she stands, her feet are planted firmly on the mat, her hands give off no semblance of a shake.
My girl knows where she is, what she’s doing, and how she’ll get to her final goal.
“Whenever you want, Dad,” she relaxes her posture. “Go for it.”
A part of me wants to take it easy on her, after all, she is my daughter, and I know what she’s been through. But I saw her out here, with Caelin, he wasn’t taking it easy on her at all. Stepping back a little, I glance over to where Caelin sits on a bench, drinking a bottle of water. My eyes meet his and I can see it there - he’s telling me not to go easy - it’ll be a major sign of disrespect if I don’t let her show me what she’s learned.
The two of us stare at each other, like what we are, two fighters facing one another in a ring. She’s small, but I have a lot of years on her, and I’m fast, regardless of how I look. I do a fake on her, getting behind her, and grabbing her around the waist.
I’m so unprepared for what comes next.
She stomps the fuck out of my foot, elbows me, and then grabs my hand at her waist, using it as leverage to pull me over her shoulder. Before I know what’s happening, I’m on my back on the mat, looking up at the ceiling.
“That’s my girl! Get him!”
Charity should be cheering for me. Better yet, I decide as I try to roll over, she should be getting ready to get me a damn ice pack, since I’m pretty sure I’ll be sore as fuck when this is all over.
Shaking my head, I get up, looking at Justice.
“You weren’t playing were you?”
“No sir, I can take care of myself.”
Two more times I try to get the jump on her, using moves I’ve used to get myself out of bar fights, and away from people who wanted to harm me. Each time, she puts me flat on my back.
“You wanna go with her again?” Caelin asks from where he sits on the sidelines.
Smart ass.
“Nope, I think I’m good.”
“Do you trust me?” Justice asks. “Do you trust that I can take care of myself if I need to? I know I didn’t before, but I was never interested in trying. Not once in my life did I ever feel unsafe, Dad, and that’s because of how you raised us. But I got, what’s the word? The one where you think it’s always going to be the same?”
There’s my ten-year-old. She’s not an adult yet, even though she carries herself like one.
“Complacent?”
“Yeah,” she snaps her fingers. “I got complac
ent in my safety. Tyler and Caelin have made sure I’ll never do that again.”
“Come here,” I open my arms to her.
She runs to me, wrapping them tightly around my waist. “Can you start now?” She asks.
For just a second I don’t realize what she’s asking me, but as I think back to the conversation we had, I look around the room. There’s Caelin, slowly moving on from one of the most adult decisions he’s ever had to make. Charity, with her slightly rounded stomach, the baby we didn’t even realize we needed, safe in her womb. She’s running her hand over the distended flesh, and I know that if anyone were to threaten her, she’d fight to death. And then there’s me and Justice. Two people who didn’t know how badly they needed to trust each other.
“Yeah Jus. I’m ready to start healing now.”
“Good,” she reaches out punching me in the gut.
“Ooff.”
“Justice!” Charity yells. “You want some chips and salsa?”
“Yes!”
Her answer is that of an almost-teen, excited with an opportunity she’s about to have.
“C’mon old man,” Charity yells to me. “Let’s go get our other daughter and have some dinner.”
Any other time I’d tell her I’m not an old man, I’d brag on the fact she’s carrying my baby right now. How dare her call me old, but as I walk to the door, I feel it - the soreness I’ll be living with for at least a few days.
But as I watch my girls get into Charity’s SUV, and I turn my bike toward my parents’ to get Harley, I realize what a lucky man I am.
And finally, after all this time, I’m ready to heal.
For them. For me.
The End.
About the Author
Laramie Briscoe is the USA Today and Wall Street Journal Bestselling Author of over 30 books.
Since self-publishing her first book in May of 2013, Laramie has appeared on the Top 100 Bestselling E-books Lists on Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo. Her books have been known to make readers laugh and cry. They are guaranteed to be emotional, steamy reads.
When she's not writing alpha males who seriously love their women, she loves spending time with friends, reading, and marathoning shows on Netflix. Married to her high school sweetheart, Laramie lives in Bowling Green, KY with her husband (the Travel Coordinator) and a sometimes crazy cat named Beau.
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