That Emerald Vow (The Crimson Creed #2)

7. Chapter Seven

I smile down at the mundane paperwork I have to do at the main office as I remember my night out with Charlie. I love hanging out with my guys—drinking, talking shop, kicking ass, and whatever else we want. Exploring mutual benefits with consenting women also makes for a great night. But something about being around Charlie drives me mad in the best way. Our flirty banter excites me down to my core.

There is definitely a sexual attraction between us, but that’s not what’s drawing me closer to her, and honestly, I can’t fully pinpoint what it is. There’s something inside her that mirrors the pain reflected in my own soul. When she fainted, there was such fear in her body, all I wanted to do was hold her and kill the person who put it there.

Charlie is such a force to be reckoned with. Strong. Wild. Beautiful. The vow I made to her I plan to keep. Just like I would for Lily. Through Adrian, they have become honorary family. I will make sure no harm comes to them as long as I can help it.

I text Charlie a random motivational quote, “Every day is a chance to be better” along with my little addition, “Unless you’re me—I was born awesome.” This started the morning after our hangout when I saw one on my feed and thought she could use a little pick me up.

Charlie:

What about me?

Me:

I guess you’re alright. ;)

Charlie:

Ass!

Me:

You were already born fierce and awesome. You know this.

While I wait for her response, my screen fills with the picture of my younger sister, Daniella.

“Hey, Dani,” I say as I put the phone to my ear.

“Hey, big bro,” she says, hesitantly.

Uh-oh. I sit up straighter in my seat. “What’s wrong?”

“What? Nothing’s wrong. How are you? Any new prospects for a girlfriend?” I can practically hear her shaking with nervous energy.

“Daniella Hayes,” I demand, worry lacing my tone as I start pacing the entire length of my office.

“Why would something need to be wrong?” she asks in a huff.

I rub my face with my free hand. “Because you sound like that .” I take a deep breath and ask in a calmer voice, “Is everything okay? Tell me. Is it the house? Your health?” My mother stopped taking care of us when I was only ten and Daniella was seven. I filled in those gaps of a parent at an early age—never letting her need for anything. “Talk to me, Dani.”

She hesitates before saying, “Can you come over?”

I barely finish hearing the request before I abruptly stop my pacing and turn to walk towards my truck. “I’m on my way, but tell me what’s going on.”

When I pass by Adrian in the shop, I stop to tell him I’m taking the rest of the day. He nods, knowing that it has to be family related. He says, “Call me if you need me,” as I continue to make my way outside. I nod in agreement.

“I’ll talk to you when you get here,” is all she says before she hangs up on me.

“Fuck!” What could have happened?

I slam my foot on the gas and peel out of the parking lot, getting to her college town as fast as I can, which is an hour away. Pain radiates through my hand as I slam my steering wheel in frustration, wishing I had ridden my bike this morning. It would have been faster.

With a lot of determination and unsafe driving, forty-five minutes later, I’m banging on my sister’s front door. Dani opens it, and I pull her into my arms. “Are you okay?” I push her out and inspect her from head to toe. “What happened?”

“I’m fine. Come in,” she says, looking guilty.

“You seem fine, physically. What’s going on?” I ask as I walk deeper into the apartment. My eyes are taking in my surroundings, trying to figure out what could be wrong. Everything seems to be as it was the last time I was here a few weeks ago.

“Sit, D,” says Dani.

I reluctantly sit across from her in a chair while she’s on the loveseat. “Talk, please. I’m worried.”

Dani is picking at her fingers, which is a bad habit from when we were kids. “It’s Mom,” she says, refusing to look me in the eye.

The blood flowing in my veins freezes over as a chill falls over me. “What? Why are you talking to her?” I struggle to maintain a neutral tone.

She looks up at me and then quickly back to my feet. “We—we never stopped . . . ”

I squeeze my hands into fists and release to try to ease the tension continuing to build in my body. It’s not Dani’s fault, but hers. “Okay.” I let go of my fists one last time and take a deep breath. “Okay. What’s going on with her?” I couldn’t care less what’s happening with her, but I care how it involves my baby sister.

Dani tries to hide her anxiety behind a neutral expression as she says, “I’ve been talking to her on and off for a couple of years. Mostly to help with her commissary.” My jaw unconsciously flexes, but I try to stay calm. “I know what you’ll say, but it was easier to just give her something rather than argue . . . She’s persistent.” I would have let her rot.

“How did I not know any of this?” I ask.

Dani stares at her hands, refusing to meet my eye. “I didn’t want to worry you. I thought I had it under control.”

I try to ease the tension in my face. “Dani, you shouldn’t have to worry about this. That’s why they have my number.” Not that I have been picking up the phone when they call. Great going, Damon, I curse myself.

“She’s our mom . . . I didn’t know what to do. She needed the money for her basic needs,” she whispers.

“Where did you get the money?” I ask, knowing the answer. My mother taught me what not to do with my finances with how she “raised” us. I made sure I taught Dani the value of money, and even with me helping fund college and pay for basics, Dani has a job and knows how to take care of herself.

“It was whatever little I could afford. Nothing crazy.”

“Okay . . . And? Did she ask for too much? Do you need help?” I ask, my eyebrows furrowing.

Dani says, “No . . . But . . . her lawyer called me.”

I bite down on my tongue until I taste blood to prevent myself from saying something. That woman deserves to rot in hell for the rest of her life for what she did. The state prison will do fine for now.

“Mom’s dying,” she says.

For the first time since Dani called me an hour ago, I feel nothing. There should be some emotion, right? Anger? Sadness? Something. But I feel nothing. Actually, I do feel something—reprieve.

“And?” I ask.

Her mouth falls open. “Damon!”

“Damon!” my mother calls out. “What are you doing?”

I slowly turn from my crouched position in her closet to look at her in disbelief at what I found. “I think the better question is: What the fuck are these things?” I screamed at her as I waved the images of my sister looking like an adult prostitute.

“That is none of your damn business!” she sneers at me as she snatches the photos and tucks them back into the open shoebox. “What Frank and I do with our daughter is our business.”

I’m fuming as I walk closer to her. My mind is going a million miles per hour at what she would do to my innocent little sister in the name of getting more drugs. Not to mention money for herself and her asshole boyfriend. “It sure fucking is when my sister looks twice her age. Looking like . . . like . . . you. I’m sure you have ulterior motives for these fucking pictures.”

My mother slaps me so hard, I see stars. “You ungrateful little shit! I give you and her everything. And you dare say shit like that?”

I move away when she tries slapping me again.

“You can do whatever you want to yourself, to your stupid boyfriend, even to me. But leave Dani out of it,” I beg her as my voice cracks. “Please, Mom.”

Her face breaks into a smirk as she gently places her hand to comb through my hair. “Oh, sweetheart.” The little boy in me longing for maternal love leans into her touch.

The gentle caress turns into her grabbing my hair with all her strength. I feel several strands rip out. “I. Do. Everything. For. You. Kids,” she spits out. “Now, it’s time for at least one of you to earn your keep.” Is she gonna make Dani . . . I can’t even finish the thought.

She shoves me to the floor, my back hitting the edge of the mattress frame. I wince in pain. “Mom! Please!”

Without a second glance in my direction, she heads out the door. “I am going out for a bit. If you know what’s good for you and your sister, you’ll have my dinner ready by the time I return.”

I get up, ignoring the pain in my back, and head to my room. Once safely inside, I take out the hidden phone in my sock drawer. We don’t have a mobile plan, but I paid for some minutes for my illegal activities and for emergencies on a burner phone. I dial in the number I’ve saved for the last few years but never had the balls to use. With each ring, my hope depletes until I hear the line connect and a familiar voice say, “Police Department. Detective Whitey speaking.”

“She doesn’t deserve our sympathy.” I close my eyes and find it in me to calm down. Internally, I am seething, but my need to comfort my sister trumps my own need to process these feelings. I stand up to go towards Dani and kneel in front of her. She’s a young adult now, but she still looks so young. Naive to the cruelty of the world . . . The cruelty of our mother . “She never earned it,” I say, taking both of her hands in mine.

“I know, but she’s our m—” Dani starts.

“She gave birth to us, and I will mourn the loss of the mother she was meant to be.” I smile at her as I squeeze her hands. “But that woman doesn’t exist. She didn’t get to see how her beautiful daughter turned out so amazing, even with a jackass for a brother.” I wink at her.

With tear-filled eyes, she smiles. “You didn’t do so bad.” Dani squeezes my hand before saying, “I love you, D . . . but they’re considering early release as she has mere weeks.”

“No,” I say, looking up sternly, knowing where this is going.

“They asked where she can stay,” Dani says, tears spilling over.

“No,” I say louder. “It is not safe for her to stay here.”

“Come on, D. It’s been six years. Maybe she’s—” Dani starts.

I stand up because I need to move around. There are so many emotions rushing through me. “There’s no changing someone like that. She’s not staying here. That’s final.”

“You don’t control me,” Dani says. “It’s only a few months. You have no say.”

I turn to her. “First of all, you are absolutely right. I raised you to be a strong, independent woman.” I emphasize the I, and the pain in my voice is clear. “She was too busy getting high. Second of all, she is not gonna keep you safe. She’ll just drag you down with her.”

“D.”

“No. And thirdly, if she really is dying, then that is more trauma that you don’t need to suffer through for a woman who didn’t do jack shit for us.” I go back towards her. “Listen, I know you feel a sense of responsibility. But I promise you, you don’t need to. She doesn’t deserve it. I’ll talk to the lawyer, okay?”

“But what if—”

Cutting her off, I say through clenched teeth, “If I must, I’ll get her hospice. But we have nothing else to do with her.”

She looks instantly relieved, making concern flood in versus the anger I feel about my mother still causing issues from prison. Dani doesn’t even know the grave details of how she went in other than drugs. The drugs are what got her thrown into prison before she could have done anything else to scar my poor sister. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“Oh . . . Okay.” Her shoulders relax. “I thought we had to take her in. So I tried to accept it.”

“You don’t have to accept anything. You don’t have to deal with her.” I pull her into my arms. “I’m sorry if my pigheadedness stopped you from talking to me earlier.”

“Thanks, Damon,” says Dani as she nuzzles into my chest. There is nothing I won’t do for her.

“No more giving her money either. That’s yours. I’ll deal with her,” I say as I rub her back, feeling the tension continue to release from her body. “Now enough of that. Tell your big bro all about what’s been going on.”

She pulls back, looking sheepish. “I have a new girlfriend!”

I laugh. “Come on. Let’s go grab some lunch and you can tell me all about her.” A warmth expands in my chest at the idea of my little sister finding love, and I can’t help but smile as Charlie’s laughing face fills my head.