Page 42 of Signs and Signals

“I didn’t plan on you having visitors, Atlas. You must have a thing for single moms, because that did not look like the same girl as before. Please just give us a chance. I can give you so much more than they can offer. Besides, they have baggage. You are much too young to be caring for a kid that isn’t even yours,” Mallory says with disgust.

“I warned you, Mallory. I warned you and you didn’t listen. You better be glad you are a female, and I can’t hit you, even if I feel like you deserve it. You are going to be sorry you didn’t move on with your life when you had the chance.”

“You can’t hit her, but I can beat her ass for you, real quick. In fact, I think that is what I will do, so if you could just not interfere, that would be great,” Lyra says, coming from out of nowhere. Before I can say anything, Lyra has punchedMallory twice and is now on the floor, sitting on top of her, pounding on her face.

I should probably pull my sister off her before any real damage is done, but I stand still and watch with satisfaction. Lyra has hated her for a long ass time, and this is not the first ass beating Mallory has received from my feisty sister.

When I hear Lyra scream in her face she is going to kill her, I decide it is time to separate the two of them. Especially since I called security.

Just as I pull Lyra off her, and help Mallory stand up, Mallory tries to hold on to me, trying to force comfort from me, which she is certainly not going to receive, security walks in.

“Mr. Kensington, we had a request to remove someone from your home,” Leo smirks, walking toward Mallory.

“Yes, please, Leo, and call me Atlas, for fucks sake. Make sure Mallory gets checked out by some medical personnel, she seems to have taken a nasty fall,” I tell Leo, noticing the way he is trying to hold in his joy at seeing her like this.

Mallory looks like she went three rounds with an MMA fighter. Her makeup is melting off her face, like she was caught in a rainstorm, hair looks like it hasn’t seen a brush in weeks, face all bloodied up, she is a mess. But she stays silent, not saying anything as she is escorted from my home.

I look over at Lyra, who is now in my kitchen, drinking what looks like chocolate milk from the princess cup I bought Haven, and eating my bacon caramel toffee, like she has no cares in the world. But when the house is cleared and I find out how she got in here without me hearing, we will be discussing her eating my toffee and not her own.

“What the hell was she doing in your home, Atlas? I thought you were done with her after doing the things she did,” Lyra starts before I even make it to the kitchen to talk to her.

“She cornered me in the garage and said she needed to talk to me about a lot of things. I thought if I let her get it all out, she would move the fuck on, but apparently it was a ruse to try and get me back,” I tell her. “How the hell did you get in here, I didn’t hear the elevator?”

“For your information, I rode up with Amara and Haven. I saw her in the lobby trying to get a pass to come up, Leo was about to call you, when I told him they could ride up with me. We chatted a bit, she said she need to speak to you about something important and Haven wanted to come along so she can visit. We came in at the part where Mallory was saying she would love to work it out with you, blah, blah, fucking blah. Oh yeah, let’s not forget the moment you guys were kissing. You dick, that little girl saw that. If I lose my friend, again, because of you and Mallory, I am going to beat your ass next,” Lyra’s voice is getting louder as she speaks.

“I didn’t hear the elevator when it arrived, and I didn’t kiss her, she kissed me. I was shocked she had the balls to even try to kiss me, let alone, succeed in it. I was in the process of kicking her out when she did that dumb ass shit,” I yell back at her.

“You need to fix this, brother. It has gone on long enough. You are both miserable and heartbroken. Even if you don’t end up together, at least work something out for that baby. I could have kicked both of your asses when I saw the look on Haven’s face from seeing you kissing Mallory. So, I hid in the coat closet, to see what was going on. You are damn lucky, it is all a misunderstanding, because if it wasn’t, I would have murdered both of you where you stood, just for the look you both put on that angel baby’s face,” Lyra tells me, a lone tear sliding from the corner of her eye.

“I know,” I say solemnly. Because I know that I know everything was manipulated by mom and Mallory, I need to fixthis quickly. Lyra is right, this has gone on long enough. I love Indya and I know she loves me. I am getting her back if it is the last thing I do. Everything else, be damned.

Chapter Nineteen

Indya

I wake up, slightly confused. What the hell happened? I take in my surroundings, I am in my room, but why is it so hot? I reach my arm out to turn on the lamp next to my bed, almost smacking Amara in the head. What the hell is she doing sleeping in my bed? I then realize Haven is snuggled tightly between us, but she is sniffling in her sleep, as if she was crying extremely hard before exhausting herself. Why was she crying?

I decide there are too many questions I need answered, so I give Amara a shake and say her name to wake her.

“How are you feeling? Do you remember what happened? Do I need to take you to the emergency room?” She jolts up when she sees I am awake and begins her own version of twenty questions.

“I get to ask the questions first, but I will answer yours now. I feel fine, but a little tired. I remember Samantha being here and reading the engagement invitation, but nothing after that. No, I don’t need a doctor.” She seems to accept all my responses, so I start in on my questions before she thinks up anymore.

“What happened and why are you both in my bed? Why was Haven crying? She has the sniffles, and she only gets those when she cries hard.”

“You passed out. I don’t know if it was stress or shock. But I got you to bed and laid a cool washcloth over your forehead like google said to do. Havenwascrying hard, that is why she has the sniffles. She wanted to lay with both of us, so we had a slumber party in your bed,” she explains.

“What happened that caused her to cry so hard? Oh my god, did she see me pass out? I am such a terrible mother these days. I am going to fuck her up before she hits double digits,” I respond.

“Well, don’t get mad, but I made a parental decision without you. I will tell you, but first you have to pinky swear you won’t get mad,” Amara says as she holds out her long, elegant pinky.

I hate it when she does this, she knows I don’t like to break promises. Anytime she makes me pinky swear, it’s for something that pisses me off, and I have to get mad in another room, so no promises or swears are broken. Still, I link my pinky with hers, taking turns kissing our fisted hand, sealing it.

“I went to see Atlas at his condo to see what the deal was with the whole engagement invitation. The longer I thought about it, the more I was convinced it was fake news. I have seen how Atlas is with you and Haven and even if he was getting married to that whorish woman, I don’t think he would invite you to anything that is celebrating the two of them. When I was leaving, Haven asked where I was going, so I told her. Indya, I could not tell her no the way her eyes lit up at the mention of his name. I stopped at the neighbors and asked them to sit here until I got back, so if you woke up, they could explain how you passed out,” she explains.

Before I even open my mouth Amara continues.

“I know I am a sucky friend for leaving you in your time of need, but you did wake up once and drink water, pee, and say you were going to bed. That was why I had the neighbor sit hereuntil I got back. But we were not gone very long because of what happened.”

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