Page 73 of Twist Me

His eyes were glued to that van.

“Tiffany, so lovely to see your sunshiny face as always,” I chimed in, stepping over to Pharaoh. I discreetly leaned against his shoulder so he could lean on me. His ass didn’t need to fall over right now.

“Goliath. Oh yes, so joyous.”

I snickered at her sarcasm, but I was worried about my brother. Tiffany walked around the back of the van, and the creaking noise of the door made all of us flinch as it swung open.

Was it possible for people to melt?

It had to be because when that springy-haired little girl hopped out of the vehicle, my brother was melting like the ice cream he held in his hands.

“Xenia?” he said, his voice sounding like he was fucking choking on gravel.

That burst of little sunshine tackled him like a linebacker, a six-year-old with more strength than I would’ve thought possible.

“Hi, Daddy!” she sang, twirling her little sunflower dress around and around like a merry-go-round.

I missed my girl. I wished she could see this.

Quinn stood to the side, discussing who the fuck knows with Tiffany so Pharaoh could get a bit of privacy.

I didn’t care if I looked like a Peeping Tom. I wanted to fucking frame this memory for Roe—my big-ass scary brother sitting on the dirty ground, tickling his kid and fucking laughing. I couldn’t remember the last time I saw Roe even smile.

“Hey, kiddo,” I said, giving Pharaoh the moment he needed to brush off a tear that was hanging onto his cheek like his sanity—barely attached.

“Hmm. Who is that daddy? Is he our friend?”

Xenia hadn’t known me. I got my ass locked up before she was even fully baked inside Ariah.

“That’s your Uncle Goliath,” Roe smiled. “He’s your uncle too, like Uncle Judas. You just never met him.”

The little girl’s bright eyes seemed to accept that, and she smiled up at me, shielding her eyes from the sun.

“Hi, Uncle Giant. Thank you for bringing me my Daddy!”

Quinn and Tiffany walked over then. There was a little ball in Tiff’s hands now. I tried to look at Quinn for an inkling of that convo, but he dodged my glances.

“How’s life, Spiffy Tiffy?”

Tiffany glared at me. Her hatred of my ass was as evident as it used to be.

“Xenia, how is your ice cream?” she said.

I didn’t expect anything else from her but to be ignored, so I plopped down on the ground by my brother and niece.

“My favorite color! Yummy….”

Tiffany handed Xeny the ball in her hand and got on her phone, clearly trying to tune us out.

“Wanna play with me, Daddy?” Xenia was buzzing with delight, her curls so twisty she was definitely the spitting image of her mother.

Did Ezello want rug rats? Little copies of herself to fuck shit up?

“What on earth are you doing?” Tiffany squawked as Pharaoh chucked the ball toward a tree, and Xenia ran off after it.

“She is not a dog, Pharaoh…god.”

Pharaoh wasn’t phased by the queen bitch even though I could see his father-skills needed a bit of a tune-up from petting her on the hand and tossing balls for her to fetch, but hey, beggars can’t be and all that.

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