Page 21 of Mace

“I’m seventeen. Legally, the police can’t do shit, and what do you care how I met him? I love him, Maylie, which is something you wouldn’t know about. How many times have you been in love?”

Stay calm. Don’t lose your shit.

Her words don’t incite anger in me, but rather something deeper, something more painful. “I would love to be in a relationship, Ivy, but I spent years of my life taking care of you and Toby. There hasn’t exactly been time to hit Tinder.”

“Maybe if you were getting laid, you’d be less into my shit.”

Getting fed up with waiting for the kettle to boil while I’m lecturing her, she switches it off, shoving the mug back into the cupboard. As she turns to leave, I grab her arm, intending to stop her, but the moment my fingers touch her skin, she lets out a cry, as if I’d broken the bone.

Alarmed, I let her pull away from me, watching as she cradles her arm to her chest as my gut churns. I didn’t mean to hurt her. I wouldneverhurt her, and in this moment, she looks so fragile, so vulnerable, that I feel sick to my stomach.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to?—”

“Just leave me alone and stay out of my life. Link is my boyfriend, and you don’t have a say in that. As soon as I’m eighteen, I’m so fucking gone.”

She pushes past me, her shoulder barging mine hard enough to make my eyes squeeze shut. Thankfully, she doesn’t slam her bedroom door, but she doesn’t need to. I can tell she’s furious, but so am I.

This situation is so much worse than I could have ever imagined.

Well… that could have gone better.It also could have gone worse. I press a hand to my banging forehead.How the hell am I supposed to handle this?

She’s right. She is nearly eighteen, but that guy gives me bad vibes.

Defeated, knowing there is nothing I can do tonight, I tidy up the kitchen before I head to bed. As I pass Ivy’s closed bedroom door, I stop outside it, listening for any sound she might be awake, but all I hear is silence.

I wish she would just talk to me.

In my bedroom, I flop onto the mattress and stare up at the ceiling as tears prick my eyes. My problems just keep piling up, and I’m drowning in the shit swirling around me.

Losing the flat would suck.

Losing my job would be a nightmare.

But losing my sister is a blow I won’t recover from.

SIX

MACE

I fucking hate coming here.The walls are painted in bright colours, an attempt to make it seem more habitable, less sterile, but the smell of bleach still hangs in the air. It’s bleak, and there is a sense that this is the place people come to be forgotten.

As I pass the nurses’ station, I lift my chin to Ellie, one of the day staff, and continue down the hall, passing several rooms. My head is full of a certain little bartender.

Maylie.

Fuck. She had caught my attention the way she stuck up for Sam. That fucker would have sold her to the highest bidder if it saved his own ass.

“Mace, wait.”

I pause as Ellie rounds the desk, coming to stand in front of me. The awkwardness radiating from her tells me whatever she wants is going to piss me off.

“I… um… Julie…”

Her name, as usual, makes my fucking jaw tick. “Julie, what?” I demand, my tone cracking like a whip.

Ellie shifts nervously on her feet as her gaze slides to my kutte, and I rein in my temper. It ain’t her fault my foster sister is a fucking spiteful bitch.

“She requested that you and Nathan not be allowed to visit when she’s not here.” My teeth grind together. Of course, she did. “If it were up to me, I would’ve told her to shove it. Maggie loves seeing you both, and she’s always happy after a visit, but your sister has power of attorney over her and?—”

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