Page 156 of Wicked Sins

“So, what happens now?” Joah asks. He’s been careful not to touch me after my mother came into the room, and that lack of connection makes it feel as if he’s tugging at me with some ephemeral force I can’t quite understand.

Maybe it’s post-traumatic stress or something. Like, I need to have his arms around me to feel safe now.

Is that how it’s always going to be?

Instead of answering Joah, Reed turns to my mother. “We might have some more questions further along, but for now, this is being treated as a case of self-defense.”

I almost look at Joah, but manage to keep burning-open eyes on the detective instead.

He stands, and my mother stands a second later. She follows him to the door and holds a hushed conversation with him just out of earshot.

Something brushes the side of my hand. Joah slips his pinkie finger over mine and gives me a tiny squeeze.

For the first time in what feels like forever, my lips twitch into a small smile. Mom finishes up whatever she’d been discussing with the detective and comes back over to us.

Joah leaves his hand where it is, but she doesn’t seem to notice.

“Well, thank goodness for that. He says you can come back to Ohio with us.”

Us?

I shake my head.

Mom frowns.

“I’m not going anywhere with you,” I tell her.

Irritation immediately replaces her faux-motherly concern. “Excuse me?”

“I said, I’m not leaving with you.” I get to my feet, and Joah’s standing a second later. He grabs my hand and slips his fingers between mine.

Mom’s eyes drop, but her eyebrows shoot up. She lets out a huff of a laugh and crosses her arms over her chest. “I’m sorry, did I give you the idea you had some kind of a choice?” Her voice rises in pitch, the angrier she gets. “I’m sorry you went through the shit you did, Candace, but if you think for one minute I’m just going to—”

“What?” I cut in, lifting my chin. “Abandon me? Because you already did that.”

She takes a step back, mouth falling open. “I couldn’t find you.” Her eyes scour me then Joah. “I guess you two were…busy or something.”

My smile inches up, but it grows cold too. “Go back to Ohio, Mom.”

“I can’t leave you here,” she says flatly. “You’re still a kid.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“No.” She shakes her head, but there’s something in her eyes…is it reluctance? “I won’t.” Mom reaches for me. “You’re coming—”

“She’s not going anywhere.” Joah moves in front of me and gently pushes aside my mother’s arm. She holds it out for a second longer, blinking up at Joah like she’s never seen him before.

“She’s my daughter. You have no—”

“And I’ll look after her better than you ever did. Than you ever could.”

A shiver tears through me as I bite the inside of my lip. I’m grinning like a damn idiot now, but I can’t help it. I lean to the side, peeking at my mother around Joah’s arm.

“You have no right talking to me like that. I’m your stepmother!”

“You’re nothing to me,” Joah says. “And I suggest you leave, before I get Mr. Dench involved in proving that.”

If Mother’s face was white before, it’s gray now. “I’m not leaving here without my daughter.”

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