Page 49 of Protector

When we moved out of my parent’s house, he filled in as babysitter on the nights I worked late. Initially, I thought he was just doing it to help me until I saw how he was with them. He got just as much, if not more, out of it.

He stood up from the porch swing with a wave, and Dakota threw the car door open and went racing toward him. Kate stayed where she was, staring out the window.

“What’s the matter, Katydid? You don’t want to spend some time with Angel?”

She shrugged. “It’s just that I’m almost fifteen, and other girls my age are babysitting. It doesn’t seem fair.”

I knew it was coming. By the time I was her age, I’d sat for half the kids in the neighborhood. If anyone was mature enough to stay home alone, it was Kate.

Unfortunately, the world preyed upon young girls and made them hard. By the time I discovered it at seventeen, it was too late. The darkness sank its talons into me while I was distracted by pretty words on the lips of a man in a leather vest.

“You and Angel have fun together, right?”

“Yeah, I guess,” Kate admitted. “Sometimes he brings his old records, and we sit and play them, but I just feel like I’m old enough to stay alone.”

It was apparent that she wasn’t going to fall for a distraction, leaving me with only one option. I’d never be able to give her the real reason, so I settled for a version of the truth.

“Okay, it’s time I let you in on a little secret, but you have to swear to never tell your sister.”

She offered me her pinky finger. “I swear.”

We linked them before I continued. “I’ve known for a while that you were old enough to watch your sister by yourself. It’s just—it’s Angel. You know he’s all alone, and at least when he’s here, I don’t have to worry if he’s getting a good meal. So, can you humor me, at least for tonight?”

With one hand on the door handle, she looked back at me. “I’m sorry, Mama.”

I pulled the keys from the ignition and waved my hand. “No need to say you’re sorry—you didn’t know. We’ll have some pizza, maybe see if you can talk Angel into renting a movie—”

“That’s not it. I’m sorry because you’re so quick to take care of everybody else, but there’s no one to take care of you.”

Chapter Ten

Celia: 2004

The woman in the mirror was a stranger.

My dark hair was hidden underneath a platinum blonde wig that trailed down over my shoulders. The greasy makeup that Molly had expertly applied made me look like a siren but felt as if it was caked onto my skin.

To complete my look, I wore sky-high heels and a dress I’d found at a second-hand store that dipped down low in between my breasts, leaving little to the imagination.

“I look like a whore.”

Molly stood up on her tiptoes to look over my shoulder. “Yeah, you do. I’d pay good money for you too. I think I might have some cash in my purse; hang on.”

“No, I’m serious.” I tugged on the hem, struggling to make it reach the top of my thighs. I hadn’t worn a dress since the night of the blackjack game. “I don’t feel comfortable being this… exposed.”

She dropped back onto her heels with a sigh. “I know, but we’ve been watching this prick for weeks now. He has a thing for breaking tiny blondes with huge tits and not much in the way of clothing. You fit the bill, but if you’ve changed your mind and would rather call in the club—”

“No, it needs to be me.” I stared through the windows that overlooked the garage. Molly had insisted that Bear’s body shop was the perfect place to hide out and get ready, yet I kept waiting for one of the bikers to burst through the door and bust us. “What does Bear use this apartment for anyway?”

Molly gnawed on the corner of her finger. “You really wanna know the answer to that question or should we move on to something else?”

With a grimace, I quickly responded with, “Something else. You know you have a problem, right?”

She threw her head back with a cackle. “A problem? It’s only a problem if you’re not getting any, which you most certainly are not. Don’t tell me your last time was with Grey, because if it was, you, my friend, are the one in need of a dicktervention.”

The memory barged in, uninvited, and my skin began to crawl. I clenched my hands into fists and focused on my reflection in the mirror until the whore gave way to the warrior.

The fog of numbness settled over me again.

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