Page 41 of My Mom's Man
I’mthe problem.
I slip out of bed and snatch up a pair of dirty shorts. After jerking them on, I rush past them. At least if I’m gone, they can calmly discuss things.
“Reid!” Emma wails after me. “Don’t leave!”
“Don’t ever even look at my daughter again, asshole,” Amara bellows. “Honey, look at me. I’m going to fix this.” The only way to fix it is if I’m gone.
I nearly break my neck charging down the stairs. The front door is standing wide open where Amara let herself in. As soon as I step outside, I don’t stop running until I’m at Cole’s. Their door is unlocked, and I burst inside unannounced.
More naked bodies, but two of them quickly disappear.
A very concerned Cole approaches me like an injured animal.
“You okay, man? You’re crying.”
I reach a shaky hand to my cheek. It’s wet. Fuck.
“Were you attacked?” he probes in his cop tone. “Is Emma okay?”
It’s over.
It has to be.
Emma
“She’s in here,” Mom says, tone fierce and protective. “I made sure to preserve the evidence.”
Evidence?
I can’t stop crying. Shame coats me, clogging my pores and seeping into my lungs. I’m going to suffocate on it.
Where is Reid?
Why did he leave me?
A man in uniform slowly enters the bedroom. Through bleary, burning eyes, I recognize him to be a policeman.
“Emma? I’m Sheriff McMahon. You okay?”
“Okay?” Mom hisses. “That pedophile rapist was choking her to death! Look at her neck!”
I blink rapidly, sending more hot tears racing down my cheeks. Reaching up, I touch the wetstreaks on my skin. Not that long ago, everything was perfect. Beautiful and wonderful and loving.
And then it all exploded in the blink of an eye.
“Ma’am,” the sheriff says gently. “Let me talk to her, please.”
Mom huffs, crossing her arms over her chest. “Just do your job.”
She’s never hateful or cruel, so her words feel foreign to me.
“Your mom said you were assaulted by her boyfriend?” Sheriff McMahon asks, squatting down in front of where I’m sitting on the end of Reid’s bed. “Are you hurt?”
Awareness trickles in and I meet his intense stare. “What? They broke up.”
“Just barely.” Mom scoffs and paces the floor near us. “Who knows how long this was going on for.” A sob rips from her. “Oh God. I was supposed to protect her and I put her in the den of a lion. It’s all my fault.”
To his credit, Sheriff McMahon ignores her theatrics, keeping his focus on me. “Tell me everything.”
