Page 46 of Sacrifice
“Where’d you get the money to pay it?” A hundred scenarios go through my head and I’m not comfortable with any of them. She doesn’t have the money to pay for anything. Where is she getting it?
My jaw ticks while I wait for an answer.
“None of your business.” She starts to go by me, but I block her path.
I reach out and grab her arm. I spin her to face me. “Itismy fucking business. Where did you get the fucking money?”
Her eyes fill with tears, and that throws me off balance. I don’t know what’s going on. If someone has hurt her or manipulated her, I’ll decimate them into a million fucking microscopic pieces.
“I sold my wedding ring,” she whispers.
“Why in the hell did you do that?”
“I just . . .” Her chest heaves. “I need the money . . .”
The tears pour down her face. I pull her into me and wrap my arms around her. She buries her head in my chest and pounds on me with both fists, sobbing into my shirt. I hold her tighter and just let her use me as a punching bag.
She winds both fists in my shirt and cries like I’ve never seen her cry before. It kills me. I feel so fucking helpless, so unable to fix this like I want to. I can’t fix the root of the problem—I can’t fix Ever. God knows I’d give her my fucking heart if it’d help.
As I hold Jules to me and feel her misery, her struggle, her heartbreak, I know what Icanhelp. And I’m going to do it whether she likes it or not.
Man the fuck up.
She pulls away and wipes the clumped hair out of her beautiful face.
“I’m sorry,” she whispers, clearing her throat.
I give her a second to get herself together before I speak. “I’m going to say this one time, Jules. And it’s not open for discussion.”
She doesn’t argue with me, but she does try to change the topic. “I thought you worked tonight.”
“I took the night off to move you in with me. Like we agreed at the hospital earlier.”
“About that . . .”
“Yeah, about that.” I tip her chin up so I can see into her eyes. “I appreciate you wanting to take care of your life. I know it makes you feel vulnerable to need someone. I know what it was like with your parents, remember?”
She smiles sadly.
“I also know what I did to you, so I get it. I get all your reasons for not wanting me to be involved. And, logically speaking, you’re probably right. But I’m not logical and I’m not letting this shit happen anymore. You selling your ring was bullshit, Jules.”
“I’m so behind, Crew. And I don’t know when I’m going to be able to catch up. I need money just to survive. Food, gas to the hospital . . .”
I drop her chin. “This is the way this is going to happen from here on out. Listen carefully, take notes if you gotta, but by God, pay attention. You are moving in with me. I’m taking care of you and Everleigh, at least until she’s better. Once that happens, and itwillhappen, Jules, then if you want to leave, we’ll discuss that. But I’m drawing a fucking line in the sand right now and it’d do ya some good not to cross it.”
“You can’t afford to take care of us.”
“Julia. Stop.”
She sighs and looks down. Like Everleigh, she’s pale. Her cheeks are hollowed, her lips ragged. It’s so fucking sad.
“Right now, your job is to worry about that little girl we love. My job is to figure out the rest. I’m done pretending like you’re Superwoman.”
“But it’s okay for you to pretend to be Superman?”
“Yeah. Feel free to call me that if you want.”
She starts to smile but catches herself. I can tell she’s worrying about something, and I know we’ll stand here all fucking day before she just comes out and says it unless I push. So I push.
