Page 107 of Forced Proximity
“Dad,” I said carefully. “I’m going no contact with her. I already blocked her everywhere. I want you to know that y’all aren’t blocked yet, but if you don’t respect my boundaries, y’all will be next. I can’t deal with her crap anymore.” I hesitated. “And she’s a fuckin’ psycho, just like Aunt Jennifer. You should really be careful how you help her, because she might be bringing you into her lies.”
He sighed. “I’m sorry to hear that. But I understand. I’ll talk to your mother.”
He hung up after that, but what I did notice was that he wasn’t paying attention to what I was saying.
Like always, he didn’t see Daniella for what she was.
But I’m sure he would.
Twenty-Three
Cried, but did it anyway.
—Text from Dru to Apollo
APOLLO
Once again, I was being woken up in the middle of the night by banging on my door.
This time, I wasn’t alone in my bed.
And again like last time, Dru didn’t move a single inch.
Blissfully unaware of her surroundings, I walked out of my room and once again stopped at the bottom of the stairs where the alarm panel and my security cameras were displayed.
“Who is it?”
The pounding and doorbell ringing continued.
I looked over my shoulder to see Jasper standing there, a gun in his hand, and in the same state of undress as me.
“Looks like Dru’s sister and aunt.” I groaned. “This is getting absolutely ridiculous.”
“What’s getting ridiculous is the fact that I was having the best damn dream of my life, where I was cuddled up to my man in my new place, and my sister has to ruin it!”
I watched with a quirk to my lips as a sleep-tousled Dru marched toward the door and reached for the handle.
I caught her by the hips and guided her back to the stairs where Jasper stood and said, “Stay. Let me handle this.”
She grumbled a few expletives that I’d tease her for later, but ultimately stayed where she was as I disarmed the alarm.
I just got the door open when a woman started to push through.
I caught her by the belly and pushed her back outside.
Which was about the time I saw Eugene standing there, looking pissed as hell.
“Control this.” I pushed Daniella back.
Eugene let her fall on her ass.
I left her there, too, uncaring if she was on the ground.
I glared at Dru’s aunt and said, “I need you to leave. We can meet in the morning and discuss this at a decent time, but it’s not going to be now.”
Jennifer opened her mouth to shoot back at me but she never got the chance to say anything past the first word.
“I…”
