Page 62 of Sweet Like a Psycho (Secrets of Suburbi 2)

“Who’s Joel?” Zeke asked.

“Just an old friend. Are you ready for bed, little dude?”

“No way. I want to hang out with you guys.”

“But it’s late and you have school tomorrow.” I walked around the counter and pulled him off.

“But Mom.” He wiggled around in my arms. It was the second time tonight he had said my name in that way. Like I was torturing him.

“Come on. Let’s go wash up. I’ll be back down in a few minutes,” I said to no one in particular. The wimp in me kind of just wanted them to both be gone when I came back down. The pessimist in me thought they’d both be pulling up floorboards when I reappeared. But I couldn’t exactly tell them it was time to go to bed like I’d just told Zeke. I wasn’t their mother.

After I finally wrassled Zeke into a pair of pajamas, I sat down on the edge of his bed. Despite his insistence that he wasn’t tired, his eyelids were starting to droop.

I tucked the covers under his chin. “Hey, Zeke?”

“Mhm?”

“What other rumors have you heard? About me?” I smoothed his dreadlocks away from his face.

He yawned as he rolled over on his side. “That you killed my daddy.”

Tears prickled in the corners of my eyes. Why would someone say that to him? He was just a kid. I didn’t know how to reply to what he said. I was so tired of lying. “Zeke?”

His only reply was a light snore.

I leaned over and kissed his forehead. “I didn’t have a choice.” One of my tears landed on his cheek. I wiped it away. “I had to protect you.”

Chapter 22

Tucker

“You gonna try to nail her tonight?” Damien asked as I handed him a plate to dry.

“No.” What the hell was he even still doing here? He had invited himself to dinner and now he just wouldn’t leave. I needed to talk to Violet alone.

“Why? I thought you liked her.”

He was being an idiot. I wasn’t looking for a one night stand. Violet was too good for that.

“You’re that bad in the sack, huh? Don’t want to scare her away?”

“I’m still getting to know her.”

“You can look for those scars if you get her naked.”

I squeezed the water from the sponge and turned off the faucet. “Does that mean you agree with me?” I was trying to study Violet all day, but I didn’t exactly know what to look for in abuse victims. She hadn’t resisted my touch when we were in public. Honestly, she seemed comforted when her hand was in mine. I hadn’t tried it during dinner because I didn’t know how she felt about it in front of Zeke. It was one of the things I wanted to discuss tonight.

“I mean if her son can talk about dead bodies under the floor like it’s the most ridiculous thing in the world…it kind of makes it seem untrue. But that doesn’t mean that the bodies aren’t somewhere else.”

“I was actually asking if you thought maybe she was abused when she was little?”

Damien shrugged. “I don’t know. She didn’t seem to mind putting her hands all over me.”

I had been pissed when I walked into the kitchen and she was doting on him. But I wasn’t going to stoop to his level. “I thought you’d have it all figured out after your inquest.”

He laughed. “I barely got to ask her anything. Zeke was the one leading the onslaught of questions.”

“He’s cute, right?”

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