Page 58 of Girl Going Nowhere

This had to have set him back at least six figures, which he’s never dropped easily in the past. Unlike me, he’s always had decent access to money. His mother wasn’t well off, but she had enough to give them a good lifestyle.

“Vanessa helped me get it,” he tells me, patting the sleek roof. “Isn’t it nice?”

His agent shouldn’t be helping him get anything other than sponsorships. “Didn’t really picture you in a sports car, honestly.”

He shrugs, opening the trunk and tossing his bag inside. “I did a photo shoot with a couple of the other rookies and a blue Corvette forMen’s Healthnot too long ago when they were interviewing us about being signed. Van thought it might be good for my image if I bought one after I signed the contract.”

It’s definitely… flashy. “Vanessa seems very hands-on with your lifestyle,” I comment dryly. “Is that normal? You’d think she’d be encouraging you to save money, not spend it.”

For a moment, my brother pauses. I can see his teeth grind before he closes the trunk and walks over to the driver’s side. “She gets her cut, so she doesn’t give a fuck what I do with mine. Vanessa is good at what she does.”

My eyes narrow in on him. “Christ. You’re not sleeping with her, are you?”

His eyes flash. “It doesn’t matter.”

The hell it does. “Haven’t you ever heard never to shit where you eat? She works for you, not the other way around. I got a raise, but that doesn’t mean I went into my boss’s office and stuck it in her as a thank you.”

Rafael’s quick retort has me locked into my spot on the pavement. “That’s because she’s not your type, and we both know it.”

We stare one another down, alarm whistles going off in my head.

“What the fuck does that mean?” I seethe.

He levels with me. “You know what it means. Do you honestly think people haven’t talked? Cheri told my mother about your little explorations for years whenever she’d show up to the house with another bruise on her body. Every time my mom would ask yours what happened, she’d the say the same thing. ‘Anthony caught Dante with the neighbor boy again.’”

The neighbor boy.

Ice coats my skin.

Henry, the boy next door, used to be one of my closest friends. By the time we were in seventh grade, things had changed. Feelings. How I saw him. He made the first move, and it’d opened doors that led to a lot more than innocent touching. But when I was in ninth grade, his father walked in on us making out in his room and went to Anthony about it. That was the first time I had to witness him beat my mother for “encouraging” me. Any time I did something he disapproved of, he’d take it out on her.

My voice is low. “She told you that?”

Rafael dips his chin.

I have to look away when shame cements itself into my stomach. I fucking hate feeling this way. But then I think about how I kept seeing Henry until we graduated high school, sneaking out and going where we thought we couldn’t be caught to experience all our firsts together.

It didn’t seem to matter how careful we were, Anthony would find out. Then he’d go home, hurt my mother, and remind me it was all my fault.

“I will not allow my son to live that way,” he yells, gripping Mom’s hair. “Until you understand that, I’ll have to remind your mother the proper way to raise a boy into a man.”

Nobody can truly understand the reason I keep telling my mother yes when I should be saying no. How could I turn somebody away who took so many beatings because of me? I can’t.

Rafael sighs heavily. “Look, it’s your life. I have no say in it. What you do is your business, but don’t judge me for my decisions.”

I remember why I’m here, which is the only thing that pulls me away from this conversation. “What about your mom? I know you wanted to get her into a good facility that costs a lot of money. How are you going to afford that if Vanessa is telling you to buy fancy shit you don’t need just so you look good?”

He closes the trunk with a sigh. “I got her a bed at Valley Hope in New York City. Their inpatient program is one of the best on the East Coast and they’ve got certified specialists at her side twenty-four seven. She’s in good hands.”

I’ve heard of that place before. Most people can’t afford it, which is why it’s known for housing quite a few struggling celebrities and their addictions. Only the best for the best.

Clearing my throat, I’m cautious with my next inquiry. “It’s one thing to get your mom into a good rehabilitation center, but the car and the new condo that you’re renting—”

“Dante.” Rafael laughs with a roll of his eyes. “It’s fine. I’ve got the money now. The minors paid me just fine, and Vanessa worked her magic to get me a larger check when I moved to the majors. I know you don’t like her, but she negotiated extra money and some bonuses to help me get settled into the area. She’s taking care of me, so I can take care of my mom.”

What kind of bonuses could he be getting already? It took him years in the minors to get smaller sponsorships for money in the off-season.

“Get in,” he says, climbing in himself.

---