Page 70 of Girl Going Nowhere

Great. More secrets.

Dante ignores him and looks directly at me, eyes still hard with residual anger. “I did it for Maia. To make sure she would be fine.”

He did it for Maia.

When I see the look on Finn’s face, I wonder if that’s the truth.

Because Dante and I aren’t close.

But it’s obvious he and Finn are.

“Whatever the reason,” I say softly, trying to look past the newest revelation I learned. “Thank you. For me. For Maia. For… whoever.”

I’m careful not to let my eyes wander to the man we both know I’m referring to.

I choose to leave the room for my sanity, walking away in the silent aftermath of all the truths that just dropped.

When I close and lock my door behind me, I rest against it and let out a breath.

What the fuck just happened?

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Dante

Iknow thepetite figure standing by the front entrance of the building from a mile away. The closer I get, the harder my teeth grind against each other when I see her slumped over the railing in dirty clothes that swallow her frame.

“What are you doing here?” I ask my mother, who turns the second she hears my voice.

As soon as I get a look at her face, I see red. The entire right side of her face is bruised, her eye is swollen, and her lip is split. It’s not the first time I’ve seen her like this, but I keep hoping there will be a last. When she told me she was going back to him after his release, it was only a matter of time before she became a victim again.

“I have nowhere else to go,” she answers feebly, hugging herself. I’ve never shared this address with her for this exact reason. I don’t want to bring her around the others and make them deal with her bullshit. “You’re my son. You’ve always helped me figure it out before. I need some money. A new place away from him. Anything.”

“What happened to your apartment?”

Her eyes go to the ground. “I couldn’t afford the rent, so your father took it over. Then he got me evicted. Where else am I supposed to go, baby? You know how he is.”

Why am I not surprised? I won’t let her inside because then she’ll never leave. Family may mean everything to me, but I can’t keep enabling her. No matter how much I owe her, I know it’ll never end if I don’t stop it. “I don’t have any money to give you.”

Her eyes darken with the same anger I recognize in myself far too many times. “But you’re myson,” she repeats. “What could you have done with the money?”

Paid legal fees to clean up another mess that wasn’t mine,I want to tell her. “It doesn’t matter what I did with it. All you need to know is that I can’t give you any. How many times are we going to go through this? You’ll be back together with that asshole by the end of next month and wanting beer money for him.”

Her expression melts into one of pity, and I know she’s trying to lure me into giving her free charity. “Baby, I promise I’ll listen this time. I wanted to believe he had changed. Is it so wrong to give people chances? He wasn’t always bad.”

Is she fucking kidding me? “Yes, he was. Have you not looked in the mirror lately?”

I used to think everybody deserved a second chance, but eventually, you have to cut them off before they take advantage. “I’m sorry, but I can’t help you. There’s a woman’s shelter two blocks from here. I’m sure they have room for you and resources to get you back on your feet again.”

As I walk around her to get inside, I hear, “You’re going to kick your own mother to the curb after everything I’ve done for you?”

I stare at the keypad by the door with a locked jaw. She knows what she’s doing by bringing up everything that’s happened to her. It’s how she gets her way. In hindsight, she’s no better than Anthony. Instead of physical blows, she delivers verbal ones.

I turn around. “I’m sorry he hit you, especially when he took out his frustrations because of me. But I can’t keep doing this. It’s draining me, Mom.”

Her laugh is bitter. “It’s drainingyou? While you were off with your all your little boyfriends, I dealt with the consequences. I am yourmother, dammit. You owe me.”

Before I can answer, I hear, “Women don’t get to pick and choose when they’re mothers to their children, and they’re definitely not owed anything by them.”

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