Page 139 of The Twisted Beats

“Oh, that reminds me.” She places a bag full of toiletries down and digs in her purse. She pulls out a prescription bottle. “These are painkillers. You can take a couple and they should help.”

“Thanks.” I point to a cup near the sink. “Do you mind getting me some water so I can take these now?”

“Of course not, honey.” She rushes over and gets me some water to drink. “I’ll be here for a while to help Bubba. You just tell me what you need and I’ll get it taken care of.”

She comes back to me and gives me the pills and the cup. I swallow the medicine down, hoping for relief soon. I peek up to thank her once again.

She’s got tears flowing down her cheeks. “I’m sorry you’regoing through this.”

Callum returns with my clothes. “It’s Uncle John’s fault and he will pay for this.”

Chapter Twenty-Nine

CALLUM/CASH

Then

The Deal That Came From Her Blood

Every deal drips red when it’s signed with what you can’t get back.

My ma faces me with the sadness in her eyes she has when discussing my pops. “Bubba, John feels awful. He swears he does.”

“Fuck him. He keeps hurting her and that makes him dead to me.” I seethe inside and help Livianna get dressed.

Not only has he caused so much misery for her, but his actions from yesterday took away my child. He’s gonna pay.

My ma shifts around, wringing her hands together as she keeps her concerned eye on Livianna. Every time she grimaces or winces, I fall deeper into an abyss of rage and guilt.

One second, my body is numb and empty. The next, I want to hit the wall or strangle my uncle. Other than when I lost my pops, this is by far the worst moment of my life.

I have Livianna sit on the side of the bathtub once I havea clean pair of yoga pants on her. “We need to change the sheets and then I’ll get you back into bed.”

“Can you help me to the trundle bed next to my window? I can lie down there.” Her empty gaze finds mine and she fakes a smile.

My heart shatters and falls apart in a million pieces. “Of course.”

I lift her in my arms and carry her to the other room, where I lay her down with the sun beaming over her. She’s beautiful even under all this stress. I swallow a sudden urge to take her in my arms while we both cry over our loss.

I turn to her bed. There’s a pool of blood covering the blankets. My stomach roils and my chest fills with disgust.

My ma starts stripping the covers off the mattress. “I’ll get these in the washer so they don’t stain. Do you have an extra set?”

“They’re in the linen closet.” Livianna pulls a fluffy dusty rose blanket up to her shoulders. She points to her open bedroom door in the direction of the hallway.

Bren peeks his head in and toward my ma. “What the fuck happened?”

She spins to him. “Brendan, could you direct me to where I can find clean sheets so I can get a new set for Livianna’s bed?”

“Um…” He scans the room.

The tense but somber mood isn’t hard to detect. It beats around us as if it has a pulse of its own. His eyes scroll over my face. I’m not sure what he picks up from me, but he nods like he understands.

“Let me show you where they are.” He waves my ma on to follow him. “Everything we need is down the hall.”

My ma leaves with Bren. I rip the rest of the depressing memory of what we could’ve had off the mattress and work the material into a ball. Every time a speck of blood catches my eye, I die a little more inside.

“Callum.” Livianna brings me out of my thoughts.