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Yeah, she was definitely Atlas’s mom.
“I like to think so,” I answered humbly.
“Hmmm. And did you find everything you needed to know?”
I shrugged and gave her a pointed look. “More questions than answers, honestly.”
Kareena nodded sympathetically. “My daughter can be complicated.”
“Your daughter is a pain in my ass if I can be honest, Kareena.” I paused. “Excuse my language.”
She waved me off again, but the gesture somehow caused her to sway on her feet, and I rushed across the short hallway to reach her before she could collapse.
“Shit,” I cursed again under my breath before saying fuck it and carrying her inside the bedroom, where I laid her on Atlas’s bed.
I only allowed myself a quick glance around at the teenaged frills decorating the room before refocusing on the woman in front of me. Kareena was close to my mother’s age since my mom had me very young. She’d only been a few years older than Atlas was now. “Are you okay?”
“I’ll be fine.” Kareena gave me another weak smile. “Just a little dizziness. I must have skipped dinner.”
I gaped at Atlas’s mom when she trembled violently. I was no doctor, but I was pretty sure it wasn’t hunger causing her body to convulse.
“You’re sick,” I accused, never one to beat around the bush. For the first time, Kareena avoided my gaze. I sucked in a breath. “Does Atlas know?”
Kareena sobbed suddenly and shook her head. “I didn’t have the heart to tell her after her father died. She’s already been through so much.” I said nothing as I plucked a tissue from the box on the nightstand and handed it to her. Kareena wiped her eyes before saying, “Atlas spent a year watching her father die. I couldn’t do that to her again.” Kareena’s body started trembling again, but I knew this time had nothing to do with whatever sickness was ravaging her body. “I was so cruel to her.”
“You pushed her away.”
Kareena looked at me, and the guilt in her eyes became a reflection of mine. I’d pushed Atlas away too. “I knew she’d never leave my side. It was the only way.”
Yeah, that was the excuse I made too. I told myself that Atlas was better off if she hated me, but really, I was just afraid of what was happening between us. I’d never come this close to falling in love before.
And I’d done fuck all to show it.
“So…is my daughter happy? Is she safe?” Kareena inquired. She peered up at me from the bed like she knew my interest in her daughter exceeded that of a boss.
I cleared my throat. That nervous feeling crept down my spine again. “She’s good. I haven’t exactly been making things easy for her, but you should know your daughter can take care of herself.”
Kareena searched my gaze, and then warm fingers weakly trailed down my cheek, and she smiled softly. “Something tells me she won’t need to.”
My heart skipped a beat as a thousand responses came to mind, none of which I was brave enough to voice.
Kareena’s eyes drifted closed, and I watched her chest rise and fall until I was satisfied that she was only sleeping. The picture she’d been clutching earlier caught my eye, and I carefully freed it from her slack grip before looking at it.
It was a picture of Atlas when she was around eight or nine. She was jumping on a trampoline, and right there next to her was the man who must have been her father, jumping with her.
Tyler Beck was too far away for me to make out his features other than his average height, muscular frame, long dread locs, and light skin tone. Atlas was smiling hard at her dad like it was the best day of her life while her long black pigtails flew in the air around her.
Setting the photo on the white nightstand, I moved away from the bed to look around Atlas’s room. It was as girly, soft, and feminine as I’d pictured in my head.
There were more pictures hanging in the mirror over her dresser, so I moved over to it only to suck my teeth when I saw most of them was of her hugged up with her ex.
I had a mind to pay him a visit while I was in town. Just in case Atlas ever thought about doubling back.
I didn’t know if she was telling the truth or if she was still with him, but I didn’t give a damn. Their situation was dead once I stuck my dick in her.
Grabbing all four pictures, I ripped them to shreds and let them rain over the dresser before moving to the chair by the window overlooking the bed and settling in for a long night.
Isopped up the syrup on my plate with the last of my homemade pancakes before standing and rinsing my plate in the sink, then sticking it inside the loaded dishwasher. I then turned and faced the frail woman sipping herbal tea and staring out the window.
