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The uncle hails a passing cab, and I shift into gear to follow. What’s going on in the middle of the afternoon? The taxi continues out of the city to end up at a seedy roadside motel. A group of even seedier men are milling around at the end of the long, squat cement building, eyeing each other up as if they might start fighting at any minute. I pull in behind the taxi, and as soon as the uncle pulls her out, the men all light up and get animated. The uncle gets a firm grip on both her arms and motions toward one room. His behavior excites the men further and they begin to jostle each other, pushing to be the first through the door.
Oh, hell no. He can’t possibly be trying to put on an auction of his own, can he?
It looks like that’s exactly what he thinks he’s doing, and April struggles as he pushes her toward the room; while the hyenas practically bounce with excitement while they wait for it to be opened.
Hell no.
I jump out of the car and my feet barely touch the ground as I cover the space between us. April’s eyes widen when she recognizes me, but I can’t give my attention to her just yet. The stupid man who thinks he’s going to sell my woman must think I’m here for the auction, so he isn’t prepared for the hard punch I give him straight between his eyes.
I feel the crunch of his nose and blood sprays outward as he crumples, his grip on April nearly bringing her down with him. I grab her and pull her close, hustling her behind me while I face down the other men.
“Who’s next?” I ask, leaning toward the closest one with my bloody fist raised at his face.
“We don’t want any problems,” he says, arms raised like I’m a cop.
I back April toward my car, staring down the others, but he seems to speak for all of them as they slink away back to whatever pit they came from. At the passenger door, April is frozen with shock, so I pick her up and gently place her in.
As I zoom away, I look over at her to see her staring straight ahead, her jaw clenched as hard as her hands on her seatbelt. I reach over and help her lock it in place and she turns to me, hazel eyes wide in her pale face.
“What did you do? He’s going to—”
I shake my head sharply. “He’s not going to do shit, April. You’re done with him.”
“You don’t understand,” she wails, trying to act angry through her clear relief at not having to go into that motel room.
I can read her like a book and she’s also scared half to death of what comes next, falling into a confused silence until I pull up in front of her sister’s school.
“Go check her out early,” I say. “Then we’ll go back to your apartment and you can get whatever you need.”
For the first time, her stiff face relaxes and there’s a glimmer of hope in her eyes that shatters my heart. She reaches for the car door. “Then what?” she asks shakily.
I reach over and brush a strand of her glossy hair behind her shoulder, tracing the line of her jaw as I smile.
“Then you’re coming home with me. Both of you.”
Chapter 9
April
Michael must actually be an angel. Why else would he be doing this for me, and Amelia? How did he even know about my sister when I kept that from him during our wonderful night together?
Trying to hide my frazzled state, I swiftly sign Amelia out of school, pretending to have a doctor’s appointment as the reason. It’s unprecedented and when she appears in the office, she’s clearly confused and a little frightened.
“What’s happening?” she asks, clutching my hand.
“Everything’s fine,” I assure her. Oh God, how to explain? “I met someone and he’s going to help us get away from Uncle Harris.” I think. I hope. I pray.
Once we’re outside and she sees Michael resting against his car with his strong arms crossed over his broad chest, she relaxes a little. He looks like a warrior, and I want more than anything to tell her about him knocking Uncle Harris to the ground with one blow, but I feel like that can wait.
“We can trust him?” she asks, but it’s barely a question.
Michael oozes confidence and strength from every pore, and his smile is warm and reassuring as I introduce them. My little sister tenses up again when we pull up outside ourapartment building, but I tell her it’s only to grab a few things. Neither one of us has much to begin with, and we hurriedly fill a few plastic grocery bags with some clothes our toothbrushes, and shampoo. Amelia grasps her little handheld gaming system she wants to bring, but I’m sure it was stolen along with almost everything else in this nightmare home of ours, so I make her leave it behind.
“I’ll get you a new one,” I promise. “Same with your phone. Leave it here so he can’t track us.”
A ripple of something I don’t quite recognize goes down my spine. Is it hope? I can almost picture myself getting a job, making friends, and walking freely down the sidewalk without a time limit on how long I can be out.
I can see she’s upset about losing the lifeline to the friends she made at school, but it will all work out. It has to.
