Page 100 of Crossed

He can only be the priest of Notre- Dame.

That’s all he’ll ever be.

Dalia’s arms are heavy as they wrap around my middle, squeezing tight like she’s afraid to let me go. I’m at the apartment, having just loaded the last box into the back of her car to haul over to my newpenthouse.

She’s nervous to stay here alone after that rock crashed through our window, but she’s so stubborn she’ll never admit it. I try to convince her not to stay anyway, even though I’m more convinced than ever it was Cade.

“You sure you’ll be okay?” I push one last time.

She scoffs, waving me off, but I know she’s putting on a front. You live with someone long enough and you learn to read between the lines.

“You can come stay at the hotel if you want,” I try, like I have a thousand times before.

She pulls back and makes a funny face, scrunching her nose. “Amaya,stop.”

“Parker said he’d take care of my family, and youaremy family.” I move my hands down her arms and squeeze her fingers.

“And miss the chance to have this place all to myself on your new hubby’s dime?” She scrunches her nose. “Pass.”

“Fine.” I sigh, slipping my hands away from hers and into my back pockets.

I look around one more time to make sure I’m not forgetting anything of mine or Quinten’s, although between the two of us, we don’t have much. He’s at school right now, and I want to get it all moved before he comes home tonight so he doesn’t have to see the process and can just settle into his new space.

“Ready to roll?” she asks.

I give her a sad smile and nod, and we make our way out to her car. Immediately, the music starts blaring out of her speakers, and normally I’d give her shit for it, but now I soak in the noise, hoping it keeps us from having to say our goodbyes. I know she’ll be right across town and a phone call away but still. It will be different.

When we pass by where Candace used to live, Dalia sucks on her lips and turns down the volume.

“Any update from Parker or your lawyer yet? About… anything?” she asks.

“Nope,” I reply, popping thep. “Not since he told me that a man being murdered was ‘great news.’”

She laughs. “Well, it kind of is.”

“Yeah, I guess.” I bite back the smile. “Is it bad I don’t feel guilty he’s dead?”

“Amaya!” she chastises through her giggles. “You’re not supposed to say shit like that out loud.”

I grin. “I know but…BFF privilege. You get to hear all the unfiltered thoughts I don’t tell anyone else.”

She nods. “Well, if that’s the case, then as your best friend, I demand you tell me why you’re still moving in with Parker if you think your name is cleared.”

I tilt my head, chewing on my lip. It’s amazing how easily I forget that not everybody knows the same Parker Errien as me. I knew what I was getting into when I agreed to be his, and I’m not naive enough to believe he’d let me go. Now that he has me, he’ll never allow me to leave.

Besides, he wasted no time embroiling himself in everything that had to do with my life, making me dependent on him in a way I once swore I would never be. Extra care for Quinten. Paying for therapy. Giving me transportation. Putting Quinten in for an interview with that private school in Coddington Heights.

“Selfishness is an ugly trait, Amaya.”My mother’s voice rings in my ears.

I nod, sucking on my lips. “He’s… He gives Quin a life that I can’t give him, you know?”

Dalia’s brows furrow as she looks at me from her peripheral vision. “I think you give Quin the best life becauseyou’rein it. There’s no one that kid loves more than you.”

“Yeah, well, we’re all our own worst critics, I guess.” I lean forward and turn the volume back up. I don’t feel like talking anymore.

Twenty minutes later and we’re pulling in front of Errien Hotel.

The doorman brings out a large gold dolly, and before I can even blink, all my and Quinten’s belongings are loaded up and disappearing inside.