Page 55 of Crossed

Florence shakes her head and sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose like I’m an annoyance. “Who are you talking to, Amaya?”

I look back to her, the panic I’ve been trying so goddamn hard to keep subdued rearing up and smacking me in the face. “Don’t belittle me, Florence. This is amajorconflict of interest.”

A slow grin spreads across her face, and she leans in. “You’re right, it is. But I’m your only choice. Take it or leave it. Now… tell me about the other night. When you were working at…” She looks down at her file and then back up. “TheChapel.”

My stomach sours.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

I press my lips together instead of saying what I want to say because there’s no chance in hell that Florence Gammond is going to represent me.

“I’m not telling you anything, Florence. Get out of here. I don’t want you.”

She cocks her head. “It’s either me or no one, honey. You made your bed, and I can’t wait to see you lie in it. Does Parker know you’ve been stripping?”

I grit my teeth. “Don’t talk to me about Parker.”

“Can’t imagine he’d still want you if he knew.” She sneers down at me. “Although you’d think everything else about you would have turned him off, so who knows what he wants?” Her words burn.

“You’re right,” I say. “Easier to know what hedoesn’t.” I shouldn’t goad her, but God, she pisses me off.

Her eyes flick to the mirror and then to me before she smiles tightly and lowers her voice. “Keep pushing me, you piece of trash, and I’ll make sure you’re locked up and never heard from again.”

My heart falters.

“Can’t wait to see how Quinten fares in foster care.”

I stand up so quickly the chair screeches on the tile floor. “Get fucked, Florence.”

“Oh,sweet girl,” she jibes. “No one’s as fucked as you’re about to be.”

She laughs as I march to the door and throw it open, storming out into the hallway where Detective Fuller and his partner are lounging against the wall, the former stirring a stick in his paper cup of coffee.

“Do I have to stay here?” I ask, marching up to him.

My lungs are cramping, and I feel like I’m on the verge of a breakdown.

Detective Fuller straightens, looking past me to the room and then back. “Miss Pa— ”

I throw my hand in the air, cutting him off. “Legally, I mean. Do Ihaveto stay here?”

He clears his throat. “No.”

“Great.”

I shove by him, making my way outside, and I don’t stop moving until I’m a block away. A sob threatens to tear free from my throat, but I shove it back down because I’ll be damned if I let Florence fucking Gammond be the reason I can’t hold it together.

My fingers are shaky as I pull out my phone and dial Dalia’s number, and it isn’t until she picks me up that I break down entirely, because I have no clue what the hell I’m going to do.

Chapter21

Cade

“I’M SORRY. I DIDN’T KNOW WHERE ELSE TO GO.”

The words are out of Amaya’s mouth before I even have the door fully opened.

It’s almost ten o’clock at night, and I was just settling in to work on this Sunday’s homily when there was a knock on the door. Nobody— besides Amaya—comes to my cottage in the back beyond Jeremiah when he needs guidance, and even then, we usually meet in the office at the church, so seeing Amaya isn’t that surprising. I glance around the open space behind her, making sure there aren’t any prying eyes, before I move to the side and usher her in, quickly closing the door and locking it for good measure. I wince when I turn to face her, the few day- old wounds on my back and inner thighs screaming from the sudden movement, but I don’t want her to pick up on my discomfort, so I bite the inside of my cheek until I taste blood and move slowly in her direction.