Page 56 of Pretty Lies (Watch Me Burn #1)

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

RORY

“ T here you are! I’ve been wondering where you’d snuck off to,” Josie beamed as I walked into her office the next afternoon. The guys had reluctantly agreed to give me some space, letting me come home on my own for the weekend.

They were smothering me, and my irritation was mixing with my pain, making me angry. The sooner I found my mom and left, the better.

“Can you help me with something?” I asked as I sat in the chair in front of her desk, her smile warm.

“Anything.”

“I’m trying to find my mom, Marla Donovan. She left when Max fucked everything up and moved us to the Heights. I’m hoping I can track her down and stay with her,” I said brightly, her face falling slightly.

“You want to leave?”

“I just want my mom. We were really close when I was little, and as much as I appreciate everything you’re doing for me, it’s not the same. Now that Max is gone, I think it’s time I found her.”

“Do you have any idea where she might be? I don’t take offense, honey. Every child needs their mom,” she replied, a sigh leaving me.

“I have no idea. I was eight when she left. She could be anywhere by now.”

“Your father never tried to find her?”

“You’ve met Max, right?” I asked dryly, earning a wry smile.

“Yeah, a time or two. Do you know why she didn’t take you with her?”

“He claims she left because she didn’t want me, but I know that’s bullshit. He was awful to her, and I think she just saw an opportunity to leave and took it. I don’t know why she didn’t come back for me though,” I said with a frown.

“I’ll ask my connections in the police department.

It might be that she was placed in a protection program and wasn’t able to come back for you.

I’d have thought they would have removed you from Max’s care and put you with her if that was the case, but it can’t hurt to ask.

Do you know any of her details like her age? ”

“Marla Donovan, brown hair and light blue eyes. She’s two years younger than Max so she’d be forty-three.”

“Any other family? Maiden name?”

“She was Leary before marrying Max. She had a brother, Axel, but he died when I was younger. I never met their parents or anything, and Uncle Axel was a teenager when he died, so he didn’t have kids. Max said he was in a gang and got himself killed.”

I smiled slightly at the vague memory of the teenager that would play outside with me in the pool.

“You were close with him?” she asked.

“I remember spending time with him, but it’s fuzzy.

He taught me to swim,” I answered, wrapping my arms around myself and leaning forward in my chair.

“He was so much like Mom. Kind, patient, and he always shared his sweets with me. Him and Max argued a lot, and I didn’t understand why, but now that I'm older, I assume it was because Axel found out how Max was speaking to Mom.”

“When we find your mom, I bet she’ll be so proud of you. You’re so strong and smart,” she praised, writing details down in her notebook. “Are you doing okay? I was worried when I didn’t hear from you all week, and Caden was acting strange. Did my son do something stupid again?”

Telling her what had happened would only upset her, and she’d want to drag Tristan through court on my behalf, but I wasn’t going to get up on the stand only to be told there was no proof as they dragged my character through the mud.

They’d take one look at the people I associated with and drop the case.

“I’ve just been having some time to myself while trying to figure out what to do about Mom.

Caden didn’t do anything, I was with him and the guys the last few days at Jensen’s.

” It wasn’t exactly a lie. I was alone in a box for most of the week, after all.

“Are you okay? You were such a bad bitch standing up to Max for me, but I know you loved him.”

She blew out a breath and rested her arms on the desk, dropping the mask a little from her face.

“Honestly? It’s hard. I thought I’d marry him, we’d talked about it, but I should’ve known I had bad taste in husbands after Caden’s father. I don’t regret kicking Max out though. I don’t want someone like that in my life around my family, and I got a daughter out of it, so it was worth it.”

“Don’t you make me cry again,” I teased, my chest warming at her words and making her laugh.

“We can’t have that. The school called yesterday and said you’ve been absent a lot over the past couple of weeks and haven't caught up, so maybe go and spend some time studying, I told them to email it all to you.”

“Ugh, can’t I just skip it?”

“Empires are not built by skipping steps. I worked hard to get where I am, and I think you can too. Put in the work and benefit yourself. Don’t do it for me, do it for you.

I know fancy things don’t mean anything to you, but you can put a roof over your own head and food on your table without anyone’s help.

Besides, nothing would piss off your father more than seeing you succeed,” she grinned, reaching over to give my hand a gentle pat. “That’s good motivation, I think.”

“Fine, I’ll finish high school,” I huffed, and she gave me a pointed look.

“And college. I’ll send you anywhere you want to go.”

College wasn’t even on my radar since Max had spent my college fund in his fall from grace.

“I’ll think about it,” I said slowly, and she rolled her eyes.

“I don’t care if it’s just community college here in Ashburn Valley. Educated women are a weapon in this world, so get out there and slay, girl.”

I snorted, not being able to hold back a giggle. “We don’t say slay.”

“Sure you do. I have social media, girls say it all the time. Now stop making me feel old by judging my slang and get an education. All your assignments are in your email,” she scolded playfully, shooing me out to get back to work.

My brain hurt by the time I’d gotten through half of my assignments, and I groaned as I dropped back onto my bed. I couldn’t think anymore, it was all mush.

I heard a vehicle pull into the driveway, and I walked across the room to look out the window, surprised to see Diesel step out of a red 1978 Ford F-150 pickup.

Considering I was supposed to avoid the Psychos at all costs, it was a little weird that he’d shown up looking for me, especially when we weren’t exactly close to begin with.

The doorbell rang as I stepped into the hallway, getting a strange look from Josie as she walked out of her office. “I wasn’t expecting anyone.”

“It’s for me, I’ll get it,” I replied as I jogged down the stairs, picking up the pace as the bell rang again.

I opened the door and instant relief filled Diesel’s face, his voice tight. “You’re okay.”

“I wouldn’t say that, but sure,” I said dryly, crossing my arms. “What are you doing here?”

“Holloway told me you’d gone home. I wanted to check on you,” he said casually, glancing behind me. “Are you alone or should I go?”

“Josie’s upstairs but I’m not entertaining guests in the ball room or anything,” I deadpanned, opening the door wider. “Come in.”

He stepped inside, taking his leather crew jacket off as we reached the kitchen, and he placed it over the back of a chair before sitting down at the table.

“I’m sorry about Skeet,” he said with a wince, and I scoffed.

“You don’t need to apologize. He’s the fucking asshole, not you.”

“I know, but I had no idea he was going to say all that shit or I would’ve stopped him from having the conversation.

You’ve been through enough, and the last thing you needed was Skeet making it sound like you being raped changed his outlook on you,” he explained, and I shoved a hand over his mouth to stop him from saying anymore.

I leaned down so my voice didn’t travel to Josie, adding anger to my tone. “Don’t talk about it. You don’t have the right, and Josie doesn’t know. It would kill her.”

Surprise crossed his face as I stepped back, his volume thankfully dropping. “You didn’t tell her?”

“No. It hurt her enough to know her piece of shit husband raped a thirteen-year-old, but she wouldn’t handle it if she found out he took me and raped me for a whole week when I was living under her roof.

She’d blame herself and then bring cops into it, which would lead to a massive case in court that I’d look stupid in because the moment they take one look at my character and the people I associate with, they’d say I’m making it up for money or I just changed my mind and cried wolf.

Tristan is an asshole, but he’s a powerful one.

He’d drag my name through the mud and make a joke out of me.

I’m not going through all of that just to make a point. ”

“Slash won’t let us handle him. Claims it’s too risky with his connections,” he mumbled, raking a hand through his hair. “I’m trying to change his mind, but he won’t budge.”

“I don’t think you’re supposed to be telling me this,” I chuckled as I sat in the chair beside his, leaning an elbow on the table to rest my hand under my chin. “Why do you even care? You don’t know me.”

“You just remind me of someone, and I don’t want your demons to drown you,” he said in a low voice, seeming to be deep in thought for a moment before adding, “And you’re right, Slash would kill me if he knew I was telling you anything, but I really wanted you to know that I’m trying so you don’t feel like you’re fighting this alone.

I want to give you my phone number too.”

“I thought you were too old for me?” I joked, getting a flat look in return.

“I am, and I’m not interested in teenage-pussy. I just want you to call or text me whenever you need to talk. You might feel alone, but you’re not.”

“I’m not going to kill myself. You don’t need to worry about me.”