Page 23 of Redeemed (Dirty Air 4)

Chloe rolls her eyes, ignoring me. “My full name is Chloe Arabella Carter. Born and raised in New York City.”

Noah pulls out his phone and busies himself.

My sister chats with Chloe, battering her with question after question. Chloe plays her part and answers every question with grace. According to her, she’s never been to a Broadway show and she had an imaginary friend until the crazy age of eight years old. Her favorite hobbies include napping because apparently, she doesn’t get enough sleep.

“Why did you file a restraining order against Ralph Williams?” Noah looks up from his phone.

I clench my fists. “What the fuck, Noah!”

“Santiago! No bad words!” Maya admonishes me.

“Fuck!” Marko offers excitedly. “Fuuuuck!”

Maya shakes her head at my nephew. “No! That’s a bad word.”

“Sorry, Mommy.” Marko shoves pieces of pancake in his mouth.

Noah frowns. “I’m not going to leave my kid with just anyone, especially if Chloe here is in danger herself. If she can’t tell me who Ralph is, then we’ll take Marko with us.”

My skin heats as my irritation grows at Noah’s dismissiveness. “So you dig into someone’s life without any semblance of privacy? Are there any lines you won’t cross?”

“You’d do the same if you were in my shoes,” he counters.

“It’s okay.” Chloe gives my hand a squeeze under the table. The contact has my skin prickling in a new way I’m afraid to give more attention to. “Ralph is my mother’s boyfriend… He isn’t a danger to me anymore, especially since I’m this far away from home. When I was a teenager, my social worker insisted on filing an order after he was caught doing something he shouldn’t have. But he never bothered me again after that. Based on how lazy he is, I think he’s more of a danger to himself.” Her laugh fails to make light of the situation.

What does that even mean? What sad fucks has she hung around because of her mother? I’m stuck staring at her like a surprised idiot. The exact kind of idiot I shouldn’t be if this is my actual girlfriend. I school my features, ignoring the urgency to pester Chloe for answers.

She and Noah lock gazes. Neither backs down as he reads her face like the emotionless robot he tends to be around anyone who isn’t family.

Chloe raises her chin and rolls her shoulders back. “If you’re concerned about Marko being with anyone, it should be Santiago. He might teach him every bad word while you’re away. And he also has terrible people skills, so I’d feel bad for Marko.”

“Hey, that’s not nice.” I pinch her side, smiling when she laughs and pushes me away.

I’m tempted to touch her again. I like the way her eyes light up and her skin flushes because of me.

Everyone joins in to laugh, and the tension dissipates.

“Please tell us how you met. Santiago didn’t bother sharing this morning.” Maya claps her hands together.

Jesus.

Chloe taps her lips with her index finger. “One day I was in a…”

“Park,” I finish for her.

“Right. A park. And I was climbing a tree.” She stalls.

“To help that stray cat,” I offer.

“Yes. That poor cat. She was missing clumps of hair and had one blind eye.” Chloe’s lip wobbles in an impressive way.

I’m absolutely captivated by her performance. Damn.

Maya leans toward us, grinning like a madwoman. “Tell me more!”

“Well, I fell out of the tree because your brother scared me.”

I withhold my laugh by sheer willpower alone. At least that part of her story is the truth.