Page 16 of The Right Garza

Trent:Trust me, Lexi. I’m so fucking GROWN you can’t even imagine…

I drop my phone.

Chapter SEVEN

“How angelic of you.”

Lexi

It’s dark outside whena knock finally comes at my door again. I swing it open to a bruised and disheveled Ellie. Her pale blue eyes are red and puffy, her cheekbone darkened from a nasty shiner, black and blue bruises scattered over her arms and legs.

I throw myself at her. “Oh, thank God! You’re here, you’re out. Thank goodness.”

She hugs me back, sobbing into my neck. “I thought…I thought they were going to kill me.”

“No, babe. You’re safe now. It’s fine. I took care of it.”

She draws back to look at me. “How? Where did you get the money?”

I lift one shoulder then let it fall. “An old friend helped.”

“The one who brought me here?”

I nod and comb my fingers through her matted hair. “How are you feeling? Are you hungry? Come, sit. I’ll make you some tea.”

I help her to the couch then put the kettle on.

“I don’t think your old friend likes me very much,” Ellie says, examining one of the bruises on her thigh. “He was so serious I thought he was taking me to kill me.”

“Oh, don’t mind him. It’s not you. He’s just an asshole,period,” I tell her. “Where is he anyway?”

“He said to tell you he would be back in half an hour.”

I grab some ingredients from the fridge to fix her a sandwich. “So, you know how I said he helped me with this?” I say. “That, uh, came with some strings.”

She pulls her feet up on the couch. “What kind of strings?”

I rest my hip against the counter so I can see her as I make the sandwich. “It includes me moving back home.”

Her chest rises and falls, almost as if in relief. “Oh.”

My eyebrows pull together. “What was that?”

“What was what?”

I point the knife I’m holding at her. “That look of relief you’re wearing like a fucking hazmat suit.”

“Well…” she bites her lip, looking chagrin.

“Well, what?”

“I kinda want to go back with Slim,” she blurts. “I’ve wanted to for a while now but I didn’t know how to broach it with you because I know how you feel about working with him.”

“Ellie, Jesus, he’s a dirtbag.”

“Yeah, I know, but we still make money with him. And look what happened to me. This would have never happened if we were with him. This is the kind of stuff he protects us from. Is seventy-thirty unfair? Yes. But at least we never experienced anything like this. He removes the danger and makes it fun, and to me, I think that’s worth it.” She shakes her head and emits a whiny noise. “Honestly, Lexi, I really fucking hate being broke. It sucks.”

If she had followed my instructions and kept her head down, none of this would have even happened to begin with. I’m in debt because she blatantly disregarded everything I told her, then lied when she was caught, dragging me right into hell with her.