“No, I’ve not. My stuff was packed and the house sold. I don’t know what happened to it. My aunt took care of that.”
“She doesn’t take care of you though, does she?” he asked.
“It’s not her job to take care of me. I’m old enough to take care of myself.”
“You’re not used to it though, are you? Being alone. I heard your aunt is from your dad’s side?”
“She’s my dad’s sister.”
He wondered how that went.
“We … tolerate each other.”
He pulled up outside of her aunt’s house, and he saw the lack of desire to go inside. She didn’t want to go home. He watched her, waiting.
“You hate her?”
“She hates my mom. Says that everything that happened is her fault. She wasn’t there.” Hope snorted. “I don’t even know why I’m telling you this. I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Sometimes strangers are the best people to tell our secrets. It’s why some go to confession.”
“I have no intention of telling my fears or my memories to a priest. Aunt Tay … hates me because I remind her of my mom. I was there, and no matter how often she tries to blame everything else, it was her brother who pulled the trigger.”
He noticed she placed her hand on her stomach. “You were shot as well.”
She nodded. “Yeah, I was bleeding out. I think the doctor said I died on the table for a few seconds. I don’t remember anything.”
Beast gripped the steering wheel tighter, not liking the thought of a world without her in it.
“Everything happens for a reason, right?” she asked. Her gaze moving from the house to land on him. “Why do you think I had to lose my parents? Why did he kill her?”
“You hate him?”
“He killed my mom. Took away the one person in the world I could talk to. I didn’t have to put on a happy face. I miss her more than anything.” She wiped away the tears, and laughed. “I’m sorry. You’ve got more important things than talking to me.”
“Would you move out if you could?” he asked, stopping her from leaving as she reached for the door handle.
“What do you mean?”
“If you had somewhere to go that meant you didn’t have to go home to that.”
She stared at the house, and he saw how tempting his offer was.
Plans began to draw up in his mind. “I’d move out in a second. I really would. I … I’ve thought about it. I’ve got a trust fund, but the more of that I save, it means I can go to college. I don’t want to spend too much. It won’t be much longer, you know. Just a few more months.” She smiled at him. “Thank you for the ride.”
He waited for her to leave.
She gave him a little wave, which he returned before he headed back toward his home. Cars were parked in his driveway, which only served to piss him off.
Yes, parties for teenagers bored him. Climbing out of his car, he made his way inside, and found Caleb standing at his office window, staring out toward the garden.
“I think we should get Dwayne tested for some kind of STD, or even STI. I’ve seen those skanks he’s got on his lap making out with three other boys.”
Moving toward the window, Beast watched his nephew. Dwayne was living the life a high-schooler should be living. He was getting laid, flunking his classes, but also making up for lost time.
He’d seen the transformation in just the few weeks that Hope had been tutoring him. She was good at what she did. Patient, talented, and … beautiful.
She saw herself as a freak, but he saw her as beautiful.
She’s eighteen.
That was his only problem. At thirty-seven years old, he was too old for her. Nearly twenty years her senior.
Yet, he couldn’t seem to stop thinking about her. Even when he was away from her, he thought about her. Tonight, he’d gone to the diner because he knew she’d be there. He also knew she’d walk the streets alone because she didn’t have a car, and he fucking hated that. She shouldn’t be walking alone, not now, not ever.
The streets were dangerous. She had absolutely no care at all for her own safety.
“There’s something I want to do,” he said.
“Are you telling me to ask for my advice, or because you just want me to hear it out?”
“I want to bring Hope Miller here to live while she finishes out her high school days.”
“Is this because of the gun?”
“This is because she doesn’t deserve to live with a first-class bitch.” He turned to look at Caleb. “You can make that happen?”
“I’ll call our lawyer tomorrow. I’m sure he’ll draw the papers up.”
“When she goes to the diner to work, I want you to keep an eye on her.”