Kieran steps up next to me and I hear him inhale.
“What the fuck happened?” he breathes heavily.
I tell him everything. How father met some man in a van, I went rogue, and the woman was forced upon me or she would have been killed.
He shakes his head. “Wow, I didn’t know anything about this,” he whispers, rubbing his chin with his thumb and forefinger. “Father dipped his fingers in some sour shit, but this has got to be a new low for him.”
“I’ve told her she can go. I’ve offered her money even, but she won’t say a word,” I explain further. It’s like she can’t hear me or doesn’t want to be free. I don’t understand what’s wrong with her.
The strange woman finally looks up, her eyes hitting me in the most unknown places in my chest. I don’t know her, yet I feel an invisible string pulling me toward her. Why? Is it because I feel sorry for her?
Leona suddenly sashays over to her and squats down in front of her.
“Hey, sweetheart, do you have someone we can call?”
The woman says nothing, and Leona looks over her shoulder at me.
I wave my hand out in a “I told you” manner, I shrug.
Kieran turns his back, both of us face to face now. “Do yourself a favor and just get her out.” His tone is sharp. “Either way you put it, this woman has been kidnapped. She needs to go.”
Exhaling sharply, I slide my hands in my pockets. “You’re right…” I really don’t want to drag her out of here, she’s obviously terrified as it is, but I can barely take care of myself, let alone someone else.
Taking a step toward the woman, I say, “Come on, let’s get you a cab.” I don’t ask, I tell her.
“No.”
We freeze. She spoke. She finally said something. Her tone of voice was sharp and direct, her eyes staring back at me like she’d fight me if I tried to touch her.
“What?” I ask confused. Doesn’t she want to go home?
“You don’t want to leave?” Leona clarifies.
The blonde beauty shakes her head, confirming she wants to stay in my house.
Leona stands, adjusting her fur coat. Her shoulders lifting as she takes a deep breath.
“Well, if she verbally said she doesn’t want to leave, then she’s not here against her will. You’re not a thief.” She winks along with a sly smile pulling at her face before walking back over to us.
I don’t see the humor in this situation, why is she smiling like that? This woman has to go. This is no place for her, and I’m certainly not the best company for someone who has been through a traumatic experience. I’ll screw her up more than she already is.
“So what the fuck do I do with her?” To keep myself in control at all times, I keep everyone at a certain distance I’m comfortable with and having this strange woman in my house has everything scrambling to uncertainty. I won’t have control, I won’t be able to promise her safety or my own, and I can’t guarantee the man I’ll become on the other side of this situation. She’ll see I’m not right and I’ll make my dad look like a fucking angel compared to the angry god I want to become in my weakest moments. Doctors label me as bipolar but it’s just a fancy word for being insane. Not knowing one feeling from the next or how to control them, I can’t take care of someone as fragile as her.
Wrinkles form across Kieran’s forehead. Using his finger, he gestures me to follow him into the hall just outside the guestroom, Kieran runs both of his hands through his hair before slipping them into his pockets. His tongue darting out to lick his lips before leaning into me closer.
“You can’t just set her outside, she’s obviously troubled,” Kieran states, pulling one of his hands from his pocket, he gestures to the woman. “What if her body is found around the corner tomorrow, you want that on your conscience?”
Biting my tongue, I glare at him. Now we suddenly have a conscience after all the shit we’ve done together, this is when we start thinking like a normal civilized person?
“What about a shelter?” I suggest. They can take her in and get her the help she needs.
Kieran begins to walk to the front door, shaking his head, Leona right behind him.
“Getting her out of that room is going to be like putting a cat into a bath. There’s something out there far worse than you, my brother, and I hate to say it but… good luck.” He gives me a sympathetic look.
“I can’t have her here!” I shout, my anger and emotions beginning to take over. I’m not safe either, doesn’t anyone see that?