My Wicked Heart (Wicked Poison 2)

My brother.

Beckham stands from his chair and picks her up, swinging her around. She loves Beckham. To her, Beckham can do no wrong whatsoever.

Beckham is also my boss.

Yes, I never took over the business. I turned it down when Father offered it, but Beckham had already started by then. Now? Well, now, he has made the business even more profitable. He may not be as good as me with money, but, damn, he is good at business practices. No one can deny that.

Winter tucks her head in his shoulder as he sits with her on his lap. Beckham hasn’t been in a relationship since Paige.

He’s changed since her death.

I had heard stories about him, that he is rough in bed—which I did not need to know—and that he fucks them and leaves them.

He lets her crease his expensive suit and lets Winter mess up his perfectly coiffured hair. He may have hardened over the years, but he is a completely different person when he gets hold of Winter. Beckham’s one of the most successful and youngest businessmen of the century. Because of that, he’s been all over business articles, blogs, and social media. If he wanted to, he could have his pick of women. But he chooses not to.

“What do you plan to do for your birthday?” I ask. Beckham’s turning twenty-three next week. See, still a baby.

“Nothing,” he says, making Winter’s bottom lip pout. “I’ll hang with you, then.” He loves Summer just as much as Winter—he is her uncle too, after all—but Winter and I, well, we don’t have a Noah. All we have is Beckham.

“You sure you’ll be okay with her tonight?” I ask him.

His eyes pin mine. “Yes, you know I am. We’re going to have ice cream and watch Frozen.” Winter claps her hands at his words. I throw him my keys, and he hands me his.

“Don’t hurt her, you know she’s my baby.”

I roll my eyes.

Beckham loves cars, and he prefers not to put a child seat in his unless it’s essential.

I say my goodbyes, giving Winter a quick kiss on her head. She never seems to care if I leave when she’s with Beckham. I love their relationship. It took a while for Beckham and me to get back to where we once were after Paige died, but now, we are even stronger.

Getting into his two-door sports car, I drive it back to my apartment. Rhianna moved in with Noah shortly after she got pregnant with Summer, and I took over the apartment. I even bought it from my parents. They refused to take the money, but I worked out a way to pay them so they couldn’t refuse—I took the money and bought my mother a car.

When I get home, I go straight for a shower, washing off my day.

Tonight is my first real date in years. I tried to date when Winter was one, and of course, none of them went great. Let’s face it, small children are hard work and I was always tired back then. So I decided it was best I didn’t date. My life now revolves around Winter, and that’s how it should be.

On the other hand, Rhianna had other plans, and now, here I am, sliding on a little pink dress, followed by some matching heels, to go on a date with one of Noah’s friends whom I’ve met only a hand full of times, knows I’m a single mother, and still wants to take me out to eat. Go figure!

I pull my hair from the bun it was in and run my fingers through it before I pin half of it back up, then apply some light makeup.

“You can do this,” I say, giving myself a little pep talk.

Oh, gosh, maybe I can’t. I sit on my bed and take a few deep, centering breaths.

Do I really want to date?

I still compare everyone to August. Even after all these years. Even when I know, I shouldn’t. He could be in another country, or dead, for all I know, and yet I still do it.

I hate that I let myself down like this. Really, I do. But I can’t hate him. I could never hate him. Even if I tried.

Pulling myself up, I leave the house before I chicken out.

Holden is nice. He opens doors for me, pays for my food, and buys me drinks. I sit opposite him at the bar after dinner. I don’t have to be home tonight so I’m taking full advantage of my time away from Winter and trying to be myself for a little while.

“I’ve told you already you look good, right?” he asks, his eyes moving from my face to my legs. He has, multiple times and I like the attention. I haven’t had this type of attention for a long time.