“I’m not letting you buy me a car,” I say, shaking my head.
“Go home. Rest. Call me if you need me. Ronnie will take you home now.”
I stride out, and Ronnie follows a step behind me as I walk out of Atlas’s house. The car Ronnie drives is already out the front, and he opens the back door before I can. When I’m settled in the back seat, I look back and see Atlas standing at the door of his house, watching me.
The new car Atlas purchased for me was parked at the front of my house when I arrived home. I chose not to acknowledge it, hoping if I didn’t it might just go away somehow. Because that car’s expensive, and even though I may own my own business, it doesn’t mean I have money to burn.
I rang Marissa before I showered, and she told me everything went well in my absence and asked when I was coming back. I told her tomorrow.
Which is now today, considering I fell asleep almost as soon as my head hit the pillow, and I slept all the way through until morning. Ronnie stayed at the front door the whole time, making me feel safe.
My stitches sting under the water, but I endure the pain because the warm water feels too good on my tired body. When I finally step out of the shower, I hear pounding at my front door.
“Thea,” my name is screamed.
I wrap the towel around myself and head to the front door. I know Tina’s voice anywhere. When I open it, Ronnie is still there, as well as a pissed off Tina. Her eyes land on me, and she searches me up and down before she steps forward, throwing her arms around me.
“Oh my God, never do that to me again,” she cries, squeezing me even tighter. When she finishes, she steps back. “Your life is chaotic with him in it, isn’t it?” she says, and all I can manage is to nod. “Oi, you okay or not?”
“I have to go to work today,” I tell her.
“Thea, you can talk to me.”
“And I have to see the baby.” My gaze drops to my bare feet.
“Thea, did you hear me? Are you okay?”
“I’ll be fine. I’m always fine,” I tell her. “Hey, can I ask you a favor?”
Tina nods at my words.
“I need Sydney, or someone, to contact Atlas’s father. I want to meet him.” Her eyes go wide.
“No way. That’s not happening, Thea. Sydney said everything is his fault.”
“I want to. Please. Just make it happen, and don’t tell Atlas.”
“How else do you expect me to ask Sydney without her telling Atlas?”
“I’m sure you have your ways,” I state, managing a smile. I look past her to make sure Ronnie isn’t within hearing distance. He’s still near his car, where he walked once Tina and I started talking.
“I’m going with you then. I won’t come in, but I will take you there and drive you home.”
“Deal.”
Tina nods and turns to walk out. “Your sister is being a pain the ass, I hear,” Tina says as she walks off.
I slip on my ballerina flats to match my dress I slipped on before we leave. I have no cell, so I don’t have to worry about that ringing.
Ronnie opens the back door, and as he does, he holds out a white box for me. I look at it, as does Tina.
“A cell?” Tina questions.
“It’s for you, miss, from sir,” Ronnie says.
“Atlas, he means,” I say, clarifying for Tina. “Tell him I can get my own things.” He nods and places the box behind his back as he waits for me to get in.
“You lost your cell?” Tina asks.
“Chloe destroyed it,” I manage to say. The cut on my arm is still painful, and my face, although littered with bruises, is now covered with makeup, but still has a tinge of red and blue to it.
“Am I the only decent person in your life?” Tina asks while shaking her head. “At least Atlas is trying now, I guess,” she adds.
“That’s well and truly over.”
“He doesn’t seem to think so.”
“He can think what he wants.”
“Sydney said you were with him before—”
“I was. It was a lapse in judgment.”
“If you say so, but I also think you know that there is more than just an attraction with Atlas. Your goodness balances out his badness,” she says, and then laughs.
“When did you become so poetic?”
“When I saw him go crazy trying to find you.” I raise an eyebrow as she shakes her head. “He thought he found you because of Lucy. But it took longer, and I saw him, I saw the way he could hardly speak, and his only worry was you. He bit everyone’s head off, and then Sydney said when he finally found you, it was as if he was finally okay and that he could breathe again.”