To Save Sir (Doms of Decadence 7)

“What the hell is going on here?” her uncle boomed.

***

Jenna’s headache was getting worse.

Her uncle paced up and down the living room as she perched nervously on the hard sofa. Curt stood behind her. When she snuck a look back at him, he looked almost bored, but she could see the close way he watched uncle.

“Uncle Justin, Curt is here to support me. Not that it’s really any of your business what Curt and I do.”

“What is going on in here, Justin?” Her aunt stepped through the door, looking tired and worried. She came to a stop as she saw Jenna.

“Jenna, good you’re here. Your mother has been waiting to…” her aunt trailed off, her mouth dropping open as she saw Curt. “What is he doing here?” She pointed at Curt, as though there were any doubt who she was talking about.

“That’s why I want to know,” her uncle growled, stilling to glare down at Jenna. “He came with Jenna.”

“Jenna? What? How?”

“He’s here to help me, Aunty,” Jenna said with as much patience as she could muster. “We’re seeing each other.” It seemed an inadequate description for what he meant to her.

“This is unacceptable, Jenna,” her uncle yelled, his face flushed and sweaty. “You’re fucking the man who killed my daughter!”

“That’s enough,” Curt said in a low voice, making her uncle pause. Her aunt looked up at him fearfully. Were they afraid of Curt? “You say what you like to me but you speak to Jenna with respect.”

Uncle Justin glared at Curt. “She has betrayed her family.”

Aunt Mary looked close to tears as she stared at Jenna with sorrow. Jenna felt terrible they were so hurt by her decision to be with Curt, but they were acting so strangely, so out of character it was shocking. She knew they blamed Curt for Amelia’s death, but she’d thought that was just a reaction to the pain of losing her. She’d hoped they’d come to see he had nothing to do with her death.

“Oh, Justin. It’s not Jenna’s fault. She’s always had a crush on him, poor thing. Amelia used to laugh about it. She thought it was so cute.”

Amelia thought it was cute? That was hard to believe.

“Amelia’s death was an accident. She took a corner too fast and flipped her car. That wasn’t Curt’s fault,” she said firmly. Enough was enough. He might be fine with them spouting these lies about him, but she wouldn’t just sit there and take it.

Her uncle turned to Curt, his gaze narrowed in fury. “Is that what he told you, Jenna?”

“She was driving so fast because she was trying to get away from him,” Aunt Mary told her. “Because she thought he was going to hurt her.”

“Curt wouldn’t hurt Amelia and he definitely wouldn’t do anything to harm his child.” Her gut clenched at the idea of Curt’s baby. Something she’d never have. She knew she needed to talk to him about that, although he had to know about her accident and the hysterectomy.

“Lies,” her uncle snarled. “And I won’t have him in my house any longer.”

She stood. “Then I guess we’ll be leaving. Do you know if Mother is up to going to the bail hearing tomorrow? We’d be happy to take her with us.”

“Wait, no, they can’t leave without seeing Lorraine, Justin,” Aunt Mary said in alarm. “I’ll take you up. Then you have to leave.”

With her uncle glaring at them, they left the room and followed her aunt upstairs. She knocked on her mother’s door then walked in. “She’s been sleeping a lot. Best thing for her, I suppose. You know she doesn’t do well with any sort of crisis.”

And sleeping through everything was the best way she could cope? Jenna shared a look with Curt then shrugged. She didn’t know how to help her mother. When she walked into the large bedroom, she came to a stop, shocked by the sight of her usually made-up and composed mother. Lorraine Jasons didn’t leave the house without a full face of makeup and a designer outfit on. This wasn’t her mother. This woman looked sickly. She was washed out, her face naked, her hair spread about her in a tangled web. She blinked as she looked up at Jenna.

“Jenna?”

“Hello, Mother.” She gave Curt an alarmed look, noticing how he studied her mother closely.

“Oh, Jenna, I’m so glad you’re here.” She clung to Jenna’s arm with a strength that surprised her. “The things they’ve accused your father of, they’re terrible. You know he’s innocent, but no one will believe that. We’ve been vilified. I’ve had to leave my home, it’s not safe there. Everyone has turned their backs on me, except for my sister. Even you didn’t come for me. This has been such a trying, awful time for me, and where have you been? In some little town, helping people who aren’t even related to you. Family comes first, Jenna.”

And there was her mother. Obviously not as ill as she looked.

Jenna sat on the side of the bed, knowing the routine.