Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 77398 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77398 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
“I know.”
“Bailey wouldn’t have wanted this. You fuckin’ know that.”
I seethed, “For fucks sake, Noah!” Locking eyes with him. “Don’t you think I know? I dwell on it day and night! What Bailey wanted! What she needed! How I fuckin’ lost her! Don’t you stand there and tell me what my wife—”
“Aiden!” Skyler reprimanded, bringing our attention to her as she waddled into the garage. Slamming the door behind her.
“Cutie,” Noah warned, only eyeing her.
“Don’t Cutie me! I’m sick of this shit! And if you—” she sternly pointed at him “—won’t tell the man who is like your father what’s up, then I sure as hell will!” She glared back over at me. “I have been here in place of you, in place of her, and you know what? I’m starting to think it was the worst thing I could have offered, but I promised Bailey I would be here for you. So that’s what I did. Camila did not deserve the way you treated her… Oh my God, Aiden! I watched the nanny cam footage! How dare you talk to her like that?! That woman has put her life on hold to take care of your kids! Do you have any idea how much school she has missed? For you.”
“School?” I jerked back, confused.
“Oh, what a surprise,” Skyler sarcastically remarked. Throwing her hands up in the air, ready to pull out her hair. “You weren’t listening when I told you she was in nursing school? What else did you not listen to? Do you even comprehend how much of an asshole you are to everyone trying to help you?!”
“Cutie… reel it in, yeah?”
“No! I’m pregnant! I’m hungry! And I’m pissed at him!” She pointed at me now. “Did you know the last few months she’s been taking the bus here? I was sitting here thinking, ‘Oh it’s not a big deal, people take the bus all the time. Maybe she doesn’t like to drive.’ But tonight, I learn that not only does she live two hours away from your house, but when I Googled her address, she gave me on her resumé, I also find out she lives in one of the worst neighborhoods in the south side of town. Oh, and now she doesn’t even have a cellphone because you broke it! After you fired her and pretty much threw her out of your house on her ass!”
“I—”
“And wow!” She clapped her hands like she was applauding me, driving her point home. “A nine-month-old called another woman, who has been her everything, ‘Ma’! Of course, why wouldn’t she think that? Camila takes her to the park down the street all the time. She hears other kids. In her little baby brain, she probably thinks she’s her mom since she’s with her all the time. Day in and day out while you are nowhere! But riddle me this, Dr. Pierce.” She stepped toward me, getting right up in my face. “What if Journey had called me that? Huh? Would you have gone all beast mode on me too? Probably not. Why? Because you want what’s best for your daughter, and Camila is the best for her. The woman is best for all of you. She makes them happy. Sure, her and Jackson have had their ups and downs, but Jackson’s been a little shit to Harley too since they were born, and we all know what’s going to end up happening there.”
“Cutie…”
“Oh, come on, Noah! We all know they love each other.”
“The fuck they do! Where is she?”
“No! You leave them alone. She’s comforting him because this man took it too far.”
“Took it too far? Jesus Christ, did you hear the way he spoke to me?”
“Yes,” she simply stated. “But he’s hurting as much as you. We all are. I know you have been here the only way you’ve known how, but they don’t know that. They have no idea you check on them every night after they’re sleeping. In their eyes, you have abandoned them. How else are they supposed to feel? No one, not even their mother would have been a substitute for you. Do you remember how much Jackson looked up to you? I know you do. You were his everything. You were his person, like Camila is Journey’s. And if you don’t bring her back, they will never forgive you.”
I opened my mouth to reply but nothing came out, I had no argument. She was right. I was fucking up and I had no idea where to start fixing things between us.
“I’d die for my kids.”
“I know. But your actions need to match your words. I imagine it must have killed you to watch your wedding video, but she wasn’t lying. She didn’t go in your safe, Jagger did.”
“What?”
“Yeah. I watched him on the footage. He even put the tape in the Beauty and the Beast case and placed it with Jackson’s movies.”