Riggs smirks, but Cree glares at me. Every time I open my mouth, he looks angrier. “In the other world, where sick bastards live, they take easy, weak targets and turn their lives upside down. Because you didn’t listen to me, you’re that target,” Cree hisses.
“I’ll call the police. I’ll tell them he’s harassing me.”
“And he’ll deny it. You know how hard it would be to prove that? And even if you did, it wouldn’t be solved straight away. It would take time to get an order against him,” says Riggs.
“Then what do I do?” I ask.
“Why don’t you tell us? You’re the genius who keeps doing what she wants and not listening to a fuckin’ word I say!” growls Cree.
“You get this charming bastard to look after you,” grins Riggs, pointing to Cree. “Until we can work out what to do.”
“That’s not a good idea,” I snap.
“It’s all we’re offering, darlin’,” drawls Cree, and I scowl at his smug face. Seeing him all the time will be like torture.
“Cree’s gonna show you some self-defence,” adds Riggs.
“We start tonight. We’re going to the gym, so we’ll drop by your place on the way and collect some clothes and shit. Frankie cleaned your old room,” says Cree.
“I hate the gym. I’m not going.” I fold my arms to prove my stubbornness, but I already know I’m fighting a losing battle.
Cree
Doctor Chapman waits patiently for me to loosen up. “I let her in,” I begin. “Eva,” I clarify.
“That’s amazing progress, Elijah.” She looks genuinely happy. She probably thinks that’s me all fixed and she can get rid of my useless ass.
“She lied to me,” I continue. “It’s not going well.”
Her face falls. “Oh,” she mumbles, frowning. “What kind of lie?”
“A lie’s a fuckin’ lie. What does it matter?” I snap.
“People lie for all different reasons. Did she lie to be deceitful?”
“Yes!” I snap. “Sort of.” She arches a brow and waits for me to elaborate. “I asked her not to go somewhere. It was dangerous. She went and lied about it.”
“Did she know the dangers?”
“Why are you defending her?” I shout. “She lied. She disobeyed me.”
“Elijah,” she says gently, and I brace myself for the truth, because if there’s one thing Doctor Chapman is good at, it’s the damn truth. “You’ve only been seeing Eva for a very short time. Is it your place to forbid her to do something she wants to do?”
“Yes! If I’m keeping her safe. She said she wanted to help me, but I told her I was dealing with it, but she did it anyway. She never listens.” I know as I say the words, she thinks I’m ridiculous. “I should protect her, not have her protect me, and now she’s put herself in harm’s way.”
“Have you ever thought that she was protecting you because she cares? Isn’t that a good thing? You’ve spent so long protecting everyone around you, now someone wants to do the same for you.”
I pick at the worn leather on the chair. “I don’t want protection.”
“Maybe you don’t know how to handle it. Someone likes you and wants to look after you. Have you had that before?”
“Yes. My brothers look after me. We look out for each other.”
She nods her head and writes in her notebook. “How do you think Eva felt when you told her you were upset?”
“She cried,” I mutter. “She apologised.”
“And you can’t forgive her?” she asks.
“I don’t know.” I want to. I can’t stop thinking about her and seeing that damn wounded look on her face. Doctor Chapman’s right—it’s not like Eva cheated on me, but it still feels like betrayal. If she can lie so easily to my face like that, how will I ever trust her?
I say that to Doc and she pauses for a short time before exhaling. “You and Eva are never going to get everything right. You haven’t been here before, it’s unfamiliar territory, and you have a lot of complex issues. You’ve told her that she’s upset you and now she’s sorry. Maybe she won’t do that again. Did your mum lie to you a lot?”
My eyes lower. I hate discussing this shit, but if I ever want to move forwards and live a normal life, maybe this has to be put to bed. “Yes,” I sigh. “She promised she wouldn’t leave me but she did. I begged her to stop taking the drugs, but it was the only way she could cope, yah know. She hated selling herself. She looked me in the eyes so many times and promised that she would eventually stop. She wanted to give us a better life.”
“She died from a drug overdose?” Chapman asks, turning the pages in her notebook. I nod.
“The cops said she’d taken a bad batch, whatever that meant. I was just a kid and she fuckin’ left me. She lied.”
“And that’s when your mum’s pimp stepped in? What was your relationship like with him?”
I shrug. “He stopped me from being taken into care, so I was grateful. I knew guys who came from the system and I didn’t want to end up like them. But his help came at a price.”
“Sex?” asks Chapman, and I nod.
“He said there was a market for that sort of thing. Women, bored housewives—they wanted a toy boy. I had to lie and say I was eighteen. I looked older, but I think they knew deep down. The lie was to make them feel better about what they were doing.”
“When did it stop?” she asks.
“When I cut my pimp’s throat,” I say bluntly, and she raises her eyebrows. “He was taking kids off the street, girls who were too young. One night, he had a married couple who asked for me and a girl together. She was eleven. I wasn’t gonna be part of that.” My head replays images of Jennie, eleven years old and fresh into care. She had
