Chapter Sixteen
Eva
I push the scrambled eggs around on my plate. There are four others at the table as well as me and Cree, and tension fills the air.
“So, Eva,” Anna says and smiles. “What are you doing today?”
I drop my fork onto my plate and lean back in the chair. “Going home,” I say. Cree keeps his head down but his eyes flick to mine. “And I need to find a new job,” I add with a sarcastic laugh. “I don’t think Michelle will give me my job back.”
“There’s no rush to move back home, is there?” asks Anna, looking at Cree and then at me again.
“I spent the night thinking things over. I’m considering moving away,” I say. “From London,” I add. All eyes turn to me and I smile awkwardly. Cree drops his fork on his plate and pushes away from the table, leaving the room without a word. Riggs goes after him.
“Leaving London?” repeats Anna.
“Why?” asks Frankie.
Tears fill my eyes again and I smile through them. “It’s time for a new start. Too much has happened.”
“You’ll find a job here. Hell, I bet Riggs has some business you can run or work at,” says Frankie. “What about your mum?”
“I think she’s found a home here with you guys.” I smile. “She loves it here, and Riggs said she could stay.” I fall silent and then take a breath. “I can’t fix Cree. I can’t be who he needs.”
“Nobody said you had to fix him,” says Frankie gently. “None of the Kings need fixing. They need accepting as they are.”
I shrug my shoulders. “I caught him in bed with a club whore early this morning. He isn’t even sorry. I can’t be the girl who sits around and gets treated like crap. If things go wrong, is he always gonna turn to someone else?” I smile sadly. “Trust me to fall in love with him.”
“Please don’t make any big decisions right now,” says Anna, taking my hand in hers. “I know what you feel like. I was so out of my depth when I met Riggs. But look how that turned out. Things will work out if you stick around. If you leave, you’ll never know what you could have had. Besides . . . ” She leans closer. “I might need you around in seven months’ time,” she whispers.
“Are you kidding?” screeches Frankie happily.
Anna shakes her head. “Keep it down. I haven’t told Riggs yet. He’s had a lot on his mind.”
Frankie hugs Anna and then I do the same. “I’m happy for you,” I say. And I am. But Anna has so many people around her to help. It’s not enough to keep me here. Malia sweeps into the room with her little blond curls bouncing.
“Aunty Eva, Cree is smashing things. Daddy Finn said you have to get out there now.”
I find them in Cree’s room. Furniture is tipped upside down and he’s standing amongst it, breathing heavily and glaring at Riggs. “So glad you could join us,” mutters Riggs. “Maybe you could talk sense into the guy who’s telling me he doesn’t need to see his shrink no more!” he snaps. “Cos obviously this behaviour is normal.”
“Get off my back, Riggs!” yells Cree.
“You’ll go to prison, you moron. Seeing the shrink is part of the deal!” shouts Riggs.
“If he doesn’t want to see her, then leave him to it.” I shrug and they both turn to me. I lean against the door frame. “He’s a grown-ass man. Maybe he needs some jail time to calm his ass down.”
“Maybe that’s what you want. Then you can move to wherever the hell you want!” Cree yells.
“I can move whether you’re locked up or not because it’s nothing to do with you,” I spit angrily.
“That’s better, Eva. Look at me like you hate me. It’s better than the pity I saw in your eyes yesterday,” he growls.
“Wow.” I laugh. “Is that why you slept with another woman? To make me hate you?”
He looks uncertain all of a sudden. “I told you, I didn’t have sex with her,” he mutters.
“Of course not,” I snap sarcastically. “I’m sure every cheating man said the same!”
“Why do you care anyway? I cheated in that room right in front of your eyes with Michelle!”
I suck in a breath. “That wasn’t cheating,” I say. “That was ra—”
Cree moves so fast towards me that I flinch away. “Don’t finish that fuckin’ word!” he shouts. My heartbeat thuds in my chest and I press myself up against the wall, turning my face to the side, away from his heated glare. “Don’t ever say that fucking word. I cheated. You saw it. Don’t pretend otherwise.”
The room falls silent, and all that can be heard is my heavy breathing. I keep my eyes fixed to the ground until he steps away from me and then I run straight for my room, locking the door and sliding to the floor. I’m so tired of crying. I can’t keep doing this to myself.
Cree
I force myself to sit downstairs in the main room of the club when Eva says her goodbyes to everyone. I deserve to feel this pain.
She’s swinging Malia around and smothering her in kisses. She’ll make a great mum one day, when she meets a nice guy worthy of her love. She looks happy, and who can blame her? She’s getting away from me and my fucked up life.
She throws herself at Lake, wrapping her arms and legs around him. He nuzzles his face into her neck. They have a good relationship. Eva told me it’s more like brother and sister these days. Her earlier attraction to him has vanished and now she just loves his company. Maybe I should have let her have a chance with him. At least that way, I’d get to see her every
