Apokalypsis | Book 6 | Apokalypsis 6 Morris, Kate (cheapest way to read ebooks TXT) 📖

“Sorry you got caught,” he accused.

“No, I didn’t get caught. I didn’t even know you were there. I saw you walk away. I thought you probably hadn’t seen. Hoped, I guess.”

He chuckled, the sound harsh to his own ears. “Yeah, I’m sure you’ll get better at this in the future.”

“Better at what?”

“Sneaking around.”

Jane gasped. “Sneaking? What do you mean, Roman? I was more worried you saw Noah hit me than I was you seeing him kiss—”

“What did you just say?” he growled and stood up.

“I didn’t want you to beat him up or whatever.”

“You didn’t want me to beat up your secret boyfriend, who apparently hit you?”

“No, he wasn’t my secret boyfriend. You misunderstand what I’m saying. I’m trying to explain.”

“Why’d he hit you?”

“I don’t know! How would I know? I guess I made him mad. I told him about his father. The truth. You know? How we had to kill him?”

“That’s not a reason to hit you. We were defending ourselves from him.”

He could tell she shrugged.

“He wanted me to go with him to Columbus.”

“So, you did know he was leaving.”

Jane shook her head vigorously. “Not exactly. He was just talking about doing it. I didn’t know he would. I told him it was a bad idea. I had no idea he would do what he did, or I would’ve immediately told you. And my dad!”

“Oh, really?” he scoffed. Roman wished Noah hadn’t run away. He wanted a piece of him even more now for hitting Jane. “Where’d he hit you?”

“What? Oh, he just slapped my face.”

“Just?”

It was her turn to scoff. “Roman, really.”

“What?”

She shook her head again, and this time Roman knew she was crying but trying not to.

“You know the life I was raised in. You know about my mother’s men. Being slapped by Noah was nothing.”

“What are you talking about? Did they hurt you, too?”

“Only the one.”

“Who?”

Their argument over Noah was temporarily suspended as Roman’s concern for Jane outweighed his anger at her.

“Jane?”

“It’s nothing. Forget it. I just wanted to apologize for Noah. I know that was all my fault. I should’ve—”

Roman sat next to her on her bed and said, “Jane, what happened with your mother’s one boyfriend?”

“Look, it’s not a big deal, okay? Obviously. I’m still alive.”

“It’s a big deal to me. Tell me.”

She took a shaky breath and let it out slowly as if to gain some control of her emotions.

“His name was Slim, but I think that was just his street name. Drug dealer. Bigtime. The sort she always hooked up with. Let him move in with us. Supposed to pay the rent, but that never seemed to work out so well for Maureen.”

“And he hurt you?”

“Just the one time,” she answered. “I learned at an early age to steer clear of Maureen’s men. I kept to myself, went to parks when I could, stayed in my room. But I was running late for school, so I was in a hurry. They’d been up partying with other druggie friends all night, so I hadn’t slept much. I didn’t want to be late for school and almost slept past my alarm.”

“How old were you?”

“Eleven,” she said clearly as if it were just yesterday. “I was eleven. I was rushing and spilled the orange juice. My mom was hungover on a camping cot in the backyard, so I was trying to scrounge something together for breakfast and pack some sort of lunch, too. Just hurrying.”

“Like a kid,” he finished her though and got a nod. Their lives were so different, Roman reflected. Hell, at eleven, his mother was probably still getting him up for school and laying out his clothes.

“Slim was there in the kitchen. Not sure why he was up, probably snorted some cocaine to get going or something. But he was so mad I spilled the juice. He grabbed me by the back of my head and slammed me face-first into the counter. I was too shocked to realize what had even happened. Then he shoved me and knocked me to the ground. Kicked me a few times. Got on top of me and slapped me in the face.”

“Jesus.”

“Maureen must’ve heard the commotion because she pulled him off and took him out of the room. I was just lying there. My head was bleeding. My body hurt where he kicked me. She yelled that she’d call me off school and not to go. I had to tend to my own wounds. Took me a while to get off that floor. When I went upstairs, I could hear them. You know.”

His look of disgust let her know he understood that they were having sex.

“I was so angry with her that she’d let him do that to me, but now as I’m older, I realize she probably saved me by getting him away from me. Even the sex. It was gross. I was mad at the time. I missed three days of school, and on the day I went back to school on the fourth, she’d picked me up after school, which she never did. We moved. She’d packed all our stuff into her crappy car, and we moved to another city. She had a black eye, so I assume he realized she was leaving him and beat her up for it. I guess in her own way, that was Maureen’s motherly instincts kicking in. At least she got us away from him. I mean,” she choked off a laugh, “it wasn’t like her next choice or the ones after that were any better, but at least it wasn’t him. And none ever did that to me, never laid a hand on me.”

“Wow, I’m so sorry, Jane,” Roman said and couldn’t resist putting an arm around her shoulder.

“No, I’m sorry, Roman. For Noah and everything? I’m really…”

She was interrupted by a thump. They both clammed up and grew still as stone. Then it happened again.

Jane whispered, “Pipes?”

He shook his head. Ventilation systems of this size didn’t bang and clink or clank. They ran smoothly