Needing Nevaeh(Rockers’ Legacy Book 2)(27)

“Arella isn’t one of the masses to me,” he said, his voice becoming all growly.

“Good. But she’s also young. Too young for anything, serious or otherwise. You’re free to do whatever you want, with anyone you want. Except her.”

He glared at me angrily. “You honestly think I would do something like that? She’s my friend, Nevaeh. Like Mia—”

I held up a hand. “I sure as hell hope not. I know about you and Mia.”

He cursed viciously. “That was a one-time thing. She was hurting, and things got crazy. It was long before Barrick even came into her life, and it will never happen again.”

“I didn’t say it would,” I told him frustratedly. “I’m just saying you’ve never had a purely platonic relationship. And considering how my sister feels about you, I can’t see you starting with her.”

“Okay, first, Mia and I are completely platonic. I didn’t think of her that way before we had sex, and I don’t think about her that way now. And I don’t think of Arella in that way either.”

A soft gasp had us both turning to see Arella standing only a few feet away, Braxton right beside her. Tears filled her eyes as she looked at Jordan as if her heart was breaking. “Y-you slept with Mia?” she whispered, her voice cracking.

Jordan’s face paled, and he took a step toward her, causing the uncovered tea to slosh him again. But he didn’t seem to feel the sting of the heat burning his hand this time. “Arella—”

Her tear-glazed eyes went from him to me. “I really can’t believe you, Nevi. Braxton’s not the only guy in the world who can wait years for the one they love. There are plenty of other good guys out there just like him. Why did you have to go put your nose in my business?”

“I’m sorry,” I tried to apologize. “Arella, I only wanted to—”

“If you say ‘protect me,’ I’m going to scream. Everyone wants to protect everyone else in this family. Yet they don’t know how to keep their damn noses out of everyone else’s business and worry about themselves for once. Maybe if they just left things alone, everyone wouldn’t be so miserable all the time.” With a huff, she turned her glare back to Jordan. “And just for the record, I’m not in love with you. You don’t have to worry, because I don’t want you like that either.”

Turning, she walked away without a single glance back.

Jordan went after her, dropping the cup of tea in the trash on his way out the door. I watched them, feeling guilty for having stuck my foot in it. If I’d kept my mouth shut, my sister wouldn’t have been so upset.

Braxton walked over to me. Taking my coffee from my hand, he lifted it to his lips and took a sip. “Your dad wants to talk to you,” he said when he handed my cup back to me.

I should have known he would. Not much got by him, apparently not even when he was less than twenty-four hours out of a life-changing surgery.





Chapter 23

Nevaeh





D addy’s room was empty of everyone except him when Braxton opened the door for me a few minutes later. For some reason, I felt nervous as I stepped inside and the door closed behind me. It was just him and me in the huge room, and I wiped my sweat-dampened palms on my jeans as I walked toward him.

He was still sitting in the chair where I’d left him earlier, his jaw tense as he watched me approach.

“Hi, Daddy,” I greeted with a nervous smile.

Something softened in his blue-gray eyes when he saw how anxious I was, and he nodded to the chair beside his as I neared. “Sit with me. We need to talk.”

I sat on the edge of the chair, turning my body to face him.

“Has anyone ever told you what a fuckup I used to be, Nevaeh?” he asked after a moment.

I blinked at him from behind my glasses. “You could never be a fuckup, Daddy.”

His laugh was self-deprecating, and he shook his head, causing his long hair to fall into his face. “Trust me on this, sweetheart. I was the biggest fuckup in history. The day I realized your mom loved me the way I loved her was the same day she left me. That was when I checked myself in to rehab for the first time. Sure, I’d gone plenty of times before, but it was never my choice. Losing her made me open my eyes and realize I was tired of letting my addiction mess up my life.”

I frowned at him, still unable to picture him the way he was trying to paint himself. “What did you do to make Mom leave you? I mean… I just can’t picture the two of you breaking up. You get upset when you’re away from each other for more than a few hours at a time.”

His face twisted with pain, but I didn’t think it was physical discomfort. And when he spoke, it was choked. “I cheated.”

“Stop lying, Daddy,” I snapped at him. “You would never do something like that to Mom. Never.”

He shook his head. “But I did. Look, I’m not going to fill your head with everything that happened. Most of that is only your mom’s and my business. But the truth is, I fucked up, and it cost me seven months with my Angel.”

“Why are you telling me this?” I demanded, confused as to why he was revealing something I never would have known about his and Mom’a relationship if he hadn’t told me.

“Because I want you to see that even when a man loves a woman as desperately as I love your mom, we can still make mistakes.” He reached for my hand and gave it a firm squeeze. “Braxton told me what happened. All of it.”

“Daddy—”

He held up the other hand, the one with the IV in the back of it. “I’m not saying what he did wasn’t wrong. Honestly, I’m not. I understand why you’re upset. I do. Don’t think I’m making light of what you’re feeling, Nevi. Because even right now, I want to kick his ass for hurting you.”

“Then what are you saying?” I muttered.

“What I’m saying is…” He paused and shook his head. “Over the last few years, I’ve watched that boy. And before my eyes, I saw what he feels for you blossom into something lasting. After a while, I stopped worrying so much about you being so far away from us because I knew Braxton would move heaven and earth to keep you safe and happy. He loves you. And don’t you lie and say you don’t love him just as much.”

“I wasn’t going to lie. Yes, I love him. I don’t want to, but I do.” Which was why my heart hurt so much.

“You have to know that he isn’t going to marry this Darcy chick,” he chided. “You know him better than that. He loves you too much to even look at another person, least of all marry someone else.”

“I know,” I whispered, because I did know. It wasn’t so much that I thought Braxton would actually marry Darcy. It was that he kept everything from me. That he broke his promise.

“Then why—”

“Why are you on his side?” I cried. “He’s the one who broke my heart. Not the other way around. Braxton lied to me. He kept all of this to himself after he promised we wouldn’t have secrets from each other.”

“Because I’ve been in his shoes.” His voice rose as he spoke. “I lost the woman I love because I was dumb and drunk, and I will regret it until my dying day. And I don’t want you or him to go through that hell, Nevaeh. He made a mistake, and he regrets it.”

“But how am I supposed to trust him not to break every other promise he makes to me?” I asked desperately, twin tears spilling down my cheeks. “How do I put my trust and faith in him not to break my heart again and again?”

Daddy’s brows rose. “How many has he broken before now?”

“What?”

He leaned forward and grimaced in pain, but he cupped my chin and tilted it up so he was looking into my eyes. “How many promises has he broken before now?”

That gave me pause, and I quickly thought back through any promises Braxton might have made in the past. “He… He never made me any promises before this one.”

“Bullshit.”

“Daddy, I swear, he never made me any other promises. This was the first.”

“You’re wrong, sweetheart. He’s made you and me plenty. Keeping you safe was the first one he ever made me. Not once has he broken that. And he might not have made you any promises aloud, but trust me when I say his eyes have made you plenty.” He gently released me and sat back, groaning in discomfort. “I think you owe it to yourself to give him one more chance, Nevi. Just one more. And if he fucks up again, if he breaks your heart even once more, then I’ll kill him.”

A choked laugh escaped me, because his voice was suddenly dripping with venom and menace. “Daddy, you know I love you, right?”

He took hold of my hand again, giving it a squeeze. “You couldn’t possibly love me as much as I love you, Nevaeh Joy. But yeah, I know you love me.”

—

When I opened the door, I wasn’t surprised Braxton was standing there waiting. He leaned back against the wall, his face blank as he gazed straight ahead without seeing anything. As the door closed behind me, he blinked and focused on me, life returning to his handsome face as he straightened.

“Are you hungry?”

Eating wasn’t exactly the first thing on my mind, but at the mention of food, my stomach growled hungrily, making his lips tip up with amusement.