Page 36 of Justice II

“For letting me borrow his wife.”

“He ain’t let you do nothing. I told him where I was going.” She playfully rolled her eyes. See, I liked her. Respected her.

Justice held up his hands, laughing. Mehar kissed Dream goodbye, hugged me, then headed for the door with her phone already ringing again.

I waited until Justice closed it behind her.

“Are you staying home tonight?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“I just wanted to know. Can I order pizza?”

“Fine with me. Go get changed out of your uniform.”

I picked up my bag and headed upstairs before Dream could start giving him a list of toppings nobody wanted.

A new nanny was going to be another problem. I hoped he picked somebody old enough to mind her own damned business. Skye had come in here pretending she only wanted a job, then nearly had him wrapped around her finger.

I watched the way he looked at her. I had heard how his voice changed when he talked to her. For a little while, I thought she was going to stay. I thought she had her hooks in him. And she did. But she had secrets that were waiting to be detonated.

Kira had tried it, too. Now Ms. Lisbon was planning casino trips when she should have been putting grades in the computer.

I tossed my uniform onto the bed and went to find something comfortable to wear. I had homework, but Justice was home. I could finish it after he went to sleep.

I was in love with him. In my head, turning eighteen and showing him the paternity report settled everything. Once he knew I wasn’t his biological daughter, I expected him to love me back.

I had three more years to keep these bitches away.

I put my clothes on the hanger instead of leaving them on the bed. When Justice came upstairs later, I wanted him to see that I had cleaned up without being told.

Monica used to complain about my room. She would come in looking for something to pick at, especially if Justice had just bought me something or promised to take me somewhere.

“You need to stop letting her get away with everything,” she would tell him.

I hated hearing her say that. He could be smiling at me one minute, then telling me to listen to my mother the next. She always had to open her mouth.

I had been about eleven when I tampered with her car, hoping to end her life then. I remembered leaving the bottle underneath the brake pad. It was a mistake she could’ve easily made. No one would’ve suspected me.

All she had was a minor accident. The car wasn’t even totaled. Just a few repairs were needed and she was right back in Justice’s face.

I had been so pissed that she survived. She even got more attention because of it. And shortly after her battle with cancer started. Which I made sure she lost.

When I got back downstairs, I saw Dream giggling at something Justice had said. I could feel the jealousy sweeping through me like a line of gunpowder set ablaze.

If I could, I swear I would get rid of Dream too. But that was impossible to do. I wasn’t some murdering mastermind. Killing Dream would def get me caught and make Justice hate me. Instead, I would have to share his attention with her until he realized we could be together.

In the meantime, I had to get my rage out some other way.

13

Melody

I swiped through the pictures on my phone until I got back to my mother's sixtieth birthday.

It was almost four in the morning, and I should've been asleep. Instead, I was lying in Aubrey's guest bed looking at two people I would've given anything to talk to again.

Mama was smiling at the camera with Daddy's arm around her waist. She had on a dress she'd made him take her shopping for. He had complained about how long she took, but he couldn't stop telling her how good she looked in it.