Isa didn’t look at all thrilled he’d just announced this to the entire room.
Jessica’s face twitched as she fought to keep her true feelings masked.
Kyle moved from where he’d been leaning against the wall and placed a hand on my shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. For reassurance? For sympathy? Neither did me a load of good.
“Oh, boy,” Dennis mumbled so quietly I almost missed it.
Even he had the sense to see the giant issue this was. I took a page from Jessica’s book and fought hard to maintain impassivity, but almost as if he could feel my silent waves of fury reaching for his skinny neck, Troy turned his head towards me, taking hold of my sister’s hand.
“Hey, you don’t gotta worry. This is a blessing, Del. I promise you I’ll do better from here on out. I’ll sort my shit.”
This fucking pendejo. That wasn’t how things worked. You couldn’t change a decade of bad habits at the drop of a dime. This was the equivalent of jailhouse speak. Furthermore, he wasn’t fit to be a parent.
Kyle’s grip tightened, this time I knew it was a reminder to keep calm. I clamped my teeth together and smiled so hard my eyes squinted. I wasn’t happy about this, at all. I set this up to try and get them on the right track, not celebrate a pregnancy announcement.
I wouldn’t shit all over my sister’s news, though. I wasn’t that cold-hearted.
“Are you okay, Adel?” Isa asked, her concern valid.
“How far along are you?” I answered with a question of my own.
“About three months. I’m not showing yet…”
Obviously, but three months? Why did she wait until now to bring this up? That only gave us six to work with. We’d need a goddamn miracle. I took a deep mental breath and switched my focus to trying to prepare for the new member of our dysfunctional family.
Sleep wouldn’t come to me no matter how desperately I yearned for it. I was so tired I felt the trials of struggle both mentally and physically. After the catastrophe of my intervention all I’d wanted to do was snuggle beneath my comforter and isolate myself from everyone else.
I was torn between feeling like a bitch and wanting to rage. Isa knew me too well not to know what I truly thought about her having a baby right now, and I could tell that hurt her. That just made me sad on top of everything else.
We were all each other had and I only wanted the very best for her. Isabel would be an amazing mother but love alone wasn’t going to raise a tiny human. Having a child with a man who wouldn’t be able to find his dick if it weren’t attached while we were on the brink of losing our home and barely able to take care of ourselves, just seemed like a colossally stupid fucking thing to do.
I thought she was being careful.
God, I needed a distraction. My hair was no doubt halfway to gray. With a huff, I rolled onto my other side, now facing the nightstand. As if hearing my silent plea, my purse sat near the edge, partially opened, just enough for me to see the faint outline of Draven’s card sticking up.
Should I?
My heart was already gaining momentum at the thought. It would have been wiser to ignore this insane urge and throw the card out first thing in the morning. Instead, I sat up and reached for my purse and my cell. A simple text would be harmless. Maybe even two or three.
At this hour he probably wouldn’t even reply. Before I could lose the nerve, I sat up with his card in one hand and my cell in the other, quickly opening a new message box. Going with the first thing that popped into my head, I tapped out a simple text.
Hey, this is Adelita.
I immediately started to put my phone back down. My Dollanger ringtone began to play before I accomplished my giddy task, turning my stomach upside down. Why was he calling? He wasn’t supposed to be awake. Pulling my lip between my teeth, I stared at the screen for a few seconds before accepting the call.
“Hello?”
“I was beginning to think for once I was wrong about something.”
His upbeat tone made me smile. “What do you mean?”
“I knew I would hear from you, but I didn’t expect it to be a quarter to eleven. I’d begun to think you were going to prove me wrong.”
“You knew, huh?”
“Yes. Why would you ghost me?”
I rolled onto my back, laughing under my breath. Draven using slang was hilarious.
He was a good ten, eleven years older than me and aging like the finest of wines. And clearly, he had an abundance of confidence. That didn’t bother me as much as I would’ve expected it to.
“I’m sorry for reaching out so late.”
“You can contact me at any time, Della. I want you to come to me whenever you feel the need.”
Della? I smiled like a fool, still finding this to be surreal. I didn’t want to question why he was seemingly interested in me or what brought this about. I simply wanted to enjoy the moment—using it as the distraction I needed from my mess of a life at the moment.
CHAPTER FIVE
I studied my reflection, turning from left to right. Draven hadn’t been too detailed on what I should wear, only saying I should dress comfortably, but warm.
When I found this sweater dress in the back of my closet a few days ago it’d seemed perfect. It hit just above the knee, leaving my low-heeled boots to cover the rest of my legs. It sat off one shoulder so wasn’t too revealing while hugging my curves. Not to mention the color was perfect, one could rarely go wrong with black.
I wasn’t sure I was feeling it as much now as I had been then, but it’d have to do. There wasn’t any time to change.
My GPS put our meeting spot about thirty minutes away. He’d offered to pick me up, but I preferred to drive myself. I also had my location visible to Jessica and Kyle, just in case.
I smoothed a hand from the roots of my hair to the loose hanging ends before turning away from my full-length mirror. My stomach had been inundated with fluttering since Draven told me to meet him for dinner. I tried not to get ahead of myself by thinking of it as a date, but we texted so often I’d begun to look forward to his morning messages.
I grabbed my purse and an extra car charger on my way out of my bedroom. Wanting to say goodbye to my sister, I paused outside the bathroom and lightly knocked on the door.
“Isa?”
“It’s unlocked!”
I turned the rickety knob and pushed open the door. The space wasn’t big enough for us both to fit comfortably so I remained in the doorway.
“Wow, you look great!” I exclaimed, taking in her outfit.
She’d paired a chic red top with black jeggings and boots similar to mine, minus the heel and over the knee length. She turned towards me, keeping one hand wrapped around our shared flat iron. While I got pencil straight hair, she got waves.
“Are you sure it’s not too much?”
“You look good, Isa. I’m glad to see you in something other than bandit gear,” I joked.
She gave me a tight smile that didn’t quite meet her eyes. If not for her being so moody this last week I’d have immediately been concerned.
I expected her to be radiating with excitement. She never got to go out and even though I wasn’t Troy’s number one fan I appreciated him hustling enough to take her out and do something.