“Thank you again for taking me.” Pulling my eyes from the road for a brief moment, I look at Ellie. Her head is resting against the window, her legs pulled up onto the seat, tucked near her ass, and her arms are wrapped tight around them. One thing I’ve noticed about her over the last few hours is she’s always wrapping her arms around herself or tucking her body into a tight ball. It’s like she’s forcing herself to stay together.
“I told you I got you, baby,” I say gently, wanting more than anything to take her hand in mine, but every time I touch her, she freezes up like she’s waiting for me to strike out at her, and I would be lying if I said that didn’t piss me the fuck off. It does; it feels like a slap in the face every time it happens.
“I know,” she whispers, and the tears I hear in her voice cause a sharp pain in my chest.
Fuck.
“This is the turnoff.” Her feet go to the floorboard and her hands to the dash as she sits up taller, moving her face closer to the windshield. We drive up a long dirt driveway with forest and the occasional broken down car on each side. When we make it to the top of the hill, a singlewide trailer comes into view, with junk cars and garbage piled up out front.
As soon as I come to a stop, she opens her door and hops out before I can tell her to keep her little ass in the cab. I don’t even know how I’m going to deal with the range of emotions that have settled over me since seeing her for the first time.
“Fucking Boom,” I mutter, getting out behind her and doubling my steps until I’m able to reach her side, where I wrap my hand around her waist and pull her closer to me. She’s so fucking tiny that the top of her dark head sits right at my chest. So fragile, from her too soft skin to her petite size. And she’s mine.
“Took you long enough,” a very large woman says, opening the front door to the trailer. Her thin blonde hair is pulled away from her face with a headband, and her large, round body is incased in what looks like a baggy dress with long sleeves. I know right away this must be Ellie’s aunt Marlene, her mom’s sister.
“Where’s Hope?” Ellie asks from my side as I wrap my hand tighter around her to keep her in place.
Taking a puff off her cigarette Marlene tosses the butt into the yard while stepping back into the trailer as we come up the creaky wooden steps that lead inside.
“Where’s Hope?” Ellie asks as we step into the small living room. Feeling a shiver slide through her and I give her side a squeeze reminding her that she’s not alone.
“Hope’s asleep in the back bedroom.” Her aunt points down a long hall then looks at me. “Who’s him?” she asks, but Ellie pushes past her and rushes down the hall, ignoring her question.
“Who you?”
Jesus. It takes everything in me to keep my mouth shut. Crossing my arms over my chest, I wait for Ellie, ignoring the woman, afraid of what I’ll say if I speak.
“You a cop?”
Fuck me.
“I’m not a cop,” I growl, wanting to tell her she shouldn’t look relieved by that.
“That niece of mine has always acted like she’s better than all of us. Figures she’d meet a guy who thought the same.”
My fists clench and drop to my sides. I don’t know much about Ellie, but there isn’t a doubt in my mind that she is better than this dump and her fucked up family.
“Jax.”
My gaze goes toward the open mouth of the hall and collides with Ellie, who is holding a little girl in her arms; her face is pressed to Ellie’s chest, her long, dark hair hanging over Ellie’s arm, and her legs wrapped around her side.
“What is it, baby?” I question, closing the distance between us.
“Can you hold her while I get her stuff?” she asks in a hushed tone.