Shambles

Chapter 20: Gabe

I'm walking towards the front of the house because I need to have a word with this Grady mutha fucker. "I will kill this asshole if he comes back over," I mumble. When I make it to the front all I find is Kita standing by her car smoking a cigarette.

"They're gone. I watched them pull off." She looks back at me. "Don't be mad at Em." She takes a pull off her cigarette, she holds the smoke in for a second and then blows it out. "I made her take Net's ass in. I didn't want to be bothered with her, so I put her off on Ember."

"Why would she bring him here?"

"All Net see is money. Her common-sense leaves her when money is involved. She knew how he took care of Ember...hell how he took care of all the women that he's been involved with. So when she found out that Ember left him she came running. I knew she was going to that club to hangout with him, but I didn't think she would bring him here." She sighs. "She's playing a game with Grady that she doesn't want to play. She thinks she can replace her sister and he will be fine, but I can see how he watched Ember today. When he has the chance he's going to hurt her, and he will hurt Net even more because she's not Ember."

I'm frozen in place from her words. "Hurt Ember when he gets a chance."

She smiles as she puts her cigarette out on the ground then wraps it up in a paper towel. "Ember hates when I leave cigarettes everywhere. She laughs and walks past me back into the house.

"What was all that going on back there," my dad asks, standing behind me.

"That was Ember's ex. The one she was trying to get away from. Her sister has started dating him and she thought it was ok to bring him here around my kids." I rub my hand down my face.

"Maybe you should take them home with you if it's not safe here," my dad says.

Sighing I shake my head. "He's not after the kid's dad. He wants Ember. Bash says he's never done anything to them. He even bought Sweet Pea a gift. He wants Ember back."

"Then why is he with her sister?"

"How was he going to find her without some dumb ass that's close to her. She doesn't talk to anyone. So he had no clue where she was."

"What are you going to do?"

"The first thing I'm going to do is get the locks changed. Net had a key. The second thing I'm getting is an alarm system for the house. I know it will piss off Savannah but I'm going to start staying over here a few nights out the week for peace of mind."

"Well, I will call Paul and see what he can find out on this man and also see if he can maybe get a patrol car to drive by a few times at night."

"Dad, don't say anything to mom - it will just worry her."

"Ok." My dad pats my shoulder and walks back into the house. Pulling out my phone I call an old college friend I use to buy weed from.

Me: Are you in town?

Stone: Not at the moment. Will be back in two weeks

Me: I need to talk about a problem I'm having.

Stone: Ok. I will hit you when I make it back.

I feel a hand rest on my arm. When I look down she's looking up at me with a worried expression. "Everything is fine. I'm going to have the locks changed, an alarm put in."

"Ok."

I bend down and kiss her on the lips. "I'm sorry for yelling. I was just so upset," I say looking into those cinnamon-colored eyes.

"It's ok. I should have told them to leave. I just didn't want to poke the bear."

"Well, sometimes the bear just has to be shot."