Tristian (The Doherty Mafia Book 5), стр. 27
“By the way, you see that blond hunk there?” Libby added, leaning towards me to point at a guy right in my line of vision. I recognized him as one of the first guys who’d approached us at the club. Libby had been dry humping him pretty much since we got here.
“What about him?”
She bit down on her lip suggestively. “He says he wants us to go back with him to his hotel room. Both of us.”
“Are you insane?” I shrieked over the loud thumping music. Libby threw her head back and laughed.
“Don’t be such a prude, Elsie. It’s just sex. And by the looks of him, it could be some really good sex. I’m up for it if you are.”
I backed away from her, shaking my head.
“I’m leaving. Now. I’m done here. I’ll find somewhere else to stay tonight,” I hissed while she rolled her eyes at me.
The night had started off with me feeling guilty for using Libby and her apartment, but now I wished I’d never shown up at her door. This was a bad idea.
Eighteen
Tristian
I had to double check with the informant who’d called me with the address to Christie’s place, because when I got there, I couldn’t believe she lived in this place. It was practically a dump.
The town was in the middle of nowhere and her house was falling apart. It didn’t even look like anyone lived in there, but I knocked on the door anyway.
When she finally appeared on the other side of the screen door, she had a toddler hanging off her hips and another kid was right there beside her.
She was hesitant to open the door, and obviously didn’t recognize me.
I wouldn’t have recognized her either if I saw her anywhere else. She was just a shadow of the person she used to be when I last knew her.
Her blonde hair was now mousey brown. Her eyes weren’t big and shiny anymore. She looked too thin. Too frail. There were big dark circles under her eyes and I got the distinct impression she was a junkie.
“Yeah?” she snapped, opening the screen door just an inch.
I couldn’t make peace with the idea I’d once considered myself to have been in love with this chick. I wanted to get as far away from her as possible.
“Christie?”
“Who’s askin’?”
The kid who was wrapped around her legs started whining about something. The toddler in her arms sniffled.
What happened to her? What led her to this point in her life? Had she seduced other guys to their bitter ends?
I got lucky and was rescued.
“Tristian Doherty,” I replied. I had no intention of keeping my identity a secret.
Christie’s eyes narrowed at first, then grew wide as she stepped back.
“It’s okay. I’m just here to talk to you. I’m not going to hurt any of you,” I said, tipping my head towards her kids.
“Mikey, go eat a popsicle or something. Go!” she yelled at the older kid. “And take your sister with you.” She handed the toddler over to him, and the two kids left grudgingly.
“What do you want from me, Tristian Doherty? Why are you here after all these years? You want an apology or somethin’?” She crossed her arms over her chest.
“I’d love a cup of coffee and a chat,” I suggested.
I had to work hard at putting her at ease. I didn’t want to be nice to her. It took every ounce of my strength to keep it together. But if I wanted some answers, I’d have to work carefully and not scare her off.
Christie looked me up and down, still deciding what she’d do about me.
“I don’t buy it. You’ve come all the way here for a cup of coffee?”
“And a chat,” I insisted.
“Chat about fuckin’ what? I have nothing to say to you.”
I clenched my jaws and stepped up towards her. She moved back. Her hand flew up to the door to shut it but I got there first and pushed past her into her derelict house.
“We can do this the easy way or I tie you up in front of your kids till you talk,” I growled.
Her nostrils flared. Her shoulders rose and fell. Her face turned very red.
“I’m not making you fuckin’ coffee,” she snarled.
I waited until she put the little kid in a playpen next to the kitchen door and the child fell asleep. The older kid was sent out to play, and finally, Christie came over, taking a chair across from me. All the furniture in the house was run down and broken. I wasn’t even sure if there was any electricity.
“What do you want to know?” she asked, lighting a cigarette. She obviously smoked too many of them because her lips and teeth were all nicotine stained.
“I want to know why you did it.”
“Did what?”
I glared at her and she stared at me blankly for a few moments, drawing in a deep breath.
“I had no choice, okay? My family owed them money and they said they’d kill all of us if I didn’t do it. I didn’t want to do it.”
She tapped her cigarette on the side of the table. The ash collected on the floor.
“And what did they give you in return?” I asked.
Christie shrugged. “They let us live. We moved here to get away from all that. I couldn’t…I knew they’d take you and I had nightmares for a long time. I found out much later your family took you out. That they rescued you. I didn’t know what’d happen to you once you were taken.”
Christie’s voice softened as she spoke. She teared up, but I found it difficult to feel pity for her. I didn’t give a shit how my kidnapping affected her psychologically.
“What happened to you there? What’d they do to you?” she continued.
“I don’t remember. I choose to not remember. I was safe