Phobia (Interracial Paranormal Romance) (Wisteria) (11 page)

“
And David?” Coles asked. “You’d leave him to face the Family on his own? He’s First Pillar too.”

“
No, David’s not Hemlock’s son. After what’s happened, I’d never choose to have a First Pillar child again.”

Wisteria gasped, but Garfield covered her mouth.

“Lara—” Coles continued.

“
Elliot, if you stand in their way, they’ll kill you too. They’ll slaughter you like an animal.” Her mother continued to cry.

“
We have to try and do something,” Coles said.

“
Like what? Do you have any ideas? Jason hasn’t found another way to shut down the Nucleus, which means Wisteria, has to go and do it from the Family’s home realm. If she does, she’ll never come back.”

Wisteria wanted to close the door and move away. She
’d heard enough, but she’d never have this opportunity again to learn about who she really was from her mother.

“
If there is a way out, we’ll find it,” Coles assured her. “The first thing you need to do is talk to your daughter and let her understand—”

“
Are you out of your mind?” Her mother’s voice became deep and controlled. “You’re not going to tell Wisteria any of this.”

“
You’re joking,” Coles replied.

“
Elliot, she’s still recovering from the virus and I can’t burden her, not till she’s stronger.”

Her mother
’s words sent daggers into Wisteria’s heart. This will be too much for her to bear. She closed the door.

“
No, what are you doing?” Garfield moved past her to continue to listen in. “This
is
what you’ve always wanted to hear.”

“
Yeah.” Wisteria sat on the bed and noticed her legs were trembling.

“
Tell her,” Coles bellowed. “She’s a woman and deserves the truth.”

“
She’s a child, my child, and I decide what’s best for her. You don’t get a vote in this matter.”

“
Lara, when you married me, Wisteria and David became my family too, so I get more than a voice, I have a duty to do what is right by them. If you don’t come clean to Wisteria and David, I will.”

“
Elliot, you tell them anything and I’ll take them away from you. I swear you’ll never find us.”

“
Don’t threaten me with my own family,” he warned her.

“
Then don’t interfere with me and mine. David and Wisteria are not your concern,” her mother maintained.

T
he front door slammed shut and moments later, the front gate crashed to a close.

“
Whoa,” Garfield exclaimed.

“
She’s insane.” Wisteria rubbed her face.

“
Shh…” Garfield whispered.

The front door opened and after a few
seconds, it closed. Wisteria peeked out of the window as the tall figure of her stepfather moved slowly to the gate.

Best interests

Three days later, Wisteria sat in one of the island’s observation tower or crow’s nest with a rifle, aimed out through the window.

She
was assigned to a spot overlooking the channel and watch out for unknown passing ships, but in the weeks she’d been there, she’d only seen the pirate ships that traded with the island for their excess crops and pharmaceuticals.

“
Anything interesting?” Garfield climbed up the hole through the floor.

“
Nothing today. A lot of the crews who used to trade with us have been killed off by rivals who tried to take over their routes, but with the piron net up, these new crews can’t find us.”

“
So, maybe we should take down the net, so we don’t starve—”

“
What are you doing up here? You and Amanda don’t have plans?”

“
I saw Steven sniffing around here. Don’t tell me you’re considering him again.”

“
Of course not, but seriously, I’m tired of arguing with you about him. He was a mistake I made. I accept that.”

“
I wasn’t having a go at you about him. I’m the last person who can talk to you about picking the right person.” His sighed. “I’m such an idiot.”

“
What’s going on?”

“
I’m—a crap judge of character.”

“
No, you’ve been right about Steven. I’m just tired of hearing it.”

“
Amanda’s pregnant,” he let out. “

“
Oh—um—congratulations?”

“
David’s the father.”

“My David?”

David Kuti is Wisteria’s seventeen-year-old brother. David and Amanda had had an off and on relationship until earlier this year when she finally decided to get with Garfield or so Wisteria thought.

“
That’s impossible,” she gasped.

“
You didn’t realize they were sleeping together?”

“No, but I haven’t seen him since I moved in with Amanda. I know he’d been spending a lot of time with Poppy and Byron, after his shift at the plant, I thought they were getting back together.”

Poppy Cheung was
the sixteen-year-old mother of David’s toddler son, Byron.

“I thought Amanda was over him.” Glowering, he shook his head.

“What do you want to do?”

“
What can I? She’s in love with him.” He sat back and folded his arms.

“
I doubt it. Amanda’s never been happier than when she’s been with you.”

“
But then she does it with that arse?”

“
You can’t talk about him like—”

“
But it’s true. He got Poppy pregnant, dumped her and came after my girlfriend. What do you call that?”

“
He’s still my brother.”

“
Why did I even come here?” Rising, he stomped back to the door. “Naturally, you’ll defend him.”

“
Don’t go. I’m not happy with what David did and I’m not taking his side, but I don’t have much family left.”

He
halted. “Lucky for you because I don’t have any family here. So, I’ll have to make do.”

“
Garfield—”

“
Are you going to at least move out of her house?”

“
And go where? Back to my mother’s? Forget it. She tried to ship me out to the other side of the world and has refused to talk to me about it. Even Coles has moved out, so why should I stay?”

“
She’s your mother. Family first? Isn’t that why you’re defending David?”

“
I’m not defending him.” She jumped up. “But my brother didn’t hide who my father was or that I had a sister. When I confronted her about it, she told me never to talk about it for as long as I lived in her house.”

“
I guess we’ve both got relationship crap to work through.” He smiled at her. “Did Coles tell you about their fight at your old house?”

“
Why would I?” Coles climbed up through the hatch door. “I heard you in the house and reckoned if you had any questions, you’d ask and not try to manipulate me into volunteering information.”

“
Major?” Garfield greeted in a low voice.

“
Why are you here?” The man scowled at him. “This isn’t a place for you to hang out with my stepdaughter. Don’t you have a girlfriend whose time you should be wasting?”

“
I came to see if Wisteria was okay.” Garfield leaned back against the window.

Coles climbed up.
“Let me put it this way, this is a restricted area. You’re a tracker, so I expect to see you when you’re leaving or returning from patrol and not here, distracting one of my guards.”

“
Fair point.” Garfield nodded. He used to be terrified of Coles. While he was a little unsettled, he kept calm. “But, I put my life on the line outside of these walls every day. I understand the risks.”

“
Risks? You drive around Norton after people like my soldiers and Wisteria cleared out most of the biters years ago. Riding around those
safe
villages doesn’t impress me.” Coles glared at him.

“
Yet, you took me to bring your stepdaughter back from Franklin. You remember?” Garfield noted.

Coles rocked back on his heels
and laughed. “Get out.”

Garfield paused for moment
to stare at him before he left.

“
Stop picking on him.” She peered out of the window at the empty sea.

“
He should stop making it so easy.” Coles chuckled as he sat on the bench next to her.

“
Mum send you right?” Wisteria guessed.

“
I’m head of security. I’ll check on my people, even if they’re my stepdaughter.”

“
Ex-stepdaughter.”

“
When are you going home?”

“
When are you?”

“
I haven’t moved out.”

“
David told me you haven’t been there in three days.”

“
David’s not been spending a lot of time at home and I’ve been working nights at the control center. You remember that? You’ve worked some nights too.”

“
But you’re normally home in the morning. David said you’re not.”

“Go home before your mother loses her mind and goes after Nate.” Coles exhaled.

“
You’re head of security. Isn’t it your job to stop that?”

“
I’m also married to your mother, so there some fights not worth having.” He laughed. “So, you’ll be back for dinner or am I going to have to make it difficult for you?”

“
I’m eighteen, so no one can make me do anything as long as I follow the rules. I’m earning my keep—I’ve kept all my shifts on the wall and keeping up with my engineering classes with Thomas Clarkson. I notified the ration center of my move, so my rations will come.”

“
Wisteria—”

“
I’m done dealing with her lies. I’m on my own and it’s time we stop pretending we’re a happy family.”

“
You’re not alone. You have David, Beck and me.”

“
You knew about my real father, my sister, David being adopted and didn’t tell me. Yeah, you’re clearly on my side.”

“
You overheard the conversation. You could’ve come to me and asked. I would’ve told you, but you didn’t.”

“
Aren’t you supposed to be the father figure and want to help me?”

“
Father figure? Wisteria, you want
another
father figure?”

“
Stupid right?”

“
No, I didn’t realize you felt that way.”

“
I don’t. I need to sort out what you want from me.”

“
I love your mother. I love you kids. If you’re looking for an ulterior motive, you’ll be searching for a long time.”

“
Then why did you keep me in the dark?”

“
Because your mother asked me to.” Frowning, he sighed again. “Like you said, you’re an adult. You want me to tell you something? You ask, but I won’t volunteer to tell you what your mother and I discuss. If I feel it’s your business, I’ll tell you.”

“
My business?”

“
Your mum’s my wife and some things are going to be between us, but as far as your life goes, I’ll do my best to answer any of your questions.”

“
Fine.” She nodded. “What happened to my father?”

“
You want to start with that one?” He remarked in surprise.

“
Yes.”

“
All your mother ever told me is what you heard at your old house The Family tracked them down in Nebraska years ago. When they found him, they didn’t leave him or your older sister alive.”

“
When did this happen?”

“
A few years after you were born. She joined Red Phoenix because she thought they’d protect her and you. She met Doc a few years later and they married.”

“
And David?”

“
David’s mother was an RZC administrator who died of a drug overdose your mother knew here.”

Biting her
lip, she sat down on the bench. “Does David know this? Of course not, she’d never tell him.”

“
Are you going to tell him?”