Breaking Conviction by Greer Rivers

Chapter Four

“Wes, look at all them toys! Now you can be king and my mommy can be queen and I’ll be Princess T.”

Thea curtseyed her adorable yellow and green dress as she bowed to him, and Wes couldn’t help but smile. Hearing his real name for a change, and in her high-pitched voice no less, felt better than he’d realized it would. It helped that she was so damn charming it was impossible not to fall in love with the kid in two seconds.

“Why thank you, milady.” Wes bowed, keeping his hand on his shiny crown and trying to adopt his most regal voice. It’d been a while since he’d played with his sister’s kids, and he hoped he wasn’t too out of practice.

Thea’s giggle reassured him that whatever he was doing, at least he wasn’t doing it terribly. She kept up her chatter while taking out every single toy from the large store bin, setting them up around a small pink table for sale. As she worked dutifully to make sure her stuffed animal royal subjects were taken care of, Wes tilted his head, trying his hardest to hear what Naomi and Nora were saying.

He ventured a look behind him to see Naomi nod, and for the first time, she had what might’ve been a genuine smile on her face.

“Ugh,” Jules groaned long and low as she walked to the store entrance. “Y’all, I don’t wanna be that pregnant lady, but my feet are about to revolt. And I hate to say it—”

“Come on… say it, say it, you know you want to.” Nora smiled and steepled her hands like a villain.

“These damn shoes are killin’ me.”

“Yes! Jason owes me five bucks!” Nora shot her fist up in the air and Naomi’s jolt made Wes’s lips tighten. “Jason thought you’d wear those damn stilts up until your due date, but I knew you’d cave. Since I’m your lovely chauffeur, I’ll make a detour on the way to the office so you can change.” Nora grinned while Jules rolled her eyes.

Ever since Jules’s car was blown up last year, she’d refused to drive anywhere. Thankfully, being seven months pregnant, her fiancé had absolutely no problem being glued to her hip and when he couldn’t, Nora, her assistant and best friend, was attached to the other side.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, you win. Anyway, I’ll see you in the car.” Jules waved to them as she walked out.

“Sounds good, Babs… oh, Sn-a-ke! We need your help!” His name was drawn out in Nora’s pretty singsong voice, but he cringed anyway as he got up. Hopefully, Princess T kept using his real name instead of his cool nickname. His nephew had heard it once and never turned back.

“Come on, Wes, let’s go.” Thea grabbed a pair of too big, green high heel shoes before snatching his hand. His smile returned, thankful she didn’t use his call sign.

Feeling a little ridiculous with the crown on, he removed it from his head and placed it on Thea’s. She beamed up at him and tugged him forward while carrying her loot in her other hand.

When they got closer, he tried to go slowly, unsure how much Naomi could see from her wounds. Her eyes had to be a dime’s width away from being shut altogether, and he didn’t want to frighten her again by surprising her with his six-foot-two frame.

Thea dropped his hand and collapsed against her mom, wrapping her arms around her jean-clad legs. The hitch in Naomi’s breath told him that his instincts were right. She hadn’t been able to see her daughter flying at her. One hand clutched the back of Thea’s dress, while the other searched for balance.

Wes threw an arm behind her back to catch her. Not knowing the extent of her injuries under her bulky sweater, he was careful not to squeeze her too tightly. He tensed against the wild impulse to pull her into an embrace and instead turned to Thea to give her a stern, but gentle, look.

“Careful, Princess.”

Thea’s pale cheeks blushed bright red as she toed the ground with a worried frown. “Sorry, Mommy. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, baby. It’s okay. You didn’t do anything wrong.” Naomi shrugged out of his hold and if he was reading her swollen face correctly, she was trying to scowl at him.

Yeesh. Don’t scold the kid. Got it.

“Sorry, just trying to help,” he mumbled and wasn’t sure she heard him. Her stiffening body language could easily have been from pain or from being pissed off.

“Snake,” Nora interrupted, using her up-to-something voice. He didn’t like that shit one bit. “Our dear Naomi needs you to drive her home.”

Wes’s and Naomi’s exclamation erupted simultaneously. “What?”

He stepped back to take both women in. “Is this something that Naomi wants?” he asked, only to have the woman in question definitely scowl at him.

“No, Naomi does not want that.” She turned her distorted glare on Nora. “Nora—wait, what’re you doing?”

Nora held a brochure about a foot away from Naomi’s face. “If you can read this, babe, I’ll drop it and let you go on your merry way.”

“Mommy, I can read it! I can! She showed me how!”

Naomi squinched her face and attempted to widen her blood-filled eyes before sighing in defeat.

“Thought so.” Nora tucked the extra brochure back in its holder on the counter. “Okay, here’s how it’s gonna go. I gotta take Momma Babs home. We can’t in good conscience let you drive your daughter’s sweet precious baby angel face around. You can’t even see a foot in front of your beautiful face. My car’s so full of junk that I can’t fit a booster seat back there. So my deal is… either we leave your car here and coordinate an Uber for you, or Superman drives your car and we have another one of the BlackStone Security men come pick him up.”

Thea wrinkled her nose. “Superman?” She glanced at Wes and he winked at her before she turned back to Nora and shook her head. “Wes isn’t Superman. He’s the king and Mommy’s the queen and I’m their Princess T.”

Wes’s smile returned fully while his heart tripled a beat. But the naïve organ slowed to a halt at Naomi’s gasp. Her mouth opened in horror before bending to Thea’s level.

“Theresa Jane Ward, never, ever say that again, do you hear me? Especially not when we get home.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Thea’s lip puckered out and Wes crossed his arms to prevent himself from reaching out to comfort the little girl. Naomi probably didn’t want Thea to accidentally say something in front of the asshole at home. She had to be terrified of the guy. Wes could almost make out where each blow was struck. The thought threatened to short-circuit his brain and unleash the control he always held so close to his chest. The reason behind reprimanding Thea made sense, but it still made him grind his teeth to keep from arguing and making the woman even more annoyed at him.

Naomi stood back up, and thanks to her short stature, her hands rested comfortably on Thea’s shoulders.

“I hear what you’re sayin’, Nora, about gettin’ a ride. I-I can’t get an Uber though because I can’t leave my car here. That… that just won’t work out.”

Wes cleared his throat. “I’m fine driving your car, Naomi.”

“And I’ve already texted Hawk to come pick Snake up,” Nora admitted with a smile.

Wes tilted his head and narrowed his eyes at her just as she schooled her face. “You have?”

“Yep. I had a feeling she’d need it.”

“Mommy, it’s okay. I like him.” Thea turned in her mother’s grip and used that stage whisper only children could pull off. “Wes was real nice and he even played with me.”

Naomi’s hand drifted to her temple, only to make a detour through her dark auburn hair, like she was resisting a habit because of her bruises. Finally, she sighed with a slight nod. “Okay, fine, I guess I don’t really have another choice.”

“Yay!” Thea jumped from her mom’s grip and went to the cash register, placing the crown and green high heels onto the counter. “Mommy, we’re gettin’ these first though, ‘kay?”

“Oh, it’s on the hou—”

“No, it’s not.” Naomi waved her hand at Nora, cutting her off. “I’m payin’ for the dang things.”

Nora threw up her hands and backed away. “Alrighty, it’s all you, boo.”

The volunteer took Naomi’s cash and gave her a paper bag with the crown and heels inside, which Naomi promptly turned to give to Thea.

“Here ya go, T. You know the rules. You wanted it, you carry it.”

Thea squealed and ripped the heels out of the bag and held them up. “Mommy, I got a surprise.”

“Oh, you did, did you?”

“Yup, I got these for you!”

“Is that right?” Naomi chuckled out a strained huff before propping her hands on her hips. “But I thought Mommy paid for them?”

Thea scoffed. “Yeah, but I told you to buy ‘em. Try ‘em on.” She shoved the items into her mother’s stomach and Naomi’s body sank against the counter with a measured breath, as if she was trying to be nice even though her nerves were shot. Seeing her try to hold everything in was too much for him to bear.

“Princess T, let’s go, your mom can try those on when you get home.”

A swollen scowl formed on Naomi’s face as she spoke through gritted teeth. “I’ve got this. I don’t need your help, thank you.”

Shit, why can’t I just shut the fuck up?

But he knew why. That inherent need to step into a situation and help, sometimes even overstepping, was a learned behavior. Or at least that’s what the therapist said.

Naomi took off her boots and stuffed them in the remnants of the paper bag before stepping into her new green heels. She twisted her feet to look at them. “Shoot, these actually fit pretty good.”

“Don’t forget!” Thea stretched on her toes and Naomi bent low so that Thea could place the rose gold crown with green gems on top of her mother’s dark auburn hair. She clapped her hands against her cheeks before exclaiming what was obviously something she’d picked up. “Gorgeous!”

God, this kid is adorable.

Naomi held the crown to keep it from falling and her bruised lips lifted in a small smile. “I love it, Thea. Thank you, baby.”

That pleased Thea to no end and she giggled before looking at Wes. “See, Wes? I toldya Mommy would look even more beautifuler.”

“You’re right Princess T, the queen is more beautifuler than I could’ve imagined.”