Simple Perfection

it. I bit back a smile as I looked at his properly rumpled appearance.
    “I came back to tell you your mother wants to have you over for dinner,” Angelina said tightly.
    “Unless Della is invited, I’m afraid I won’t be able to make it.”
    Angelina let out a frustrated sigh and shot me an annoyed glance before looking back at Woods. “She’s your mother, Woods. She just lost her husband and she’s hurting. You’re all she has left. Don’t you get that? Do you not care?”
    She was right. Woods’s mother might never like me. But she was his mother, and right now she needed him. “I want you to go, Woods,” I said before he could say anything.
    He looked over at me and frowned.
    “Please,” I said, hoping he wouldn’t argue with me in front of her.
    Woods ran a hand through his hair and I smiled at the way it was still messed up. He was adorable like that. “Fine. But only for an hour. This will also be a one-time thing. Next time I have dinner with her, Della will be with me.”
    Angelina’s annoyed grimace turned into a pleased smile. She would get him tonight, too, without me around. I hated that but I couldn’t let it keep Woods from his mother.
    “I’m glad you’re thinking with something other than your dick,” Angelina replied before spinning around and heading out the door.
    “She’s a bitch. Ignore her,” Woods said, shoving off from the desk he’d been leaning on and walking over to me.
    “I know,” I assured him, but deep down I worried that she was right.

    “They’re at the door, Della. Don’t let them in here. They’ll hurt us. All they want to do is hurt us. We have to keep your brother safe. They tried to kill him before. They’ll kill us this time. Don’t let them in. Shhhh. Stop that crying, you little brat! You have to be quiet. So very quiet, then they’ll go away.”
    I covered my mouth with both my hands to keep in the terrified cries I couldn’t control. I hated when this happened. Mom would get mean afterward. She didn’t like it when people knocked on our door. It upset her. And she would talk to him. He wasn’t there, but she saw him. That scared me, too.
    “Get up! They’re gone. Go to the door and get the package they left and be careful that they don’t see you.”
    I didn’t want to open the door. I wasn’t sure what was out there that wanted to get me, but I didn’t want to open the door. Momma had been making me do that more and more lately. Since my sixth birthday.
    Pain seared my head as she wrapped her hand around my ponytail and jerked me to my feet. I couldn’t let her hear me cry or this would get worse.
    “Go!” she screamed in that voice that sent chills down my body. The hard shove from her hands sent me stumbling out of the closet and into the hallway. She would stay in the closet until I came back with the package.
    I glanced back at her but instead of seeing her wild, distant eyes there was blood. It was pouring out of the room and into the hallway. No . . . no, there wasn’t supposed to be blood.
    Then a shrill scream of terror ripped from the small room.

    I jolted straight up and the scream was still echoing around me as it tore from my chest. It was my own scream. It was always my scream. Not my mother’s.
    I was still alone. Looking around the living room, I took slow, deep breaths while my heart kept hammering against my chest. I pulled my legs up and tucked my knees under my chest. Falling asleep without Woods here wasn’t something I did often. Having him near me while I slept kept me from having night terrors for the most part.
    The clock on the fridge said it was after nine. He should have been home over an hour ago. Had he stayed later with his mother? I reached for my phone on the coffee table and saw that I had two missed calls and one text message. All from Woods.
    I clicked the text message.
    {tm}Please answer. I’m worried about you and Mom passed out during dinner. I think she hasn’t been eating properly. Call me!{tx}
    That had been ten minutes ago. I jumped up from the couch and started to dial his number when the front door swung open and Woods came running inside. His eyes locked on mine and he stopped and let out a deep breath. “Thank God. Shit, baby, you scared me.”
    I dropped my phone and walked over to him. “I’m so sorry. I just woke up. I fell asleep on the couch. How’s your mother?”
    Woods pulled me against him and wrapped his arms around me. “She was too weak to stand up so I