Total pages in book: 164
Estimated words: 152853 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 764(@200wpm)___ 611(@250wpm)___ 510(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 152853 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 764(@200wpm)___ 611(@250wpm)___ 510(@300wpm)
His face almost crumples for a second, and so does mine. “So I had to trust him, and I did, and I still do. I owe him everything. How else do you think it was possible for me to come back here? I owed it to him to take care of you. And I wanted to. I guess you were supposed to make up for what I couldn’t do in the past. I couldn’t help Mom. I couldn’t help Becky. I couldn’t stop him until there was no other choice. And even then, it was like I didn’t feel any of it. I wasn’t thinking. I was useless.”
It’s like I’ve never seen him before. I’ve always heard about looking at somebody through new eyes, but this is the first time I’ve ever done it. For so long, I’ve been wrong about him in so many ways.
I slowly get out of bed, careful not to startle him. He’s still so deep in the past. “You aren’t useless. You were a kid. There’s a big difference.”
“Now you want to know why I don’t drink?” he snorts. “Because I know what happens when I lose control. And I can never, ever take that risk. It’s bad enough you saw me that way here at the house. Out in public? I shudder to think.”
“That was different. You went through a whole lifetime of torture from him.” I approach, my heart in my throat, before placing a hand on his shoulder. “You did what you had to do.”
He doesn’t shake me off, thank God. “She wanted me to have a chance at life,” he murmurs, still staring out the window. “What would she think of me now? I didn’t stop at just my father. I’ve killed… I’ve killed a lot of people. I’ve hurt a lot more. I even killed—”
My hand tightens, squeezing the firm muscle. “What would she think of you? She would think she raised the kind of man who does what needs to be done. Everything you’ve done since then, you did it because you had to. You protected my father. You protected what he built. That’s honorable.”
“You don’t have to say that.”
“I know I don’t have to, but it’s the truth. That’s how I see it. You stood up repeatedly and did what had to be done. You are a protector. You’re a good man.”
“I didn’t protect you from him.” He doesn’t need to say the name. “I only ended his useless life when it was too late to stop him.”
“That wasn’t your fault. I wasn’t exactly open and honest about what was happening.”
I’m tentative as I reach out, placing a hand under his chin and turning his head until he’s looking up at me. I was so, so wrong. From the very beginning, when I met the handsome, brooding kid who I felt was taking my place. No wonder Dad was so good to him. He knew what he had been through. Knew what he needed to feel, like he could trust that he was safe.
There’s so much pain swimming in those blue eyes. Oceans of pain. Pain I want nothing more than to wash away, but I know I can’t. Just like he couldn’t wash mine away. “Come on,” I whisper, taking his hand and backing up. “Come to bed. Let it go for now. Just lie down with me.”
He only hesitates for a second before unfolding his body from the chair and following me to the bed, where I climb in first and hold my arms out to him. I don’t know what’s driving me now. Instinct, I guess. I need to hold him, and I think he might need to be held. Everybody does at some point–even tough guys like him.
It’s like a victory when he lies down beside me and lets me wrap him in my arms. When his cheek rests against the top of my head and his body shudders as he releases a pent-up sigh that seems to release the tension holding him stiff.
“I’m here.” It’s all I can think to say while his heart beats under my ear and I gaze out at the moonlit night. “I’m here, and it’s all going to be okay.”
CHAPTER 27
ROMERO
“We have a problem.”
And there I was, prepared to attack her at first sight when I rounded the bottom of the stairs and found her standing there. How can I not? She’s in front of the open refrigerator door, dressed in nothing but the long cardigan she wrapped around her naked body after getting out of bed. The last thing I want to hear about while my dick’s getting hard is a problem.
“What is it?”
She scowls at the inside of the fridge. “There’s practically no food in here.”
“That doesn’t sound right.” But there’s no arguing with what’s in front of me when I step up behind her.