Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 70115 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 351(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70115 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 351(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
Hugo rolled to his feet, snagging his shorts and struggling into them, too upset to be graceful. “Am I supposed to be happy now? Happy that you’re willing to throw everything away because I was worried I wouldn’t get enough attention?”
He could feel Solomon’s confusion. “Wasn’t that what you wanted?”
“Yes! No!” He paced away from him, then back again, his heart thrumming in his ears.
What was wrong with him? Solomon was giving him what he wanted. Again. It was selfish of him to want it, but he had, and the man didn’t even fight about it.
Solomon always gives you what you want.
Hugo crossed his arms, barely holding himself together. “Do you like the color you painted your kitchen, Younger?”
“What? Of course I do, why are you asking me that?”
“What about the couch? If I hadn’t mentioned the one that reclined, would you have gotten something just like it?”
Solomon stood slowly, watching him the same way he imagined he would a cornered, wounded animal. “Hugo, what’s this about?”
“The things you’re doing, the decisions you’re making aren’t about you, they’re all about me. What you think I want from you. What would make me happy.”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“Before me it was your family. Your father.” He saw him flinch but he couldn’t stop. “You’re the big brother, the Chief, the one everyone relies on and right now I’m trying like hell to remember you making a decision to go after something you wanted. Something that wasn’t about helping someone else, and I can’t do it.”
“Hugo—”
He shook his head, stepping back toward the door. “I can’t be responsible for this decision, Solomon. It’s your career. What if I chose wrong and you spent the rest of your life blaming me? When I left that station, I did it for me. Because it was what was best for me. You need to know what you want, Solomon. Some decisions you have to make for yourself.”
Solomon got dressed in silence, looking down at his hands. When he walked to the door, all Hugo wanted to do was drag him back and apologize for being crazy. One minute they were making love and the next, they were over?
Oh God, was it over?
He opened the door and looked back over his shoulder, his eyes bright with anger and frustration. “You were my selfish decision. My only one. I wanted you for myself. And if you don’t know that by now, if you can’t see how I feel…”
He left his words hanging in the air as the door closed behind him. Hugo climbed onto the couch, wrapping himself in his sister’s blanket and calling himself a fool again.
The first time he’d walked away because he wasn’t getting enough from him. This time he’d gotten everything he’d wanted and he still wasn’t able to trust it.
Maybe Solomon wasn’t the only problem.
Chapter Ten
Chief Solomon Finn.
As he walked into his old station, he slid back into the persona as comfortably as he’d fit into his old uniform. It was familiar. Consistent.
It felt right.
This had been his house. He’d grown up here. The men and women that worked here, the ones watching him walk through the station with shocked smiles, were all his family. It was the one place he’d understood the rules and all of the players.
And someone had tried to burn it down.
The sense of purpose the knowledge gave him was gratifying. It felt good to be needed again. To keep the peace.
“Enjoying your trip down memory lane, Finn? I heard you were poking around where you don’t belong anymore. A visit with the mayor, an unannounced stroll into my office. Want a tour of the prison next? I’d be more than happy to arrange it personally.”
Chief Miller was a barrel chested man with silver hair, narrow eyes and an expression of superiority that needed adjusting. “I think we should talk in private.”
They were already drawing a crowd and Miller knew it. His laugh was a little too loud. Too cheerful. “We’ve changed a few policies since your family ran this place, Finn. We don’t mess around with subordinates in dark corners anymore, and we don’t keep secrets from each other. If you have something to say to me, you can say it to all of us.”
Solomon’s jaw tightened and the cops around them moved uncertainly. “No secrets at all, Miller? So they know about Jill Linus? Doug Raster? Do these law abiding men and women know about your private…entertainment needs?”
“In my office. Now. Get to work, people.”
Solomon followed him into the room he’d practically been raised in. Miller had made a lot of changes. It was sterile, devoid of character. Even the old chair was gone. It was a blank slate now. He’d erased all the memories.
He’d thank him for that later.
Solomon leaned against the closed door and watched Miller squirm. “What are you doing here?” He grumbled irritably. “Last I heard you were picking some prick to try and replace me.”