Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 83755 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83755 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
In the front yard of the hospital, I located an empty bench near the gate and sat down, with tears welling up in my eyes.
I was in shock and disbelief.
That joke of a brother had blamed me for his predicament for the hundredth time.
I knew I shouldn’t have been shocked. Felix just loved to put the blame on other people. No one else was making his life choices but him. I wasn’t aware of what he had been up to for the past eight months or so. Hell, I didn’t even have his new address.
Tears rolling down my cheeks, I sniffled and leaned back, a gust of wind tossing about pebbles and dry leaves alike. The wind rustled through the trees behind me, bringing their delightful scent to my nostrils. It was too bad I couldn’t enjoy a single whiff of that smell.
“Talk about shitty.”
A male voice interrupted my sobs. More melodic than Cesare or Matteo’s, but with an unmistakable masculinity I could recognize with ease. It was Leo. Standing just a few feet from the bench, he had his hands in his pockets. The light from a spotlight behind him was silhouetting him against the dark, making his brown hair look a shade lighter.
“It’s that obvious, huh?” I said, my voice riddled with sorrow.
“You know what they say,” he assumed a gentle tone, seating himself beside me. “Talk with family for two minutes, and they can fuck you up for two years.”
I snorted in half-amusement, half-bitterness. “I think the whole conversation lasted less than that.”
“So, the first part ain’t true, but the second is?” He posed a question, his eyes glinting with mischief.
I chuckled, sniffing back some more tears. “Yeah. You could say that.”
“Lucky me, then,” he concluded, lying back on the bench. “I don’t have any siblings. Except a lunatic and a geek.”
I laughed out again. “Which one is which?”
“Matteo’s the geek. Cesare’s the lunatic,” he said, resting his elbows on the bench. “Cesare went to college for a full six months. Matteo calls him pedantic, whatever that means. I just call him anal. It suits him better. Matteo’s just crazy about all things that go ‘boom’ or ‘bang.’ That’s where your brother came in. He needed someone to check on technical stuff that Cesare and I know dick about.”
“I understand,” I nodded, beginning to feel just a tad lighter. “Listen, I’m sorry about all the nasty things I said back there. I was…”
“Pissed off?” He attempted to finish my sentence. “It showed. I’d be pissed, too, if my brother was lying in a hospital bed with a piece of metal stuck in his gut. Just one question, though. He’s going to walk out of here pretty soon, so, why are you so upset?”
“Because he blames me for what happened to him,” I responded, running my fingers through my hair. “Typical Felix. He’s never to blame. Everyone else is, including me.”
“That sucks,” he commented, pursing his lips. “He should own up to his screw-ups. Although, tonight wasn’t really his fault. He just happened to be in the wrong place, with the wrong crew.”
“I could talk about his failures for hours,” I said, my voice weakening. “But I’m not going to do that, because it’s not who I am. Let’s say he could have done more with his life. Anyway…” I paused and leaned over sideways towards him. “Thanks again.”
“What the hell for?” He chuckled, rolling his shoulders. “I didn’t do anything.”
“Yes, you did,” I disagreed, looking up into his green eyes. I could see a tiny reflection of the light in their middle, his smile sending warmth into my heart. “You made me laugh. When I walked out of Felix’s room, I needed to laugh more than I needed my next breath.”
I reached up and stroked his cheek, his stubble brushing into my skin. It was funny, but it was much softer than I thought it would be. His mouth just half-an-inch from mine, I remembered who had been responsible for me being out there. Another, happier reminder then flashed into my mind. He was there when I needed him. He never abused me verbally, even though he had good reason to do so. I had given him that reason—I couldn’t escape that fact. Our lips joined in a tender kiss, his arm curling around my shoulders. He held me closer, his scent enveloping my entire existence. A sense of safety was thrown around me, like some sort of invisible net. I exhaled into his mouth, his gentle caress over my shoulder deepening that lovely sense. The tip of his nose nudging the middle of my forehead, I felt my whole body relaxing. I was like a puddle of goo, spread over that bench. I clutched his cheek and eased back out of his embrace, his eyes coming back into view.