Total pages in book: 196
Estimated words: 180438 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 902(@200wpm)___ 722(@250wpm)___ 601(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 180438 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 902(@200wpm)___ 722(@250wpm)___ 601(@300wpm)
He stopped talking and just stared at the ring on my finger. “I’m not sure, but I think that might’ve been one of the things to spring me into action. She asked about it, and I, of course, was honest with her. By then, I’d already seen through all the lies and pretense and hated her beyond measure, so it didn’t matter what my words did to her. In fact, I relished causing her pain.”
“Each time I thought of how she’d lied to get me by her side, the way she and the rest of them had hurt you, I wanted blood. But in the end, it was more important to me to be with you than to get revenge. Still, when I saw her looking for the ring when she thought I wasn’t there was the first time, I felt like maybe it’s time to get my shit together.”
“It still took some doing; I didn’t rush right into getting sober; I had a lotta baggage and a lot of people I trusted telling me the wrong thing. I still can’t believe Steve and Matt. Mary, I can see; she’s always been on my radar because even though I was caught up in the life, part of me still knew that there was something very predatory about her actions, but those two.” He shook his head, and I felt a pang of pity for him.
I’ve never been one to say I told you so, and now would be an awful time to start. There was no reward in being right this time; too many lives had been destroyed by this whole mess, and I still don’t fully understand why. It seems like a bit much to go through to keep two people apart. But so far, that’s the only answer I have.
Each time I think that there must be something else going on, something more at play here, I hit a stumbling block in my head. It seems silly to go to those lengths. I mean, I can see Mary not wanting me to know about her molesting him when he was younger or the things she’d encouraged him to do with her daughters, but there were other ways to go about keeping me in the dark.
They didn’t have to publicly humiliate and destroy me and our blooming relationship to do it. Even if she was mad about me turning her down for the job of being my manager, she didn’t have to go that far, not unless she was crazy. I’d long heard that she was an arrogant narcissist who thought the world revolved around her and the plastic Barbies she’d turned her children into, but I hadn’t been around her enough to notice.
Now she was gone, just like that, in a most horrific way. And so was Steve. “Wait a minute. Don’t you find it strange that both Mary and Steve are just suddenly gone? I mean, I know his death was from a heart attack while hers was outright murder, but isn’t it strange? Do you think there’s some kind of connection?”
“I haven’t given it any thought one way or the other. I’m just glad I didn’t have to get my hands dirty, or I’d probably end up in jail.” I smacked his chest playfully and laid my head back down while holding my hand out to the light. It really was a beautiful ring. I’d fallen in love with it at first sight many years ago.
That day, we’d just been strolling through Amsterdam on a side trip from Paris during one of our rare getaways between jobs. He’d just finished his last tour, and my album was due to hit any day. We’d snuck away just the two of us, the way we’d been fond of doing when we needed a break from the rest of the world.
I’d seen the ring in a display window, the Asscher cut drawing my eye immediately. Something about the old-world beauty of the ring had touched me the way no modern-day obstacle could have.
I must’ve stared at that thing for a solid five minutes without saying a word. He’d noticed, of course, and made mention of it, and when I exclaimed over the beauty of it and all the reasons I liked it, he’d done nothing more than kiss my temple before we walked away from the display window.
I never got any inclination that he cared one way or the other because he never let on. The fact that he’d bought it that long ago said so much to me now that it was almost enough to wipe away years of pain and suffering. Almost, but not quite. I’m only human, after all, and I know that it’s going to take some time for me to completely get over all that had been done to me, to us.