Total pages in book: 206
Estimated words: 192184 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 961(@200wpm)___ 769(@250wpm)___ 641(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 192184 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 961(@200wpm)___ 769(@250wpm)___ 641(@300wpm)
“But…”
“Fuck that!”
He downed the shot and threw the glass; it shattered against the wall, making me wince. He stormed out of the room, slamming the door.
I bit back tears and just sat and stared off into space. I thought about the recording. I thought about my parents. I thought about Thomas Ferrano Sr. I thought about who Thomas Ferrano Jr. was, why he probably was the way he was, and I knew that there was hope for him, for us.
He knew his father was wrong. If his father was guilty of all of the things that he looked to be guilty of, Tommy wouldn’t just stand for it. The demands that had been put on Tommy from a young age, losing his mother, had all caused this darkness in him. That he could also be sweet and fun-loving was hopeful, wasn’t it?
I wondered what would happen next, how Tommy would get to the truth. I also wondered how I’d cope with the fact that the man I was about to marry was the son of a man that might have been the reason my mother was taken from me.
When I got ready for bed I put on the blue and white checked shirt that was on the chair beside the bed. He’d worn that before I gave him the massage. I put my nose to the sleeve. It smelled like fabric softener and it smelled like his aftershave. It was comforting to smell it. I fell asleep with the sleeve against my nose, absorbing the fragrance, wishing my nose was against him.
I didn’t know if he’d gone out or if he was in another part of the house, but he clearly wanted space, so I just turned out the light and climbed under the thick, fluffy duvet sniffing the sleeve and imagining he was beside me.
Just as I started to drift off, I heard him come in and then I heard the sound of the shower. When he got into bed a few minutes later he didn’t touch me, didn’t reach for me. I crawled over and put my head on his chest and my palm over his heart. He still didn’t touch me. He just lay there. The tension in the air was so thick.
I rubbed my hand up and down his chest and touched his skin with my lips and snuggled in. He let out a sigh.
“Tommy?” I whispered.
He didn’t answer me.
“I’m here for you,” I said.
“Yeah?” he whispered.
“Yeah,” I draped a leg over his and rubbed the sole of my foot up and down his calf.
“Tia.” His voice was laced with warning.
“I’m yours, baby. Take what you need,” I offered, trailing my hand down toward his waist.
He caught my wrist before I reached my goal.
“Fuck, baby. You don’t know what you’re offering.” He shifted me off of him and put his hands over his face.
“I do. I can take it,” I said huskily. “Be your cock slave…” I moved back over and started to tongue his nipple.
“Athena, I’m good. Go to sleep.”
“Tommy, I can take it. If you don’t release it now it’ll get worse and it could be more than I can handle, I’m here for you, let’s play a game, I –”
He put his hand over my mouth. “I just spent two hours beating a punching bag to a pulp so that you don’t have to deal with it instead. I am fine. Go to sleep.”
He took his hand off my mouth.
“Tommy–”
His hand came back over my mouth and stayed there.
After a few minutes, he lifted it.
I didn’t say anything. He pulled me against him and I kissed his chest and eventually fell asleep with my nose against his skin.
What has she become? Some armchair psychiatrist who thinks she knows how to keep me from going overboard?
I could’ve shown her that she hasn’t a fucking clue how bad it could get, that it could get even worse than it did in Vegas, but I didn’t wanna hurt her, don’t want her to think she’s in over her head with me – especially after I’d already almost broken her. I had my head together enough that I wasn’t looking to inflict anything on anyone. What I was craving was finding out the answers I needed. Even if her offer did make me as hard as a fucking rock.
Did my father kill Carlita O’Connor? Did he kill Joe Trulia? What about Earl’s son Michael? What else was going on here? And what the fuck should I do about it?
13
I was alone when I woke up. There was a text on the iPhone.
Gone out for a bit to take care of some things. I’ll meet you at Pop’s for dinner. Jimmy will pick you up and drive you. Be ready @5. Say nothing about what we discussed last night to anyone.