Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 83394 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 417(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83394 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 417(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
Romeo hadn’t given me much information when we spoke. I thought both of us wanted to do it in person.
My hand shook as I knocked. It was a white, two-story, beautiful home, which didn’t surprise me. I always knew Romeo would do well for himself. Plus, he’d had an inheritance waiting for him once he graduated college.
I’d just pulled my fist away from the door when it opened.
“Gage!” Mouse threw herself at me. I didn’t expect it, wondering how they didn’t hate me, but I managed to catch her, my arms automatically wrapping around her. She still had a high voice, but it had aged some.
“Mouse.” I squeezed her tighter. She still smelled like lemons, the way she always had.
“God, I can’t believe you’re really here.” She held my face in her hands, studied me, her eyes filling more and more until the tears began spilling down her face.
I swiped away the wetness. “Please don’t cry. I hate to make you cry.” It wasn’t often that Mouse ever had.
She hugged me again, and I looked over her shoulder to see Romeo. His hair was a little longer than it used to be, and tied back. He wore jeans and a T-shirt, but I could tell they were high quality and not the kind of shit I wore.
When Mouse pulled back, I noticed a diamond on her finger. Romeo came closer, hugged me, and there was a ring on his too. “Holy shit. You two?” But really, I wasn’t surprised.
“I finally won her heart.”
She rolled her eyes but smiled. “He always had it. I just needed to learn to love myself first.”
They were married…lived in a beautiful home together. Happy. “No more pink?” I fingered her blonde hair.
“Every once in a while.” She motioned me inside. “Come on.”
I followed them in, noticed toys everywhere, kid things, photos on the walls of a baby—one month, two, three… My heart simultaneously soared and dropped. I was so damn happy for them, but fuck, it hurt how much I’d missed. How much life I hadn’t lived. “How many kids?”
“Pfft. One for now. Her name is Olivia.”
Warmth spread through my chest as we headed over to the couches. “That’s a beautiful name.” I couldn’t believe I was here with them, after all this time. And it felt normal, right, like time hadn’t been stolen from us. “Is she here?”
“She’ll be here soon. A friend has her. We wanted some time with you to ourselves first.” She swatted my arm. “You dumb son of a bitch! I can’t believe you cut us off for ten fucking years, Hero! I can’t believe you cut him off.”
I shook my head. Looked away. “I’m no one’s hero.” Still, the name did something to me, and for a brief moment, the boy I used to be tried to peek out.
“You never thought that. You were wrong then, and you’re wrong now, Gage,” Romeo said.
“You don’t know me anymore.”
“Yeah, I do.”
God, they were great. How I’d ever gotten lucky enough to have these people in my life, I didn’t know.
“What happened to you?” Mouse sat with her legs crossed, her feet up on the couch the way she’d always done.
I shrugged. “I went to prison.”
“We deserve more than that,” Romeo said, and he was right. They did.
“I, um…I served my time. It was… I hated it. I won’t give you details, but it was hard. I met a guy—a friend. Older man. He helped me, showed me the ropes, pulled my head out of my ass, taught me to be strong, but he was murdered.”
“Jesus,” Mouse said.
“He was in for murder too.” They should know that, know the truth about me. I’d killed someone, and the only person I’d let into my life completely since then had been a murderer as well. “Just like me.”
“You didn’t mean to do that,” Romeo said. “You were saving Joey.”
His words were like a kick to the gut. “I was in for six years, got my GED and started learning some things. Got out early due to good behavior and overcrowding. Ended up in Sacramento, where I had to stay while on parole. Worked as a mechanic. Got off parole, and then…well, I had to come. I had to see what happened to him.” I took a few deep breaths, tried to steady my pulse. When no one replied, I asked, “Is it bad?”
“It’s better than it was, but he’s still not good. Won’t let himself be,” Romeo said. “I know you, Gage. I know you tried to do the right thing. I told Angie and Joey that, and I know you didn’t mean it, but he was torn up after you sent him away.”
“I didn’t want him to wait for me.” My voice was broken, begging them to understand. “I wanted him to be happy, to go on without me. To have a life.”