Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 115186 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 576(@200wpm)___ 461(@250wpm)___ 384(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115186 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 576(@200wpm)___ 461(@250wpm)___ 384(@300wpm)
When he stopped talking, she waited a bit before prodding him with, “You said she was gone.”
“Yeah.”
She debated whether to ask this—or even how to ask—but she needed to know the whole story. “Did he kill her?”
“Not by his hands.”
She blinked and let her mind sort out what he said before concluding softly, “But by her own.”
“Yeah.”
Holy shit. “How old were you?”
“Ten.”
Holy shit! “You didn’t… find her, right?” Please say no. Please say no. Please say no.
“Asshole did. And the fuckin’ kicker was, she wrote him a goddamn note. Left nothin’ for me.”
She slapped a hand over her heart because an arrow had pierced through the steel.
The picture hanging on the wall in his place flashed through her mind… “That’s when your aunt took you in.”
“Yeah.”
“Where’s he at now?”
His chin rose and his expression turned into concrete. “Where you think?”
Of course. “I couldn’t imagine you’d let that slide.” Just like she wouldn’t expect Romeo to let what Roger and his “family” did to him slide.
“Shoulda done it sooner. She might still be here.”
Oh sure. It was perfectly normal for someone younger than ten to make his mother’s lover disappear. It wasn’t even normal for adults! “You were a child, Rome. On the other hand, your mother was an adult. She made her own decisions, whether good or bad. She stayed with him despite how he treated her.”
“Like you did?”
Her situation wasn’t quite the same as his mother’s. Roger had been her boss, not her significant other. If she had to deal with Roger twenty-four/seven… “You mean until you took my choice away from me.”
“Didn’t mean for shit to go down like it did. You came to me ‘cause of the stress that motherfucker was puttin’ you through. I saw it, woman, with my own two eyes. Can’t say I hated you slidin’ into my bed ‘cause of it but hated the reason why.”
“Are you touting yourself as a hero for getting me fired? I want to make sure I’m clear about that.”
He huffed, “Ain’t a hero. The fuck if I was gonna sit back and watch that asshole continue to do to you the same as what that motherfucker did to my momma. People are scared about gettin’ beat the fuck up physically. Bein’ beat up mentally’s just as bad, if it ain’t worse. My broken bones will heal within weeks. A broken mind can’t heal that fast. Sometimes it never recovers.”
“I’m sorry that happened to your mother. I’m sorry there are people like that in the world. I’m sorry you didn’t tell me about what happened to your mother sooner.”
His eyebrows rose. “That’ve made a difference?”
“I don’t know,” she answered honestly. “I was determined to work toward my dream job, and I thought working for Roger would make that happen. But even if I was wrong and he couldn’t or wouldn’t help, without a good reference…”
“And I fucked up your good reference.”
“It wasn’t only a reference, Rome. That was only one piece of the puzzle.” She ticked off the rest one-by-one. “I needed consistent employment, the right experience, and the necessary hours to even be considered for that type of position. They were never going to look at anyone with the limited amount of time I had working with patients.”
“Not sure how to fix it.”
Holy shit, did he sound sincere? Did he really feel badly about what he did and wanted to make amends?
Could she forgive him? That remained to be seen. “I don’t think you can. I can only hope someone will give me a chance so I can rebuild my resume. But, honestly, if Roger really did have connections to those sports teams, then I’m shit out of luck in that respect. If I want to continue working toward my dream—and I do—then I might have to move to a different state with different teams. Teams Roger won’t have any influence with.”
She really didn’t want to do that, though. While she didn’t want to live with her family, or even in Manning Grove, she also didn’t want to move far enough away so it was more of a chore to visit. She was close with her family and wanted it to remain that way. Plus, she’d have no one at her back if she needed someone.
Add in the fact that Shade would not like her being so far out of reach. He never hid the fact that she, Josie, their mother, and Jude belonged to him now. They were under his protection, and he took that seriously.
If anything happened to any of them, he would leave behind nothing but scorched earth.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
“I’ve been sending out resumes all over. Without a good reference, I’ll have to take any interview I can get, no matter where it’s located.”
The fuck if Maddie was moving to some other fucking state. That was some goddamn bullshit.