Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 81009 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81009 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
“Right,” she whispered, turning her eyes back to the property and off me, but not before the sadness that echoed in me flickered in her gaze. “I often feel as if I failed her. Let her down.”
The only one who had failed Mom was me. I’d let her down. My cutting Salem completely out of my life wasn’t what she’d wanted. I knew that, but at the time, I had seen no other way. To be near her was to want her. Need her.
“Not a chance,” I replied.
She didn’t say anything, and for a moment, we stood there in silence. The gentle breeze caught her hair, and the faraway expression on her face made me wish I knew all her thoughts. But most would probably rip me open and leave me here to bleed.
This was my opening to begin digging into her marriage. To find out what I needed to clear her name. Fuck, it wasn’t what I wanted to do. Hearing her tell me about another man she had loved was going to be hard. I hadn’t considered it until it came time to begin. The other option though would have been handing this job to Lick, and I’d have killed him if he touched her. Held her. Fucked her.
“How did you meet your husband?” I asked, not even leading into it. Asking it was hard enough. I couldn’t be suave about it.
She blinked, slightly taken aback as she stared at me. I waited, giving her time. Talking about Mom was easy for us. We’d both loved her. But her husband was the other man who had held her heart. This was different.
Dropping her eyes to the ground, she cleared her throat. “I, um…well, it’s a bit of a long story. I wasn’t, uh, very open to dating or relationships of any kind at the time.”
Because of me. I’d caused that damage.
“He must have been persistent.”
Any sane man would be when he got one look at her. He’d move heaven and hell to have her. I almost had.
She laughed, but it was a sad sound, then nodded her head. “He was that,” she agreed. “I don’t know why he put up with me and tried so hard.”
I did.
“He was smart,” I said.
She lifted her eyes to meet mine, and the tenderness there was because of another man. Not me. Fuck, this was going to be brutal.
“He was good to me.”
He was also an international drug trafficker.
“I’m glad,” I replied.
Her eyes darted away. She wouldn’t make eye contact with me, as if she were afraid I’d see something there that she wanted to keep hidden.
Please, God, don’t have been involved with the criminal shit, Angel Face. I don’t know how I will protect you if you were—or are.
“I left you an address. You had my number. But you never even sent me a letter, text, nothing.” Her words were just above a whisper.
“Where did you leave me an address? When?” I asked. “I didn’t call or text because you had just left. Hadn’t told me about it, and I thought that was you leaving me. Telling me that you couldn’t forgive me.”
Her blue eyes swung back to me, and she frowned. “At your work. I came by to tell you that I’d been accepted and your mother’s letter of recommendation had helped. But you weren’t there. I left a note with my new address and even my flight date and time.”
I worked hard to tamp down the anger trying to boil over. Who had gotten the fucking note, and why hadn’t they given it to me? If they had, I would have chased after her. I would have moved if she’d asked me to. I had done what my mother wanted, but the sheer agony that had come with it became too much. Every day I went without her had become another sentence in hell.
“I never got a note,” I said, attempting to unclench my teeth. I was getting fucking pissed about something that had happened eighteen years ago. It was ridiculous.
She shook her head and let out a forced laugh. “It doesn’t matter. I don’t know why I asked. Years ago and water under the bridge.”
It mattered.
Asking more about her husband wasn’t something I could do right now.
“You hungry? There’s a great little seafood place about two miles from here.”
A real smile, mixed with relief, curled her full lips, and she nodded. “I’m starving.”
27
Salem
The curiosity had oozed from Pepper when Rome and I finally returned last night. She didn’t ask, though the look in her eyes told me she wanted me to tell her. I couldn’t because I wasn’t sure how to process it all just yet. It had been friendly. We’d laughed over our meal and talked about Vanna. It had felt so good to remember her.
Not one time had Rome brought up thinking of me when he was with other women. Other than the small outburst from me about the note that had gone unanswered, we kept the conversation from going to the us that had once been. I enjoyed myself. Riding on his bike again after all these years. Although this one was a newer, more expensive than the bike he’d had when he was twenty-one. The day had been one plucked from my imagination and perfected.