Total pages in book: 40
Estimated words: 38829 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 194(@200wpm)___ 155(@250wpm)___ 129(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 38829 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 194(@200wpm)___ 155(@250wpm)___ 129(@300wpm)
Take care of yourself brother, you were always the best of the two of us. I’m damn proud of you.
-Bear
Fuck me. Fuck me. My hand shakes as everything slams down on me. Bear was in love with Olivia …
“Motherfucker!” I growl. How could he not tell me? Shit. Why didn’t she tell me?
I pick my phone back up and dial the club. When Hangman answers, I tell him to get the men together this evening. It’s time I see if I’m the only one in the fucking dark.
18 BLADE
“Blade? I thought I was supposed to meet you at your place tonight?” Arwen questions as she opens the door. I lean in and pull her to me. I feel her arms snake around me and she holds on tight. For the first time since I read the letter, my heart rate moves to a more normal speed. “Is everything okay, sweetheart?”
I pull back and take a deep breath. “Arwen, I need to speak to Olivia.”
She blanches, taking a step away from me. Her face loses color, and I can see her pain. “Blade, I don’t think—”
I shake my head. “Sweetheart, I told you already. You’re the future. I read my brother’s letter. I need to talk things over with Olivia. You can be there. I don’t want secrets between us. I promise I’m not here to hurt her.”
She studies my face. I let her see everything I’m feeling—even my confusion. I meant what I said. I don’t want secrets between us. Clearly, secrets cause nothing but pain. I never want that in my life again.
“I’ll have to ask her if she’ll talk to you,” she finally says.
“Okay.”
“I’ll be right back,” she promises. I sit down on one of the chairs that line the porch. There’s a swing, too, but the chair seems to fit the occasion.
It’s a quaint house. I know it belongs to Arwen, but she seems more at home in my apartment. I used to imagine a place like this for Olivia, but I know it’s not truly what I’d want to live in. I need a lot of glass and wide-open spaces. My penthouse is perfect. I’ll need to talk to Arwen and see if that works for her, too.
My head turns as Olivia walks out. She’s beautiful as always, but the attraction I once held for her is void. She’s not the same woman she once was. I’m not the same man. Our past together seems like a lifetime ago. “Hello, Blade,” she says, and she might look calm, but I can hear the quiver in her words.
“Olivia,” I say, clearing my throat.
“Winnie said you wanted to speak with me?”
“Yeah. Can you sit down for a bit?”
She nods, moving to the chair that’s beside me, though there is quite a bit of space between the two.
“I think I’ll just go inside and let the two of you talk,” Arwen murmurs.
“You don’t have to,” Olivia and I say together, and for a second there’s a smile on Arwen’s face.
“I do. There are things you need to say to one another—a past you need to put to rest. It doesn’t involve me. I’ll be here to talk to both of you if you need me later,” she says. Then, she shocks the hell out of me by kissing my forehead and hugging Olivia.
Once she disappears back inside, both Olivia and I stare out over the yard for a bit. I think we’re both afraid to talk. “So,” I finally mutter, not sure how to begin.
“Winnie said you read your letter from Bear.”
“Do you know what it said?” I ask.
“Mm,” she hums. “Bear told me while we were locked in my brother’s little prison.”
“What?” I ask, not sure I heard her correctly.
“I’m sorry. I assumed Cross told you everything,” she says nervously, rubbing her hands together. I reach over and put my hand over hers, not wanting her to make a sore spot on her skin.
“I’m supposed to meet with the men later. I wanted to talk to you first. That night when Eyeball somehow got the warden to—”
“Douglas is really good at finding weasels he can control,” she mutters.
“You seemed so …”
“Angry? A bitch?” she laughs, but the sound is cold—absolutely devoid of any emotion.
“Yeah.”
“You saw what Douglas wanted you to see, Blade. I was just playing a part.”
“That’s part of what I don’t understand. What part? Why go along with anything that bastard ordered?”
“He promised he’d let me go. I didn’t have a lot of hope, but I needed him not to be lying. So, I went along with what he ordered. I didn’t do it for me. I did it to protect someone I loved.”
“Your father,” I surmise.
She lets out a quiet breath but doesn’t correct me. “Bear didn’t die at the garage? You mentioned you were locked up together.”