Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 72154 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 361(@200wpm)___ 289(@250wpm)___ 241(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72154 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 361(@200wpm)___ 289(@250wpm)___ 241(@300wpm)
I found myself snickering.
This was just the icing on my karma cake.
“We took a ride to make sure that the kid was okay after that serial killer debacle, and I thought I’d run on by and let you know a few things.”
I swallowed.
I was fairly certain I didn’t want to hear his few things.
“Was going to come up here and tell you I didn’t like what you were doing with Kayla…then I saw him,” Loki said. “The moment I heard his voice, I wanted to kill him.”
I wholeheartedly agreed. I had wanted to kill the motherfucker, too.
“I don’t blame you.”
I didn’t say anything.
It didn’t matter that he didn’t blame me. It mattered that I blamed me.
And I never would stop feeling guilty for doing what I did to him—nearly taking his life.
“You didn’t have to call the cops.”
No, I didn’t.
“You also didn’t have to make sure that I didn’t bleed out.”
No, I didn’t have to do that, either.
“I knew what he was doing to you. Giving you an ultimatum that you couldn’t possibly choose between. But, just between us, I would’ve chosen the same. If it was you or my sister, I’d choose her. Every single day and twice on Sunday. Family first.”
Raglan’s head was now bleeding, and I wondered if it was his skull that cracked.
“We all knew what we were doing back then. All of us made our own bad decisions, and each of us had to live with the repercussions.” He paused, and I lifted my gaze to stare at him. “I should kill him.”
I shook my head. “No, you shouldn’t.”
“Why not?” he asked.
“Because now both of us know what happened, and we can send him back there…plus, I have a reason to keep him alive,” I explained, then looked at him curiously. “As long as you don’t plan on killing me or telling them that I slit your throat when I was a kid.”
He stared at me curiously for a few long seconds, then shrugged.
“I already said that I don’t hold a grudge. Did it suck? Yes. But I got out, which was what I wanted.” He narrowed his eyes. “What’s that reason?”
The smile lifted my tired mouth, and I couldn’t have stopped it if I tried.
“I don’t see why he gets to have a good life when my sister and mother didn’t get to have one.” I bared my teeth at the man that still wasn’t moving. “He spent twenty years in the pen, but that twenty years he at least knew he was getting out once those years were served. My sister and mom don’t get that same benefit. I want him to suffer, and I want to watch him do it.”
Loki didn’t say anything for a few long moments. “I have a few friends that might be able to help. Because I agree…this motherfucker made my younger years hell.”
At least we were agreeing.
Oh, and he wasn’t killing me.
There was that.
I doubted we would ever be friends, but the enemy of my enemy is my friend and all that jazz.
Epilogue
Does riding dick count as leg day?
-Asking for a friend
Kayla
6 months later
James walked up to the preacher and took the microphone, temporarily making my heart stop.
I thought he was about to voice his concerns, but I should’ve known better.
James, my pseudo father, had never been one to hover.
He loved us. Protected us. But he let us be us.
And I should’ve remembered that.
Not to mention, despite the age gap between Parker and me, he was happy with our relationship. Janie had broken him in to the marriage idea, and now I was just following suit—as Janie and I had always known in our hearts that we would.
“A lot of years ago,” James said as he took the microphone. “I was lying next to your father, in grass that covered our entire bodies, looking through the scope of a rifle as he chatted incessantly into my ear.”
I felt a tear trickle down my cheek.
“While we were lying there, he got me to make a promise to him.” James looked over at me. “That I would read this to you on your wedding day…so here it goes.”
James pulled out a piece of paper that looked like it’d been through wars—and it probably had been.
It was dirty, dingy, worn and weathered, likely due to the fact that my dad had been in a war zone while he’d written it.
Kayla,
If you’re hearing this letter, it’s because I didn’t make it.
I know that James kept his promise, so I also know that you are listening to this being read to you on your wedding day.
And, I just want to say to the man who is marrying my baby…you’re not good enough for her.
James looked pointedly at Parker, and I started to cry harder.
Parker reached forward and pulled me into his arms, bringing his hand up to my face and pressing it against my cheek as he swept away my tears with his thumb.