Total pages in book: 155
Estimated words: 146417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 732(@200wpm)___ 586(@250wpm)___ 488(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 146417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 732(@200wpm)___ 586(@250wpm)___ 488(@300wpm)
She’d had their child to hold, had someone to pour all her love into. Who had Beck had? A sad, single photograph? So she’d dropped herself onto his lap and waited for him to kiss her or let his hand find her breast. She’d been willing to give him that comfort and honestly, to take it for herself.
But he’d simply held her and breathed like he had to concentrate to do it. He’d laid his head on her shoulder and they’d sat there for the longest time.
I love you, Kim.
The words had damn near broken her heart because she couldn’t say them back. Not because she didn’t feel them. There would always be love between them. They had a son and she was eternally grateful.
She couldn’t say them because she’d wanted nothing more than to surrender everything to Beck and tell him they could be a family. She’d wanted to lay right down and pretend nothing had happened, but she’d just relived the worst part of her life. While they’d talked, that time had played out in her head and she could still hear him cursing her.
She could still hear him saying she’d killed his brother and he would never forgive her.
When he’d decided to drive Ezra back to Sanctum himself, she’d been relieved.
“I’m glad you could be there for him,” Charlotte replied as Ian handed her the plastic containers she packed in a tote bag she’d carried their lunch in. “I’m sorry to put you through that but it’s important we have an idea of what happened then.”
Ian sat back, crossing one leg over his knee as a big arm relaxed along the edge of the couch. “Tell me something, Solo. Are you going to be happy letting Levi ride off into the sunset?”
“I don’t know that I’d put it that way.” A bit of guilt bubbled inside her. She wasn’t the only one Levi had hurt. He’d affected them all in ways, and giving him more power wouldn’t make him less dangerous. “I guess I want it to be over, and I could pretend when I was in Malta. I could sink into being nothing more than Roman’s mom, and now I have to think about a hundred different things.”
“You would always have had to come out of that cocoon,” Charlotte said with a sympathetic smile. “Roman would have started asking questions. He’s a smart boy. Kenzie and Kala told me he knew more about the volcano experiment than the teacher, and he explained to my youngest in no uncertain terms why he shouldn’t eat the magma even though it was nontoxic.”
“That boy doesn’t have a brain in his head,” Taggart said. “But yours does, and at some point he’s going to want to do something that requires real ID. Have you and Beck talked about changing his last name? Right now his paperwork is all under Roman Bruno. You can go back to your real name. Are you changing Roman’s to Solomon?”
She knew what Beck would want, and it wasn’t like she was deeply attached to her last name. It had so often brought her trouble. “I don’t know. I suppose we need to talk about it.”
It was odd how numb she felt today. Even as she’d sat in Beck’s lap and let him hold her there had been a distance she wasn’t sure he’d felt. She had. She’d held herself apart from him.
She felt like she was walking through her life but looking at herself from the outside.
“You probably have a lot to talk about.” Charlotte sat down on the couch, and her husband’s arm moved around her shoulders.
What would it be like to know the man she loved was a couple of doors down and that she could get a hug whenever she needed it?
There was a brisk knock and Adam Miles entered wearing a slick suit, his hair cut in the latest style. He was a stunning man and he’d kept himself very fit. She knew him only by reputation. And his wife’s books. She’d loved his wife’s romantic books all those years ago. Now she only read nonfiction and children’s books.
She’d given up on everything but Roman seven years before. Did she want to live that way the rest of her life?
“Hey, you said you needed me?” Adam strode in. “Tell me it’s not about Tris. What did he do? Because the last time he was showing off for Carys he broke his damn arm.”
“That’s because he was trying to show up Aidan on a skateboard, and he’s nowhere near as coordinated,” Charlotte said. “He needs to stop trying to be Aidan and start playing up his strengths.”
“His strengths include hacking computer systems, so I’m going to challenge you on that.” Adam sighed. “The last thing I need is the feds to show up on my doorstep.”