Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 96957 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96957 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
“Livy. Now! We have to go.” Dad pulled at my arm.
I yanked away from his grip, resting my forehead back on Slade’s. “I knew the gun wasn’t loaded when I pulled the trigger. I knew. I promise I knew …” More sobs ripped through my chest.
“Liv-y …” Wylder said in two weak syllables as he closed his eyes.
They stayed shut. All remaining rigidness in his body released … it surrendered. He surrendered.
“NOOOOO!” My hands released his hands, and they covered his cheeks, smearing his blood everywhere. My lips pressed to his. “Noooo …” I breathed into his mouth, trying so hard to give him more breaths. “I love you back … I love you back … I love … you … back …” I wept as my dad tore me from Wylder’s lifeless body and cradled me in his arms. “Jerry …” I said through my sobs. Abe’s mangled, disfigured, and bloodied body passed through my blurry peripheral vision as Dad hauled me down the porch steps.
My father must have carried me forever. By the time he set me in the back seat of the rental car with Jericho, my tears had dried. So had the blood on my hands. I should have walked away. That day I found the weapons in the dungeon, I should have kept going.
Had I just walked away and let him disappear to protect himself … to protect me … he would have lived.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Livy
Five Years Later
“There’s my favorite patient.” Dr. Jones hugged me.
“Graduation day, huh?” I grinned taking a seat on his sofa as he sat in a side chair.
“You graduated from therapy years ago. I just like seeing you.”
I smiled.
“When are you moving?”
“Tomorrow.” I rubbed my lips together while unwrapping a stick of peppermint gum. I held out the pack to him.
He shook his head as his eyebrows lifted a fraction. “Wow, I had it in my head you weren’t leaving for another few weeks.”
“I’m assisting Timothy Morten on a huge case that goes to trial next month, so they want me there as soon as possible to help prepare.”
“We’re going to miss you.”
My eyes rolled. “Sacramento is less than two hours away.”
“And Darren?”
I chewed my gum slowly and shrugged. “He’s staying here.”
“You’re breaking up?”
“Not sure. We’re both feeling very casual about it. If absence doesn’t make the heart grow fonder, then I’d say we’re breaking up. If we can’t stand to be apart, he’ll consider looking into finding work there.”
“I see.”
“What’s that look?”
“No look.” He shook his head.
I laughed. “I think I know you better than you know me at this point—at least I know when you have a look. You’re judging my relationship with Darren.”
“I don’t judge. Not my job.”
I sighed. “I know. If I loved him. If we were serious … every night apart would feel like too much. Is that still how you feel when you’re not with Jess, when one or the other of you travels alone?”
“Yes. But not every person needs the same thing out of a relationship. Some people thrive on independence and space. Some married couples don’t even live together. Long distance relationships can definitely work. And like you said, it’s less than two hours away. Weekends will be very doable.”
“I am independent. I like my space. Even with Slade, I valued my time surfing with friends, or just time alone. My dad is that way. Before Mom died, he thrived on having space. Mom would sometimes tell me that Dad needed a minute. Of course I thought it meant an actual minute. It was more like an hour at least.” I grinned. “Besides … I have Jericho. I’m never alone.”
“Have I mentioned that it’s okay if you find happiness even if it’s not quite the same? Not quite right? Because it might not ever feel the same.”
“I know.” It took years, but I got to the point that I could talk about Slade and not tear up. I could talk about him and feel a sense of peace and gratitude. He saved my life twice. “Some loves are once in a lifetime.”
“Yes, Livy.”
“I’m looking forward not backward. I’ve accepted my past, and I think you said that’s what I needed to do in order to welcome my future. So I’ve accepted the secrets … my father was an assassin like the man I loved. It’s not who they were; it’s what they did. My dad lived to find a new life. Slade did not. But I’m here. And I’m young. I deserve happiness. I deserve love.” I shrugged. “I just don’t know yet if it’s with Darren.”
“Follow your heart, Livy. And maybe what your heart desires the most right now isn’t a serious relationship. Maybe your heart desires a courtroom. Working hard to make partner in a firm someday. Or …”
I bit back my grin. “President Livy Knight.”