Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 71179 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 356(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71179 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 356(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
“That’s where I’m going. Thanks a lot, Lola.”
“Thank your father. He pays my bills.” Lola waves as she leaves the courthouse, but then looks over her shoulder. “And I mean it. You keep that nose clean.”
I nod and wave.
Keep my nose clean.
She’s covering her own ass. She knows what I’m up against. And she knows that my nose is going to be anything but clean.
22
SAVANNAH
Vinnie and I head upstairs, both of us still panting from the workout, when Falcon’s satellite phone rings.
“Hello?” I say breathlessly.
“Vannah, it’s me.”
“Oh my God, Falcon. How did everything go?”
“Pretty good. They decided not to revoke my parole, except now I have to go to parole meetings twice a week and I have to do therapy.”
“I told you about therapy at your first meeting.”
“I know, Savannah. Therapy isn’t going to do shit for me.”
“Not with that attitude it sure won’t.”
“Savannah, I have no regrets. I did what I had to do, and I’d do it again.”
I sigh. “It’s precisely because you put your ass on the line that you should be in therapy. You have a lot of complicated emotions that a therapist could help you untangle.”
He pauses. “Well, I have to go no matter what I think. So maybe it’ll help me. But I think the thing that will help me most is you.”
I smile. His words make me feel so warm inside. “That’s a sweet thing to say, Falcon, but maybe going to therapy and being with me will help you heal from your past. Maybe sometime soon you’ll actually feel comfortable telling me what happened that day.”
“Savannah, I love you. And I trust you. I will not keep any other secrets from you. But I’ll be taking that one to the grave.”
I say nothing. I try to understand.
“Anyway,” Falcon says, “I’ll be back as soon as I can, but I want to stop at my parents’ house and see Raven.”
“Yeah, of course. How is she?”
“According to Hawk, all recovered.”
I can hear the smile in his voice. It makes my heart dance.
“Color is back in her face, and she’s feeling great.”
“I’m so glad to hear that.” I scratch my arm. “I feel like I’ve been so selfish, not even thinking about her.”
“We both had other things on our minds. I’m sure she’ll understand, but I do need to see her.”
“Sure.”
“What have you and your brother been doing?”
“Some target practice, workouts, and we’ve done a lot of talking. Leif stocked us up with two more weeks of fresh food.”
“I hope we won’t have to be at the safe house that much longer.”
“Well, Falcon, you don’t have to be.” I look at my brother and sigh. “Vinnie and I? First of all, my family can’t know he’s here. Not yet. Second of all, if Miles finds me, he’ll take me.”
“He will not,” Falcon says.
I love Falcon Bellamy. I do. I love the fact that he thinks he can protect me from Miles.
Falcon may have been Savage in prison, but this isn’t prison.
Miles McAllister has money and power on his side, and my father, for some reason, seems to think this is all okay.
Falcon can’t protect me.
I have to protect myself.
“Give Raven my best,” I say.
“I will. Love you, Savannah.”
“I love you too.”
“Who’s Raven?” Vinnie asks when I set down the satellite phone.
“Falcon’s sister. There’s a lot you don’t know.”
“They both have bird names?”
“All five of them do.”
“Why?”
“His mother loves birds. Her name is Starling.”
“Really?” Vinnie smiles.
“His two brothers are Hawk and Eagle. His sisters are twins, Raven and Robin.”
“Raven is actually a really beautiful name,” Vinnie says.
“She’s a beautiful woman. She’s a year younger than Falcon, and she’s had a rough time of it.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. She’s in remission from leukemia.”
His eyes widen. “Oh my God.”
“Yeah. But things look good. And out of three brothers and a sister, only Falcon was a match for a bone marrow transplant. It’s why he was able to get out of prison early.”
He sits down and runs his hands over his beard. “You’re right. There is a lot I don’t know.”
I open the refrigerator. “Well, Vinnie, we’ve got all the time in the world for me to catch you up. I’ll make us a snack, and we’ll start talking.”
23
FALCON
“Hey, Ray.”
Raven rises from the recliner and smiles at me, coming in for a hug. “Christ, Falcon. We’ve all been worried sick.”
“I know. I’m sorry.” I squeeze her tight, so grateful that she’s still on this planet. “I wanted to reach out. I was so happy when your bloodwork came back normal.”
“God, me too. Though, like I said in the hospital, I only felt sick. Not sick sick.”
I nod. I don’t understand what Raven means, and I’m glad I don’t. On the other hand, I’d have gladly gone through the leukemia to spare her.
Raven and Robin are so different. They’re fraternal, not identical twins, though they do look quite a bit alike. But Raven is softer, gentler. Robin followed me around as if she were my little brother rather than my little sister.