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)
I look at my mother. Truly look at her. At the fine lines around her eyes and her mouth. At the freckles, some of which have enlarged and morphed into age spots. She’s still a beautiful woman, but she’s nearing sixty.
“Your father grew to love me more than life itself,” she continues. “And I him. He’s the air I breathe, Savannah, but he’s not coming back to this house.”
“Mom, Vinnie will find a way.”
Mom sighs. “I wish that were true, but you don’t know my father the way I do. To you, he’s the adoring Grandpa who used to bounce you on his knee. To me, he’s a monster.”
I nod. What can I say? She made clear last night what she was talking about, and I honestly don’t want to know any more. A moment later, I glance around. “Mom, do you know why it was so important that I marry Miles?”
She pauses and then nods. “Yes, Savannah, I do. And I hate it. I hate what my father has become. I hate what he’s done to our family. And I hate him for dragging Vinnie into it.”
“Vinnie won’t get sucked in. I trust him.”
“He will get sucked in,” Mom says. “I watched it happen to your father, and I watched it happen to Michael. The only thing that saved your father was his love for me and his children. Michael couldn’t be saved. And Vincent… He has nothing to save himself for. All he has is an eleven-year-old fiancée and a betrayal he has to make up for.” She starts to cry. “I’m frightened for him, Savannah. And I lashed out.”
“At me.”
“Yes. It was easy to blame you. In my eyes, all the family was asking of you was the same thing they asked of me.”
“Miles wasn’t Dad.”
“No.”
“He tried to rape me.”
“I know. And I’m sorry.” She buries her face in her hands.
I lay my hands on my mother’s heaving shoulders. “Mom, you say Vinnie doesn’t have anyone to keep him grounded. That’s not true. He has you. And he has me. We’ll be his strength. He’s going to be okay, Mom. Trust in him.”
She wipes her eyes and looks around, whimpering. “This house is so big. So empty now. Vincent will get his own place, and I’ll be alone.”
“Do you want me to move back in?”
“No. You have your young man. Be with him. I’m done being selfish.” She walks back inside the house without saying another word.
I get in the car and drive back to Summer Creek.
Back to Falcon.
But first, I make a detour to visit my father.
He’s in orange. My strong and handsome father is wearing orange.
Thank God I never had to look at Falcon like this. My father is big and strong, but he’s no Savage. He hasn’t been transferred to the prison yet, thank God. Right now he’s being held in the county jail, and his attorneys arranged for him to have family visitors. We sit together in a small room, a guard watching us.
“This isn’t like I expected,” I say. “I figured you’d be behind glass and we’d be talking on one of those old fashioned telephones.”
“Not here, in the jail,” Dad says. “Once I’m arraigned, they’ll either let me out on bail, which is unlikely, or they’ll house me here or at the prison. The lawyers are working on it, but the McAllister lawyers are working just as hard against it.” He draws in a breath. “And so is your grandfather.”
I grab his hand. “Dad, I can’t thank you enough for saving Falcon. Truly. He’s the man I love.”
“He came to see me,” Dad says. “The night they beat him.”
I nod. “I figured as much.”
“I’m sorry for my hand in that. Please believe that I had no idea they would torture him like they did.”
I look into my father’s sunken eyes. He’s sad, regretful. I believe him.
“What happened?” I ask.
“I sent your grandfather a text to let him know Falcon was here. Next thing I know, one of our staff members was hitting Falcon over the head and dragging him out of my office. Your grandfather clearly had someone in our house on his payroll.”
“How did you know where they took him?”
“That old warehouse is where they do a lot of their dirty work,” he says. “I was told to stay put, and that was my intention, originally, but I couldn’t, Savannah. I couldn’t let them kill someone you loved.”
I love my father more in this moment than I ever have.
“I never wanted you with Miles McAllister,” he continues. “But I didn’t think there was any other way, Sav, and I’m sorry.”
“You let me go so many times.”
He looks into my eyes, his gaze soft. “You’re my weakness. You and your mother. But your grandpa got into a mess with the McAllisters. He always said he’d never get into their line of business, and like a fool, I believed him. He’s not a good man, Savannah.”