Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 104127 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 521(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 347(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104127 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 521(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 347(@300wpm)
Roman
The tears race down my face. My heart feels heavy with the weight of Roman’s words.
Everything he did was for me.
He was always trying to protect me.
“He loved you, firefly.”
My emotions ricochet off each other like waves crashing against rocks on a shoreline.
I feel sad, but at the same time, I know he wouldn’t want that for me.
“I know he did.”
Gideon stands, holding out a hand to me. “Come on, let’s get you home.”
I place my hand in his and allow him to pull me to standing. “I’m already home. Wherever you are is home, Gideon.”
He leans in and places a kiss on my lips.
For the first time since my parents died, I can finally let go of the pain I’ve been harboring all these years.
I’m ready to move on.
Gideon pulls me to the door, and together we move toward a future.
With every step that we take, an idea forms…
I don’t want my brother to have died in vain. Every dollar he stole, I’ll use to help someone less fortunate.
Gideon and I were both thrust out into the world alone and hungry. We both struggled to find our next meal. We know what it feels like to truly be hungry.
This money will be used to help children who have nothing.
Children who have no family, no home, and no food.
Children like us.
EPILOGUE
SASHA
Three months later…
I’m a knot of anxious energy.
My fingers drum against the arm of the chair, making a sound like rain hitting the roof. I take deep breaths, attempting to steady my racing heart.
It feels as if I’m standing on the edge of a cliff, my future depending on what words lie on the screen before me. How can something like a combination of letters hold such immense power?
My acceptance or denial.
My eyes turn to the window, and the sun casts a warm glow over the room. I can almost feel its rays heating me up, or maybe it’s just nerves.
“Are you going to turn your computer on? Or do you just plan on staring at it all day?”
I scowl at Gideon, and he laughs, a sound I will always love.
My own lips part, and I shake my head at him. “You’re intolerable.”
He grins, and I’d melt on the spot if I wasn’t so nervous. “You might have mentioned that a few times.”
“Just a few times?” I scrunch my nose at him.
“At least once a day.”
I shrug. “It’s because you are.”
“Yet you still love me.” He grins wide enough to show his teeth. My heart does melt at that. I love this man so much.
“For some unknown reason, I do.”
“Just open the computer, firefly.”
“No.” I stand from my chair and pace the room. Gideon steps up behind me.
“Firefly.”
“Don’t firefly me. I’m freaking out.” His warm arms embrace me.
“You need to calm down. No matter what it says, you won’t give up on your dream.” He squeezes me gently. “You’ll find a way. I know it.”
“I can’t.”
“You can do anything you put your heart to.” He places a kiss on the top of my head. “Do I need to remind you I’m only alive because of you? That you saved my life when you sh—”
“Shh. We don’t talk about that.” And we didn’t. Even though I don’t regret killing my uncle, I still killed a man, and for as long as I live, I’d like to pretend I didn’t.
It’s not that I feel my hands are stained with his blood. I don’t. He was an awful man who didn’t deserve to live, but I still don’t like thinking about it. I’m haunted when my eyes close as it is. I don’t need it bleeding into my daylight hours as well.
“Will you do it with me?” I ask, and he takes my hand in his and leads us back to the computer.
“Always. I’ll always be with you.” His lips find mine, and I close my eyes as he kisses the sense out of me. I fall into his tongue tangling with mine. Losing myself in him for reasons beyond avoiding the inevitable. I could kiss this man every day for the rest of my life and still not tire of it. Then he pulls away from me, leaving me to ready myself. He fires up the computer, and the world stops.
In the background, I hear the sound of him typing on the computer behind me, but I pay it no mind, too lost in the moment.
Gideon has a way of calming me. Of knowing just what I need to forget the things that hover over me.
He’s my perfect half, and I like to think I am his.
When he pulls away, I know it’s time.
Together, we turn toward the screen. To the Juilliard application status page. Then together we read it.
Accepted.
A rush of emotions hits me.
Tears well in my eyes. “I did it.”
“You did.”