Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 82907 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82907 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Footsteps approached the door.
I turned at the sound, relieved he was home.
The door opened, and he stepped inside.
But it wasn’t Heath.
It was my brother.
My mind immediately jumped to a terrible conclusion. “What did you do to him?” I started to rise out of my chair.
He held up his hand and placed it on my shoulder, keeping me down. “Nothing. I just wanted to talk to you in private.”
When I sank back into the chair, I released the breath I’d been holding. “So, he’s okay?”
“He’s fine.” He walked back to the entryway to shut the door. Then he returned to me, sitting in the chair Heath had vacated when he’d left. He pushed away the uneaten food and rested his arms on the table.
The anticipation was killing me. “What happened?”
He still didn’t say anything, like he didn’t know what to say at all.
“Just tell me, Damien.”
He finally turned his gaze on me. “I know what happened to you…and I know he’s the one who rescued you.” His tone of voice was different, unique, unprecedented. He sounded so sad, so depressed, like he would never be happy again.
There was only one thing he could be referring to.
“The man I plotted with last time came to me and told me everything. He’s been keeping tabs on Heath, trying to find a way to take him down. When he told me what had happened to you…it was hard to hear.”
“I never wanted you to know.”
“I assumed. Otherwise, you would have told me so I might actually like him.”
“You should like him, Damien. Even if that never happened—”
He sighed loudly.
“If he hadn’t walked into that basement…I never would have been the same. I was only in there for a few days, and it broke me. He didn’t just save me physically—he saved my spirit. I didn’t want to be with him just because of what he did for me. I wanted to be with him…because I wanted to. He just gave me a reason for it to be okay.”
He stared at my sink, his expression unreadable.
“I meant what I said the other day. That I’m going to be with him regardless of how you feel about it. But it would make this so much easier if you did feel differently about him.”
“You’re asking a lot of me, Cat.” He turned back to me.
“Nothing is too much when it comes to me.”
His eyes softened slightly.
“He saved me when he didn’t have to, Damien. I’d already turned him down before that. He didn’t owe me anything.”
He gave a slight nod.
“I feel that’s reason enough.”
“Why do you think I’m sitting here?” he asked quietly. “Because it does change things…”
There was finally hope, finally something to latch on to. “So…you give your blessing?”
He sighed deeply, his breath so shaky that it must hurt his lungs. “One right doesn’t erase all of his wrongs, Catalina. That’s not how life works.”
Disappointment filled me. “This is the man I’m going to spend my life with, Damien.”
“You haven’t known him that long—”
“Doesn’t matter,” I snapped. “He’s the one. I need you to do this—”
“You really think Dad is gonna be okay with this? You don’t know him the way I do. You don’t know how protective he is of you.”
“I do know that,” I whispered. “But I have faith he will listen to me. And his feelings about it have nothing to do with yours.”
“So even if Dad hates him, you’re still going to be with him?” he asked quietly.
It pained me to go against my family’s wishes, but I’d tried to live without Heath so many times, and every attempt was so unsuccessful it was laughable. “Yes.”
He bowed his head slightly, as if that answer was disappointing.
I placed my hand on his arm and gave him a gentle squeeze.
He took his time before he looked at me, before he forced his gaze to mine.
“Try.”
He stared at me in silence.
“I’m not asking you to feel differently about him overnight. All I’m asking is for you to try.” I squeezed him harder. “Try to have him be a part of our lives. Try to include him in our get-togethers. Try to look at him the way I do.”
Now, he closed his eyes, like the request was physically painful. “I’ll try…but that’s the most I can do.”
Damien just left. Where are you?
He texted back immediately. Sitting in my truck outside.
Come up.
Alright.
I waited for him to climb up the several flights of stairs and walk through the door. Damien had literally stepped foot outside of my apartment just seconds ago, so depending on where he’d parked, they might cross paths.
A minute later, Heath’s heavy footsteps sounded outside the door.
I got out of the chair and pressed my injured foot to the floor, my crutches inaccessible since they were on the other side of the room.
He opened the door and immediately glared at me for trying to get to him on my own. He pushed the door shut behind him then walked to me. “Baby, enough with the walking.”