Twenty-nine
Love isn’t a two-way street.
It’s a one-way gate.
--Gia
Rex
I’m in my bed, in the safety of my home, sitting naked with the only person in the world who knows everything about me and loves me anyway. And yet, I’m totally alone, secluded in the dark, tumbling down, and grasping for a sliver of sanity.
“That can’t be right.” It can’t be, right? I drop my head into my hands and scrub my eyes. “He lied. It’s not true.”
“Think about it, Rex. My parents worked for him. How do you think you ended up in our house?”
“But why? If I was his kid, why would he do that to me?” Thoughts of Raven penetrate my mind. She was his daughter and look what he did to her.
Dizziness socks me hard and I drop back to the bed. “Holy shit.”
“Your eyes. They’re blue, but they’re like no blue I’ve ever seen. And have you ever really looked at Raven? Noticed the similarities in your faces?”
“Holy shit.” No, I never had, but now that she mentions it . . . “Holy shit.”
What does all this mean? That I have a half-sister? One of my best friends is my brother-in-law? Heat pricks the backs of my eyes. I’m an uncle.
I never had a family. Growing up in foster care and then a group home, I didn’t have anyone I could really rely on until I started fighting for the UFL. The organization, my fighting camp, they’ve been the only family I’ve ever had.
And now she’s telling me I have a family.
I gaze up at Gia and study her, curled in on herself, eyes bloodshot, still so fragile and now scared.
It had to be hard to tell me that, after everything we’ve been through and how I treated her the last time she exposed my past. But she braved through it regardless of the consequences, and it looks as if she’s expecting me to lash out and attack.
“You’re scared.”
Her eyes lift to mine. “More than I’ve ever been in my entire life.”
My chest cramps. She was locked up as a child, made to feel as if she were losing her mind, all because she fell in love with me. She’s the bravest woman I’ve ever met, but the thought of me pushing her away has her terrified. F*ck. I’m a stupid prick.
“I’m the son of Dominick Morretti.” The words are like gravel in my mouth.
“I believe you are.”
As horrible as that should be, and as many questions as the idea implies, it somehow feels like good news. What Gia gave me with her confession outweighs the ugly blood that runs through my veins.
She gave me her loyalty.
Her faith.
And I got a family.
But above all of those things, she gave me the ultimate sacrifice, risking our love for the sake of the truth.
“I love you, Georgia McIntyre.”
She squints through her tears and tilts her head. “You do?”
I grin. I can’t help it; she looks so damn worried and cute as hell. “I really do.”
She launches herself into my arms, and I wrap her up as tightly as I can. I bury my nose into her hair and breathe in deep, immersed in her soothing tropical scent.
Her body quakes with emotion. “I thought you’d hate me.”
“I could never hate you. Pushing you away was the worst thing I’ve ever done. I’m not the smartest man, but I learn from my mistakes. I’ll never let you walk away again.”
“Please, I couldn’t bear to lose you.”
I kiss her head and rub her back. “Everything I put you through . . . God, Gia, I had no idea. I have so much to apologize for, so much to make up for.”
“No, you don’t.” She pulls back and wipes her cheeks. “Just promise to love me.”
“That’s easy, baby.” I tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear. “I promise.”
With whatever I have left, the scraps of a man that she’s brought back together, resurrected with her dedication, I promise to love Gia McIntyre.
I hold her until her sobs quiet to tears. Curiosity stirs thoughts about my mom and the story behind how I ended up with the McIntyre’s. I make a mental note to talk to Raven. Blood work should prove whether or not what Dominick told Gia was true or if he was just trying to make her crazy. I’m buying Raven whatever the hell she wants as a thank you for ending the pathetic life of that motherf*cker Dominick.
Her cheek rests against my heart, my arm draped over her torso as it expands with every breath. She’s alive and I absorb every one of her breaths, thankful that she survived her parents, Dominick, and my pushing her away.
For the last six months, I’ve played the victim, the one to suffer a hideous crime. But I lived nightmares in the place of memories, while she had vivid memories that gave her nightmares. Her entire life she felt responsible, fought for justice, and brought herself to the brink of murder in my name for the sake of revenge.
What kind of life is that?
The doorbell rings and Gia jerks in my arms.
I kiss her head. “Shh, it’s okay. Food’s here.” Unwinding our bodies, I leave her in bed and pull on a pair of track pants. She’s watches me, and I glance at her naked beneath my dark gray sheets, the color playing off her perfect skin. I reach down and grab the comforter from the foot of the bed and pull it up to her neck. She snuggles into the warmth but looks at me with questioning eyes.
“No walls. Not givin’ Mr. Delivery Boy an eye-full of my girl.”
She giggles and the sound knocks the breath from my lungs. It’s the first glimpse I’ve gotten of Mac since before she left. Butterflies explode in my chest.
The doorbell rings again.
“Stay put.”
She nods. “I will.”
I move to the door, pulling money from my wallet, and picture Mac sitting on a barstool eating Chinese food wearing nothing but my bed sheet. Blood rushes down my body to between my legs.
Yeah, it’s definitely time to send this delivery guy home. I swing open the door, but rather than being greeted by a dude with a bag of takeout, I’m faced with the accusing blue eyes of Emma.
“Oh! Hey, Em.”
Not good.
~*~
Gia
Rex has been at the front door for longer than I would think it takes to pay for some takeout. I peek over the thick down comforter he threw over me and see him standing in the open doorway. He’s shirtless, and by the sound of the voice of the person on the other side, I’m sure the delivery girl is stalling to gaze at his impressive build.
I grind my teeth and jealousy burns my stomach.
“Em, please, calm down.”
Em? As in Emma?
“Why won’t you let me in?”
Let her in? If she’s asking, that means she’s surprised that he didn’t ask her inside. My stomach drops and I swallow hard. She’s been inside his condo before, and by the sound of it, I’d guess often.
Rex’s muscular arms are crossed at his chest, legs firmly planted wide enough that he looks like a big X.
“So now that we’ve broken up I’m not allowed in your house?” Emma practically screeches, the sound bouncing off the walls.
Broken up, as in . . . they were a couple. My fists ball tight into the bed cover.
“You’re the one who said you wanted to be friends,” she says.
Without thinking, I slide off the bed and, keeping the sheet wrapped around me, move to the door.
“Emma, now’s not a good time. It has nothing to do with—”
I step up to Rex.
“Oh shit.” He moves to step in front of me, and I halt just as my shoulder hits his.
It’s Emma, his beautiful neighbor, and right now she looks furious.
Her eyes rake up and down my body, and then she glares at Rex. “Is this where you’ve been for the last two weeks? Shacking up with her?”
He exhales hard. “It’s not what you think.”
“Well, then what is it? You wouldn’t let me sleep over, but you’ll have sex with her.” She thrusts her hand at me.
“This conversation’s over.” He shuts the door halfway.
“I was right; you are a man whore!”
Memories of him crying on the other side of the door, reassuring him that he’s a good boy, come flooding in. My body tenses.
“Hey!” I grab the door and pull it open. “Don’t call him that. You know nothing about us.”
Rex cages me to his chest from behind.
“Ha!” Her eyes go from his hold on me to my face. “It doesn’t take much to see what’s going on here. Did he tell you that less than two weeks ago he was with me?”
“Emma.” Rex’s growls her name, his patience clearly waning.
“No, he didn’t tell me that, and to be honest that’s not something I’m excited to hear, but it doesn’t change the fact that he’s not a bad boy, er . . . man. He’s a great man.”
“Gia—”
“No, Rex.” I shrug out from under his hold. “I know what you’re thinking, and I’d be thinking the same thing if I were in your shoes. But I’ve known Rex since I was eight years old and loved him every day since. He’s a million different things, but the one thing he absolutely is not is a man whore.” My hands shake with the need to defend him. “Now, I realize you two have history, and again, it’s not something I’m interested in hearing, but I won’t just stand here and listen to you call him names.”
She studies me for second, and the anger in her eyes is replaced by a softness that leads me to believe she not only heard what I said but that she agrees.
“Well, as fun as this is for me, ladies, I’m going to have to say”—he looks at his neighbor—“Emma, goodnight. We’ll have to talk later, as you can see now’s not a good time.” He throws his arm over my shoulders and pulls me to his side.
“Right.” She shakes her head. “Forget it. It’s not worth it.” With wave off, she turns and walks away.
He shuts the door and folds me to the front of his body, wrapping me in his arms. “Damn, that was sexy as hell you going all alpha female defending my honor.” There’s humor in his voice.
I take a shaky breath. “I don’t know what happened. It was like I was eight-years-old again.”
“Mountains to overcome.” He mumbles the words, and I wonder if he meant for me to hear them.
I tilt my head back to look up at him. “What?”
His hands run up and down my back. “Us. We have a lot to get through, but, baby, we can do this. We can.” He’s trying to convince me?
“I know.” Hell with Rex is better than heaven without him. “You should know, when we overcome those mountains, I’ll still never be okay with anyone talking bad about you.”
“Shit, so bringing you around the guys is out of the question.” He kisses my forehead, chuckling against my skin. “That’s all I need is to be breaking up fights between you and the boys.”
I shake my head and breathe easy, knowing that the guys he fights may tease him, but he’d told me they all had his back when he came looking for me, so I know they love him. “Now that there’s a good chance that you’re related to one of them, I think they’ll take it easy on you.”
He huffs out a long breath. “Yeah . . . that.”
I squeeze him tighter and pray that he knows no matter what the future brings I’ll be there to support him. “Guess you’ve got a lot to do tomorrow, huh? Make peace with your neighbor, meet Raven at the clinic for a blood test, and break the news to Jonah that you’re Sadie’s uncle.”
“All in a day’s work, baby.” He sounds so relaxed, but the way his body tensed in my arms at the mention of blood work makes me think his easy humor is more for my benefit.
Thinking about it now, ever since he found out that Dominick claimed him as his son, he’s seemed . . . fine—a little distant, thoughtful, but all around okay. I was expecting furious, irritated, even crabby would’ve been more appropriate, but fine? I can’t help but wonder what’s going on in his head.
“So . . . you and Emma.”
He kisses my forehead. “Yeah.”
My stomach plummets, hearing the affirmation from his lips. “How long?”
“A few months.”
I have no right to be jealous. After all, I wasn’t exactly in a platonic relationship with Hatchet. And if what Emma said about him refusing to have sex with her is true, then what I was doing with Hatch was the furthest thing from platonic.
The doorbell rings and we both stare at it, wide-eyed.
“You gonna get it?” I ask.
“I’m afraid of what’s waiting for me on the other side.”
“I’m starving. Maybe for Chinese food we take our chances?”
He smiles down at me. “For you, I’ll take my chances.”
And that’s what we did. We took a chance on each other, knowing that things will be hard, that our future is unclear, and that we have a lot of work to do. But nothing good comes from running away from the difficult times. Turning your back on the pain doesn’t make it go away; it just saddles up on your shoulders and slowly drives you into the ground.
We still have so much to learn, obstacles to overcome, but blessings don’t come cheap and I refuse to allow a demon from our past or hurdle in our present to rob me of a single second of our future.