The man I hated when we first met has become one of my best friends. One of my closest brothers. He’d proven himself before the night I took my brother’s life, but taking a bullet for Jade in the middle of the night when he saw a shadow slither by his room put him at the top of my list.
I know he feels guilty for not being able to stop him from taking her. No matter how hard I’ve tried to convince him it wasn’t his fault, he still carries that burden on his shoulders. I can’t help him with that. We all have our guilt we’re trying to deal with. He has to work that shit out on his own. He’s a damn good man. One I look forward to having by my side in the future. One I will gladly give my life for.
“Don’t rush me. I have to be perfect.” Jade and her smart-ass mouth hollers back at me through the wooden door. I’m about ready to bust the fucking door down and tag her ass right on the bathroom counter if she doesn’t hurry the fuck up.
“I’ll be by the pool. You have five minutes.”
“What the hell ever, Kaleb. Don’t be so damn bossy.” Fuck. I love her. Our life will never be boring. Not with the way we both still fight each other for control. I may pretend at times, but she knows damn well who’s in charge here. She controls my heart, which I learned very quickly, controls me.
Moving away from the door, I snag my phone off the kitchen counter and make my way outside, knowing good and well she’s going to be longer than five minutes. Whatever the fuck surprise she has for me sure as hell can’t compare to the one I have for her. I start to remember our talk at the hospital. All I wanted to do was take her home and hold her in my arms, so I could pretend we didn’t need to have a talk. The talk I’m willing to admit scared the shit out of me.
I remember every damn word she said and I remember every single promise I made to her. Treating her like my equal is all I’ll ever do. She agreed to be with me as long as we don’t keep any secrets. I know this will be difficult as missions come, but I know we’ll work through it all in time.
Now, here I stand, staring into the light blue sky, the sun blazing down over the clear ocean water in its numerous shades of blues and turquoise. This is fucking paradise. Never in a million years would I think I’d be standing here, waiting for a woman to grace me with her presence so we could swim in the ocean or lie by the pool. Or fuck like we’ve been doing for the past few days. Christ, I’ll never get tired of having her wrapped around my cock.
I need to quit thinking about her for one minute and call my mom. It’s her birthday.
Powering up my phone, I find her name and hit call. This woman is the epitome of strength and courage if ever there was one. The minute we pulled into the hospital parking lot, Jackson pulled out his phone and called Vice and Ace. Told them it was over and to get on a plane and fly my mom and sister to me.
By the time they reached us, Jade was ready to go. Harris was out of surgery already, while Mallory stayed by his side. Mallory is another contradiction I need to figure out. Something’s up with her. Whenever I bring it up to Jade, she says Mallory is still fighting her demons over what happened that night. I’m not sure what to think about it all.
“Hey, son,” my mom answers, and her still delicate voice softens me every time I talk to her. I lied to her face about what happened. I told her Ty was dead when we found him, killed by one of his drug lords, guessing it was over the money he owed them for drugs. I couldn’t hide the fact that Jade was in the hospital, but I lied about that too. Both Jade and I did. We told her the same drug lord he owed money had taken Jade and brought her to the motel, hoping I would pay his debt. Then I was too late to save him. Jade had told them there was no way I’d help out. They tied her up and roughed her up because she wouldn’t call me.
The look in my mom’s eyes when she finally realized her son was truly dead is a look I will never forget. A piece of her died that day. A piece she’ll struggle with for the rest of her life. The sad part about it all is, I tried to sugarcoat it the best I could, but there was no way I could come up with an easy way to tell her. I sure as hell wasn’t going to tell her the truth. I know my mom though. She knows I didn’t tell her everything. She knows I killed him, but she’ll never tell me she does. She’ll take it to her grave to save me the pain and suffering she knows I struggle with every day and will for the rest of my life. I killed my brother.
“Happy Birthday, old lady.” I chuckle.
“Thank you, Kaleb. You two having fun?” Her idea of fun and mine are two different things.
“Fuck, yes, we are.”
“Language, boy,” she reprimands me, and I laugh some more.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“I appreciate the call, Kaleb. Now, go. Enjoy yourself. Lord knows you two have earned it.” I sigh heavily, knowing she’s still dealing with the aftermath of all of this, while I’m here trying to forget and moving forward with Jade, hoping to start a beginning to our normal sooner rather than later.