Page 82 of His Old Lady

It was easy to imagine that he was the one on the other side of the protective glass. If he looked straight ahead, it could be Walker visiting him.

Staying away from Walker was his choice. After he'd claimed Faye, the guilt of his crimes ate away at him. Walker never held him accountable for killing the two men and going down for the count. He would've done the same for Walker if he would've had time before the arrest to change places with him. But they'd both been caught by surprise.

What kept him away was the guilt of sleeping with Faye when she was seventeen years old and believing that she'd climbed into his bed. His weakness and taking her virginity couldn't be excused, and he'd tried to do the right thing. He'd stayed away from her.

He'd stayed away from Walker.

He'd punished himself. He'd punished Faye.

But if Faye was right and he'd coerced her into bed and fucked her, his past punishment wasn't enough. There was no future with her, no matter how bad he wanted her.

He cleared his throat. "I need to know what happened seven years ago."

Walker's gaze narrowed. "About...?"

"Faye." He gritted his teeth. "When I came and told you I was going to claim her, you already knew what had happened between us because Faye had visited you. I need to know what she told you."

"You know what happened."

"What I thought I knew isn't what I recently heard." He fisted his hand atop the counter in front of him. "I swear on my life. On the patch, brother. What I heard...it ain't good."

Walker looked down and closed his eyes. Curley's heart beat wildly against his chest. The seconds felt like nails pounded in his coffin.

Faye's uncle was the only one who could give him the answers he sought. He wouldn't put Faye through the questions and make her relive that moment. He'd already harmed her enough and put her through hell if it was true.

"Come on, man," he whispered over the phone. "I'm losing it. Give me something. Tell me what I did to her."

"You broke her heart." Walker lifted his head. "I thought because she was young, she'd get over her infatuation with you and over the years...she just, there was no convincing her to give up on you."

"Give up?" He moved closer to the glass. "Why would she want me after that first time?"

Walker shook his head. "You'd have to ask her."

He was here to avoid hurting her more. Rubbing his neck, he dropped his hand to the counter when he realized he'd taken the necklaces off.

"Damnit," he muttered.

He needed to talk away from the prison. He wanted nothing between him and Walker.

"It should be me." He looked at Walker. "It should be me."

Walker leaned closer and lowered his voice. "Listen, asshole. I gave you your space when you started this shit before. I'm here. I'm okay with being here. You need to keep your fucking mouth shut before we're both stuck in this place."

A guard walked into view and stood at the back wall directly behind Walker. Curley lifted his chin, letting Walker know they had an audience.

"Do you hear me?" said Walker.

Acid churned in his stomach. He understood. Hell, he lived with what happened every day, and it was nothing compared to what Walker had to do.

"I brought Faye home with me." He rubbed his jaw, seeing the guard walk out of view. While he had his chance and before his time ran out, he said, "She said things that make me believe she hadn't willingly crawled into my bed years ago. That I...that I fucking pulled her into bed—"

Walker straightened his fingers, stopping him from going on. "Get that shit out of your head. As much as I hate to admit it, Faye knew what would happen when she laid down with you."

"But I—"

"You would've stopped, brother." Walker's gaze intensified. "You would've damn-well stopped, and I swear on my patch, you were the only one I would trust with her. It's why I asked you to look after her. What happened between you two, that's on both of you. Faye has loved you beyond anything, brother. Any-fucking-thing. Don't ruin it. Don't fight it. She's all grown up. Let go of the past and make her happy."

He exhaled loudly, all the fight leaving him. The thought of what he was capable of doing struck fear in him.

He'd lived a hard life. Growing up under a heavy hand, he had a rage that had smoldered through years of abuse. Tarkio was his outlet. The thought that he could've taken that violence, that anger, that frustration out on Faye as an innocent teenager, taken her in the worse way possible for a woman, would've killed him.

His memories were different than Faye's. But they were good. They were his.

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