Page 57 of Mine, Forever

“Eb, I’m just worried. I can’t have anything to do with my daughters… I just want to make sure you’re okay.”

“Well, I am.”

“And your sisters?”

“Modeling… I think they’re at the top of their agency or something like that. But we aren’t close anymore, so I don’t know.”

“Is that because of Adora?”

“I guess.”

A silence spread between us, one that made me uncomfortable and regretting my decision to see him. Jett had called in a favor for this, and I couldn’t waste that. I was about to open my mouth to speak when he suddenly asked, “How is your mother?”

Something in him changed when he asked, there was a softness to his eyes. A softness my mother didn’t deserve.

“Do you still love her?” I bluntly asked.

“Of course I do.”

“But you always fought.”

He sighed, rubbing a hand over his weary face. “Love isn’t always happy, Eb. Sometimes people argue, a relationship… a marriage, it’s hard work especially with kids. You have to find time to be together, but kids are demanding especially three so close together. We fought, yeah, but that was mainly because Adora didn’t like it when I was working late at night. She didn’t want to be a single parent. I just felt like I had no choice.”

“Well…” I began, not quite sure how I was going to break the news to him of what a bitch she was, “… the love of your life had me arrested. If it weren’t for Jett, I’d be in jail right now.”

His eyebrows knit together in a frown. “Jett?”

“Yes, my boyfriend.”

It felt so funny to call him that. He was so much more than a boyfriend. He was my everything.

“Who is he? I’ve never heard of a Jett.”

“He runs this city. He’s the only one who was able to get me to see you. He has connections and an organization no one questions.”

“Eb, what does he do? How can he run the city? What happened to Luca?”

“Dead, and so is Giordy.”

Was I sad about it? No, hell no, I enjoyed taking that piece of shit’s life. I would never apologize for it, but for some unknown reason, I didn’t want my papa knowing I had done it. I didn’t want him to know that I had it in me to shoot my mother.

His eyes widened. “How?”

“Does it matter? Jett was already someone to be feared in the city, so it doesn’t matter that those two are gone. It’s better for the city in a way.”

“Shit,” he replied, sitting back in his chair, wiping his hand down his face. His black eyes locked onto mine trying to read me. Fuck, I hated it when people tried to read me.

“Does he treat you well?”

Should I tell him the truth? Truth was, Jett did treat me well. He never lied to me. He showed me the type of passion I’d never even dreamed of, and he did anything to save me.

“Yes.”

“Why would Adora want you locked up?”

Changing the subject, that was something Adora did when she knew she couldn’t win an argument. Was my father the same? Had I gotten my memories of him mixed up with an ideal parent I knew I needed?

“She hates me, don’t you remember?”

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