Page 151 of Romeo

With his good arm, he reached out, snagged her chin, and tipped her face up to his. “Would you have missed me if they did?”

“That’s not even funny, Rome.” If he wasn’t injured, she would’ve pushed him away because of his attempt to play on her emotions. Instead, she tried not to let his touch chip any more away from the steel coating her heart.

“Yeah, no shit. Wasn’t fuckin’ laughin’ when I was ambushed, but laughin’ right now would really fuckin’ suck.” He paused before saying, “They weren’t out to kill me. They were givin’ me a warnin’, makin’ a statement. They wantedme dead, wouldn’t be here right now. Easily could’ve been picked off from a distance, shanked in a crowd or run over by one of their fuckin’ garbage trucks while ridin’ my sled.”

“Romeo,” she breathed, trying not to imagine any of that.

He dropped his head even lower, locking their gazes. “Yeah, you’d miss me.”

Being beaten badly certainly didn’t curtail any of his cockiness.

She stepped back and freed herself from his grip. “You misunderstood. I don’t want anyone hurt or killed like that. Not just you.”But especially you.

“Bullshit. You know what sucks the most about all this shit?”

“The pain?”

“No. The worst part is I can’t fuck you.”

Of course.Fucking was a higher priority than even breathing for this man.

“Your injuries aren’t what’s preventing that, Rome. It takes two to tango and this woman isn’t in the mood to dance with you. You said you were going to explain why you’re in Parsington and why you tricked me to get me here. I still haven’t heard an explanation, and your fifteen minutes are about up.” She needed to hear what he had to say, this way she could leave before her resolve completely crumbled and she fell for his charm.

Or lack of charm.

“Gonna tell you ‘bout my momma.”

Well damn,that was a complete change of subject. But with the way he said it, she had a feeling she wasn’t going to like this “explanation.” She once again settled on the edge of the bed.

“She’s the reason I got involved even when you told me not to.”

“You said she was gone.”

“She is. Still miss her every fuckin’ day, too.”

Her throat tightened from the painful loss in his tone and expression on his face.

More evidence that she wasn’t going to like this story. Not at all.

“Saw what happened to you happen to her.”

What?“With her boss?”

He shook his head. “Her last man.”

Her last man.She frowned.”Like a boyfriend?”

“Yeah.” He sighed. “She knew how to fuckin’ pick ‘em. Even the bastard whose nuts I spawned from. Swear she was a magnet to every fuckin’ loser and user. But that last one…” He shook his head and pulled in a breath. “With him, I watched her lose herself little by little ’til nothin’ was left but a goddamn empty shell. That motherfucker had her fuckin’ brainwashed with all that gaslightin’. Made her think things were true when they were a complete fuckin’ lie. Nothin’ I said would change her mind and all of it was hard to watch. Begged her to leave him. Tried like fuck to convince her. But his influence was helluva lot stronger. He made her think she was useless. She was a nothin’ without him. Eventually she became a shadow of the mother that I remembered. It got to a point where she couldn’t take anymore…”

When he stopped talking, she waited a bit before prodding him with, “You said she was gone.”

“Yeah.”

She debated whether to ask this—or even how to ask—but she needed to know the whole story. “Did he kill her?”

“Not by his hands.”

She blinked and let her mind sort out what he said before concluding softly, “But by her own.”

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