Page 100 of Broken

He’s a man.

Not a priest.

Touchable.

Reachable.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart.”

“He wasn’t a good man, not in all ways,” is his gruff retort. “He used to disappear, then would return flush with cash. I knew he was involved with drugs.”

“I wonder if he stole something or?—”

“That doesn’t merit leaving him to bleed out like a pig on the street! Corelli can’t get away with this. The police are in his pocket. He’ll walk away, but I won’t let him.”

“No.”

“You’re not going to stop me?”

I bite my bottom lip. “Would you let me?”

He releases a shaky breath. “Probably.”

Though his admission is like a warm hug, I rasp, “‘Only God can help me now.’”

“Gianni’s last words?”

“Linda, the lady I-I tried to save but who died, those were her final words to me too.” My gaze turns distant as I think back to another time, another place. A different world for me. One where I was...

I sigh.

What was I?

I’m not exactly normal now. But my brain doesn’t have the same pressure on it as before, so I have to think my reasoning is sounder than it once was.

The doctors said the cyst made me a risk-taker and encouraged me to be more impulsive.

I wonder what they’d blame this episode with Savio on?

Brain damage from the trauma of surgery?

My lips twist at the thought, but it’s a good thing to remember.If we ever get caught...

“Linda said those words?” he repeats slowly.

“Yes. I’d never heard that phrasing before her. Not in real life, anyway. Then you said it last night. And now Gianni.”

“Isaid it?”

“Yes. Don’t you remember?”

“No.” He rubs his temple. “I don’t.”

“You did. I swear, Savio, you did.”

He hushes me. “I believe you.”

Throat tightening, I rasp, “You do?”

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