Page 9 of Steal

"Mem-Memorial," she sobs, and I nod.

"He'll be there in ten," he confirms as I shake off Dad's grip, run over to the bar, and grab my keys, before following Acid out. He goes to the truck, and I run to my bike before starting her up and spinning out of the club with my heart in my throat.

It doesn't take me long to get to the hospital, and I run into the waiting area where the nurse directed me, and see Trudy sitting on chair, staring numbly at the wall while Cass is standing opposite her, her eyes vacant, tears trailing her cheeks.

"Trouble…" I whisper, and our eyes connect and the absolute pain staring back at me nearly sends me to my fucking knees.

"He's gone," she croaks before her legs give out. I run toward her, catching her just before she hits the floor. She screams in agony for her loss, all while I feel helpless, holding her tightly, letting guilt eat me alive, knowing I should have been with her, but instead, I picked up Faith to make the brothers happy.

My heart breaks at the pain she's in, and in this moment, I really wish I could have seen the future, to know the pain I cause.

2

Cassidy – Twenty-One Years Old

“I don’t know how much longer I can take feeling unwanted daddy,” I whisper as my tears fall, and my dad sighs before dropping his clipboard and walking over to where I’m sitting, leaning against the ring, a blanket covering me.

The place smells like sweaty socks, yet I feel more at home here than I do at our house. In that house, nothing screams Dad, not even the room he shares with Mom. It’s all her, and I hate it.

My dad deserves the absolute best.

“Cassy,” Dad whispers as he kneels before me, wiping away the tears that have fallen.

I sniffle, choking back a sob as I tremble.

Colt was supposed to pick me up from school today. I aced my paper, and it was his idea to celebrate, but he was an hour late, and I was standing in the rain outside of campus waiting for him.

When I called him, Faith answered and said they were having drinks, and unfortunately for me, since we got together, this isn’t the first time he’s forgotten about me because of her, but this is the first time I’ve been left in the pouring down rain.

My phone rings and I grab it from my jeans pocket and look at the screen to see it’s Colt, but I shake my head and hand it to my dad who nods, being my protector.

Without breaking eye contact he answers my phone, stating, “It’s not Cass, Steal, its John,” without giving him time to speak.

Colt says something before my dad replies, “No, I know, but she needs some space, and you’re going to give it to her.” Dad’s eyes race between mine. Look, son, I know you want to make things right, but you’ve hurt her. You left her waiting for an hour in the pouring down rain, and when she called you, another woman answered, and that is not acceptable. Now she needs some space, so grant her that, yeah? Try calling her tomorrow.” Dad listens to Colt’s reply before he says, “Yeah, I know, son, just give her tonight to cool off, alright?”

Dad hangs up and sobs pour out of me as my heart hurts. He sits next to me, taking me into strong arms that always make me feel protected….

“Today, we say goodbye to, not only a great man that took in kids off the street and gave them a purpose, but also to a loving father,” Hammer says as he speaks from behind the podium, snapping me out of the memory.

The crematorium is packed, people even standing at the back, while the man I gave my heart, the man who failed me when I needed him the most sits behind me. Mom clings to my armnext to me, putting on the show of her life, all while my sister sits like a statue.

“His girls were his priority,” Hammer continues as tears begin to fall, tears I’ve tried so hard to keep in.

“Time of death….”

The doctor's words swim in my head as I look at the coffin holding my dad, my protector, while Mom’s pathetic sobs get louder, causing me to fist my hands so I don’t punch her in the face.

“What do you mean I’m left with nothing? I was his wife!”Mom screams while I blink in shock, the lawyer’s words not quite sinking in.

I didn’t want to do this today, the day we bury my hero, my sister’s hero but Mom being Mom, wanted her own way, only for it to stack against her.

Everything has been split between Perrie and I, and Mom got nothing—zilch, zero, nada, not even his belongings or the house. She got absolutely nothing.

What…?

“Mrs. Halliwell, please try and calm yourself,” the lawyer snaps before he pulls a set of keys out and says, “These are the keys to the gym, which have been left to Perrie Halliwell for when she turns eighteen, along with everything that is inside the building and safe.”

Mom tries to grab the keys, but I beat her to it, and she glares at me, but I ignore her and ask, “Why did Dad do this? Why did he keep Mom out of everything?”

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