Page 27 of Breaking Point

“I’m not making any promises,” I settle on saying, but from the gleam in his eyes, I can tell that I might as well have saidScrew it, I’m in.

“This will be good, Button. You’ll see.” He looks so damn sure when he says it that I smile.

It’s been so long since I’ve seen that optimism in him that I don’t want to squash it. I fork around the food on my plate silently before finding it in me to finish breakfast.

“How have things been with Warden and Bishop?”

I nearly forgot that less than a wall away, Taylor is showering and getting ready for the day. Most of the time, I really do forget they’re here. Occasionally I’ll see them for breakfast or coffee, but unless we’re in public, it’s like they’re invisible. Which I appreciate, but… It’s also odd to practically live with two people and have no idea who they are.

I keep the details to a minimum. Dad has two other guards that also trade-off watching him, but he seems wildly unaffected by the change.

The bathroom door pops open, and Taylor steps out dressed in his usual uniform. Slacks, a white shirt, and a gun at his hip. He smiles in greeting before addressing my father. “Good morning.”

“Good morning. I was just asking my daughter how things have been.”

Subject promptly forgotten.

Taylor glances between my father and I, and I let my head drop to my hands, finally admitting defeat. There’s not a chance in hell he'll ever quit his meddling.

Taylor smiles anyways. “I think other than annoying your daughter, things are just peachy.”

“See?” Dad narrows his eyes my way. “I knew things would be going just swell. You know-“

“I’ll let you two catch up,” I bite my cheek as my father continues talking over me, animatedly telling Taylor about some new business deal my dad’s got going with Skar. He failed to mention anything about it to me, but I guess that’s probably because he’s never shared much about his cases before.

Snatching my glass of bubbly water, I wave my goodbye before disappearing into my room for the day.

I’ve still got weddings to plan.

Chapter Thirteen

Crew

Getting out of bed used to be harder. Everyday was a chore.The things I’ve done, the people I’ve hurt…Memories of the past haunted me. Every morning was another fresh pep-talk just to get my legs moving. It’s gotten easier the past year. Somehow, I’ve found a purpose. A reason for waking up.

I didn’t have that growing up. My birth parents left me with a last name and nothing else. They dropped me off at a temple as a newborn, and I ended up in the foster system. I don’t remember much of it. I hopped from family to family the first few years. Some of them fine, others less so.

I was 14 when I happened upon Theresa and Jimmy Warden. Theresa was the kindest woman I’d ever met. She never reacted to my outbursts- never hit me like other foster parents had.

At first, I did everything in my power to give her trouble. Jimmy too, and he hated it. Yet he never hit me either- never even raised his voice. He expected me to pull my weight around the house, sure. But he always treated me like an adult.

Jimmy was never easy to read, but I knew one thing about the man for certain: he adored his wife. She loved him back just as hard.

As Theresa and I grew close, I grew to love her goofy, sarcastic nature. I learned to respect Jimmy’s unwavering respect for everyone. Even before they asked to adopt me, I knew they loved me. I was 16 by that time. It was only two years until I graduated the system completely and had the freedom to make my own choices. But I knew I found something special with the Wardens.

Crew Donovan was no one.

Crew Warden was a son. A fighter. A protector.

The Wardens offered me a future- one I was happy to take. But being their kid didn’t change the fact that sometimes when I woke up, I just didn’t understand why.

I wasn’t unhappy. I was grateful I found a home, but there was still this gaping wound in my chest. This hole I craved to fill.

Leaving home for the military didn’t satiate me. Fighting a war I had no part being in didn’t soothe the battle I had waging in my own head. Bartending was just another gig, and until I mether, nothing else made sense: Winter Augustine.

She came along, and I realized that a love like my parents- the ones who’d taken me in, loved me, raised me- was possible.

Winter was the reason I woke in the morning. She was my last thought before bed. I loved her more than I’d ever been able to love anything else. I was going to marry her.

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