Page 42 of Give Me Forever Love

She shakes her head. “Look, I don’t want to overstep. I know you love him.”

“But I love you, too, and I want to know what you’re worried about.”

“Everything.” She lowers her voice. “Every fucking thing. How does someone get out of a felony like that? He was doing illegal gambling in the basement of the most successful club in downtown Atlanta and not just some small-time gambling. It was major. He was on the news, Kat.” She scrapes the chopped onion into a bowl and walks over to the pot, dumping it in. It sizzles and she stirs it before walking over and grabbing some garlic.

“I know that,” I say. “I was there.”

“Exactly. You were there.” She places her knife over the clove and slams her hand down on it. “That’s what I’m worried about. You’re mixed up in all of this.” She waves her hand in the air. “Bryce knows a hit man, for fuck’s sake. He paid someone to…” She stops herself as she quickly chops the garlic before sliding them into the same bowl she used for the onion.

“Finish your sentence,” I say.

She looks over at me before walking over to the sink. Lifting a strainer filled with chopped carrots, she also drops those and then looks down at the buns and bread. Grabbing her mitt, she opens the oven door and removes the pan, placing it onto a trivet.

She turns back to me as I grab the icing bowl and hand it to her.

She looks down. “Look, I’m grateful Cain is gone. I have no regrets about that. I just… I mean, how deep is Bryce in with those men?”

“Deep enough that they got him cleared of a twenty-five-year prison sentence.”

Her eyes grow wide. “You’re kidding me? So, he’s free of that. It’s over?”

“Yeah. He sold Red for it.”

She drops the bowl onto the counter. “He sold his club?”

“Yes,” I say, picking at the skin on the side of my thumb. “That guy who…” I lower my voice, too. “The man who took care of Cain bought Red. He told Bryce if he sold it to him, he’d get him out of this mess, and he did.” I shrug.

Her eyes dance around my face. “And you’re okay with all of this?”

I exhale. “Am I okay with all of this?” I look up at the ceiling. “Claire, I’m in too deep now not to be okay.” My eyes jump back to hers. “What the fuck am I supposed to do? Leave him?”

She doesn’t say anything; she turns and starts putting icing on the buns.

“You think I should then.” I don’t ask because I know the answer. “Claire?”

I move to stand beside her. She glances over at me. I stop her hand from working. “You do, don’t you?”

She winces. “Part of me does, yes.”

I let go of her hand and she turns to face me. She bites her bottom lip as her chest deflates. “I know you’ve found the one, Kat. I see it in the way you look at him and, God, the way he looks at you.” She slightly shakes her head. “I want that for you. Trust me. But Bryce comes with things I don’t understand.

“He comes with shit you only see in the movies. But this isn’t the big screen. It’s your real life. He was about to be sent off to prison. How do you know nothing else like that is going to happen? He has that in him. He could mess up again, and then where will you be?” She walks over to the pot and stirs the onions, carrots, and garlic before adding some salt and pepper.

There’s this battle going on inside of me. This war waging. My heart is armored up, ready to fight Claire on this, but my mind knows she isn’t wrong.

My heart wins.

“Look, I know he isn’t perfect. I get you’re worried and maybe if the situation was switched and you were in my shoes, I’d be saying the same thing to you, but that’s not our reality.

“Bryce saved you from Cain. He got rid of him so you wouldn’t have to worry about him again. Did he do it legally? No, he didn’t, but sometimes legally doesn’t fix the problem.”

She lifts her brow. “He didn’t do that for me, Kat.”

I cross my arms. “He did it for us then,” I say, tossing my hand in the air. “And how am I supposed to know the future? Could Bryce get into some trouble again? Yeah, sure, that could happen. But if I’m being real here, he sold his club so he could be with me. I don’t think he plans on doing anything to jeopardize what we have.”

She looks down at my crossed arms, biting her inner cheek. I reach over and grab the bowl of icing, not looking at her because I’m still not great with this mess and I need to busy myself while I say what I’m about to say.

I spread icing over the last bit of cinnamon buns and tell myself to spit it out. “Look, Claire. You’re my family. You and Austin are all I had before Mills came along. I need your approval on this. I need you to like Bryce and accept him as the man I’m choosing.” After I coat the last bun, I steal a glance over at her. She’s watching me with slightly narrowed eyes.

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