Page 539 of The Tempted

“How is he doing?”

I shrugged my shoulders, shoving my hands in my back pockets as we walked side by side with no direction. I glanced at her from the corner of my eye and she looked back at me.

“Leather and Lace,” Reina said.

My feet stopped in their tracks.

“What do you know about that?” I asked, hastily.

She shook her head, reaching out she placed her fingers beneath my chin and turned my face to hers so our eyes locked.

“Just one thing,” she whispered. “Those three words kept that man…,” she glanced over her shoulder at the hospital. “…alive.”

Butterflies.

Her words gave me butterflies and my dull heart, lured to sleep by mind, beat again.

Lies.

You know the truth.

“I doubt that very much,” I whispered.

“Then how do I know about Leather and Lace?” she questioned, taking a deep breath before she ran her fingers through her long blonde hair. “I have no idea what goes on between the two of you and…I shouldn’t even be saying this,” she struggled, biting down on her lip. “Fuck it,” she conceded. “I know you and I don’t know each other long, or even well enough for you to trust me but hear me out okay?”

I nodded.

“When I first met your dad I was a woman who had given up on living a full life. I had been through hell and back and didn’t know my place in the world or if I even had one. I had scars both visible and not and I let those scars dictate my future. I thought I wasn’t worthy of sharing my life with someone and that I was destined to be alone. Then your dad came into my life and my past, the scars, it all sort of faded away. He took away my scars just by being the man willing to accept them as his own.”

“Reina, I’m real happy for you and my dad but this— “

“I’m the person who lived that nightmare with Blackie. We thought we would die, Lacey, and when you’re facing death there is one gift you’re given and that is gift of truth. You can say anything you want out loud because no one else will know. You can admit the things you keep hidden, the words that have the power to heal the scars you’re afraid to show the world because there aren’t any consequences to your truth, it dies right along with the rest of you. Blackie told me to hang on for your dad. He reminded me of the one person I had in this world. He reminded me I had love waiting for me and I believe with everything in me that’s what kept me sane and kept me fighting,” she admitted as her eyes watered.

“I asked Blackie what he was hanging on for and he told me Leather and Lace,” she whispered hoarsely. “You’re Lace aren’t you?”

I glanced down at the sidewalk.

I waited for my maker to appear and tell me Reina was lying but the taunting never came. My heart pounded in my ears, calling out loudly, demanding I listen. I slowly lifted my head as the tears rolled down my cheeks.

“I’m Lace,” I confirmed.

“You’re the reason he’s breathing,” she rasped.

“Why are you telling me this? My father---“

“I owe it to Blackie,” she interrupted. “He may not agree, probably would deny every word, and if we’re being honest that’s why I haven’t brought myself to see him yet. I can’t look at him and not know how to thank him. He was in bad shape Lacey, real bad, and still he tried to help me. I don’t know how to help him other than this…. admitting a truth, he is too damaged to admit himself. He’s got scars, sweetie, and they run deep,” she paused, reaching out to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. “The man just needs someone to claim his scars.”

“How do you claim a piece of someone when they aren’t willing to give it to you?”

“We all want to be set free from our scars but some of us hold onto them a little longer than others. You can’t force them from him but you shouldn’t give up on him yet,” she said.

I stared at Reina for a moment, digesting her words and trying to find the right ones to say back to her. Thank you didn’t seem enough for the gift she gave me; the reminder of truth my heart already knew but my mind fought. The struggle would be rough, the battle between heart and mind, but I’d keep fighting it with everything in me because Blackie didn’t give up. He fought for Leather and Lace, he fought for me….

I reached out, wrapping my arms around Reina, thankful she came into all of our lives and happy she found the strength to give herself freely to my dad.

There was hope to be found even in the most hopeless of situations.

“Pretty bold move you made,” I stated, staring at Jack as he leaned back, propping one foot against the wall and crossed his arms against his chest. I sat up further, pushing aside the wires connected to my arm and met his gaze head on.

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