Page 80 of Recklessly You
“Please leave. There’s nothing for you here.” My mamá’s voice trembles, pleading with them.
“The boy!” one man shouts.
My mom screams.
“Where is he?”
“H-he won’t say a word about this.” My mom’s cries get louder. “Please don’t hurt my babies.”
I have to keep my word. Papá wanted me to protect Mamá and my brothers. Darkness consumes me. The numbness in my body has me moving on autopilot. I step out of the pantry and quietly go to my mamá’s room, retrieving my dad’s handgun. I’ve seen him hide in between the mattress.
I don’t hear my mother’s cries, only a thump on the ground. I cock the gun, readying myself. I hear the voices of the men. I’m so far gone that I don’t make out what they say.
My body runs cold when I see my mom on the ground, knocked out, a pool of blood between her legs. I don’t think twice. I lift the gun and shoot one of the men in the head. His body falls to the ground just as the sound of sirens in the quiet night rings in the air.
Pablo steps back and says, “You have balls, boy.” He runs off just as police cars swarm in.
* * *
“Liam, you were so young,”she whispers.
Closing my eyes, I take the time to let it all sink in. I haven’t spoken of this since I was seven, when I told Dominic.
“I’m tainted, Sophie. I don’t regret killing the asshole. My mom lost the twins because of them. They kicked her so many times. I’ve killed men in the line of duty. It’s different from killing a man in cold blood at the age of six.”
She squeezes my hand twice.
“It has fucked me up for years, seeing my dad die, seeing my mom cry because she lost her husband and babies. Seeing my mother try her best to raise me. She worked her ass off to keep a roof over our heads, grieving the whole time.” I grind my teeth.
“Liam, you’re not fucked up.”
Pushing my door open, I get out of the car, needing fresh air.
Fuck.
Sophie jumps out of the car and walks around to get to me. I slide my fingers through my hair, blowing out a hot breath. She wraps her arms around me, but I peel them off, slamming my fist on the hood of my car. Fuck. I was certain that if I shared this with her, she’d distance herself from me, realizing just how messed up I am. She’s too good for me.
Resting my hands on the hood, I stare at the dent I made to avoid peering into Sophie’s eyes. Might as well tell her…why beat around the bush?
“It’s over. We’re done, Sophie.” My jaw tightens. The words are like acid in my mouth, but we both knew it would come to an end.
“Did I hear you right? Did you just say it’s over?”
“Yes, as in ‘we’ are done.” The poison tumbles from my lips like lava, scorching everything it touches.
She lashes out, her fingers digging into my arm so hard, I have no choice but to turn and face her.
“The least you can do is to be a man and say it to my face!” she bellows.
My gaze lands on her, and I scrutinize her glassy eyes. “We are done. Remember what we agreed on?”
“So, it’s over when you say?” She gets in my face, her voice cracking.
“I’m not what you fucking need, Sophie. You deserve a man who can give you everything. I’m not him. I’m too fucked in the head…when you see your dad die in a pool of blood, your mom bleeding, and men hunting you down…it messes with a kid. I’m a lost cause. My heart is not pure.”
Sophie grabs my shirt by the chest, yanking me to her. “You’re not a lost cause. You had a very traumatizing experience, but you have to be willing to live to move past it.”
Stepping away from her, I shove my fingers through my hair, frustrated with how her coconut lotion makes me want to lose it. I need her to hate me so she can move on. The thought of her with another man has me seeing red. Sophie was never mine to keep, though. We were on borrowed time.
