Page 169 of Burning Daylight
I hum, but my throat is too tight to speak.
“I’ll stop,” he continues. “The tagging. I won’t do them about your family anymore.”
That makes me look up, something rattling loose in my chest. “Thank you. Why were you doing them in the first place?”
“Because my father’s dying…and he wants revenge before he goes.” He kisses the top of my head.
Relief pours through me. I had been heavy with the weight of not telling him what I had learned. “You know?”
“Youknow?”
I swallow. “Yeah, Bevie told me.”
He nods like he gets it. “Because she’s friends with Frederick. Right.”
I frown. “What? I don’t think Bevie even knows Freddy like that. They never really talked when I was a kid.”
Roman’s eyes narrow, and he leans back slightly so he can look me in the eye. “Beverly. The woman who came to see me, right?”
“Short, a little mean, and a scowl on her face like she has a grudge against the world?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s her.”
His brow furrows. “She definitely knows Frederick.”
Rosebrook isn’t exactly a sprawling city, it’s just big enough to pretend we don’t all live on top of each other, and Frederick’s always been around in the background. Before he went halfway up Marcus Montgomery’s ass, he was a regular fixture at my family’s gatherings, and at one time in my life I had thought him and my dad were friends.
“Huh. Makes sense, I guess.”
“I never wanted to hurt you,” Roman says, his voice low.
His jaw’s tight, eyes locked on me with that steady, weighted gaze of his that always makes me feel like he’s staring into my soul.
He loves me.
“I know,” I reply. Because I do.
“More than anyone else,” he continues. “Your happiness is…” His throat bobs as he swallows. “It’s all that matters.”
“Don’t say that,” I whisper, even though my heart beats faster at his words. “I don’t want to be put above your sister. Above your family.”
His arms tighten around me, his chin dipping to rest against the top of my head. “Brooke’s taken care of now, and my mom…” He exhales sharply. “My mom made her choices a long time ago.”
My chest aches at his words, but I don’t really have anything I can say to make it better. Truthfully, the idea of someone hurtinghimas much as she has makes it hard for me to find space in my heart to think of her fondly. But she still made him, so I hold on to that kernel of gratitude and hope she can find her way back.
“Do you trust Frederick?” he asks, his tone taking on a sharper cadence.
I chew on the inside of my cheek. “I guess so. Why?”
Roman’s hand slides up my back, settling at the nape of my neck, and I relax into his lap, my head resting on his shoulder. His thumb rubs a slow, soothing circle, but his body is stiff; coiled tight beneath the otherwise steady touch.
He doesn’t answer me right away.
“Roman,” I say softly, pulling back just enough to look up at him.
He’s gazing into the distance like he’s not even here.
