Page 20 of Little Bird (Advantage Play 3)

So this is what happiness is like.

Chapter Fourteen

Little Bird

“So, what’s with the tattoo?” I ask, lazily tracing over the black X on Dex’s forearm with my finger.

Dex glances down at it. “What do you mean?”

“Well, I assume it means something. Am I wrong?”

He purses his lips before admitting, “No.”

“And?”

“It’s the Roman numeral for ten.”

“And what’s so significant about that number, Dex?” I ask as I lift myself onto my elbow and rest my chin against his muscular pec. He’s so warm and cozy that I kind of want to just wrap myself around him like a little monkey.

“I was ten when my mom used me to pay off her debt to Burlone. I was ten when I found out I had a father and a brother who didn’t want me. I was ten when I saw a man die, and a few months later, was given a gun to do it myself. My entire world was turned upside down, and for better or worse, I think it’s the time that I can truly pinpoint and say that it’s when everything changed, and I became who I am today.”

Schooling my features, I try to keep my shock from showing. “I can’t imagine that, Dex. How could your mom do that to you? How could your father and your brother?”

He shrugs, and the action makes me move a few inches up and down as we lay on the cold, hard ground. Neither of us suggested the stained mattress, and I’m totally okay with that. I can only imagine how many haunting memories were created on it, and I don’t want them to taint this moment with Dex. When he notices my head bouncing up and down with his shrug, he smiles softly before remembering the shitty topic of conversation I had unwittingly brought up.

“I don’t really blame my dad,” he admits in a quiet, yet deep voice. “My mom was a prostitute. How the hell was he supposed to believe her? Although, the older my brother and I get, it doesn’t take a DNA test to see the resemblance.”

A brother. He had mentioned him a minute ago, but I didn’t piece it together until now.

Shit.

My blood runs cold as I ask, “So, you know him? Your brother?”

With a nod, an indifferent Dex twirls a few strands of my hair with his fingers. “Not really. I know of him, and I’ve seen pictures. But we don’t exactly run with the same crowds.”

“Who is he? What’s his name?” I try to keep the shaking from my voice, and it appears that post-sex Dex isn’t very observant. Or maybe he’s just naive enough to believe I’m a random girl off the streets like I wanted him to.

“Diece. Which is ironic, isn’t it? Diece means ten in Italian. My name means an order or factor of ten, and my entire world fell apart when I was….” He drags out the word to emphasize his point.

“Ten,” I answer for him.

“Ding, ding, ding. We have a winner.”

Biting my tongue, I try to keep myself from voicing a question I’m not sure I want the answer to, but it slips out anyway. “I need to ask you something.”

“What is it?” he asks as he brushes a stray strand away from my forehead.

“Do you know my name?”

With confusion clearly written across his face, he looks down at me and shakes his head. “You know I don’t.”

“Are you telling me the truth, Dex?” I press.

He counters with a question of his own. “Why would I lie?”

Shaking my head, I sit up and tuck my knees to my chest in an attempt to protect myself from falling apart. There’s no way this is a coincidence. There’s just no way.

“What’s going on, Little Bird?” he probes before pushing himself up and sitting next to me on the dank floor.

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