Page 7 of I Promise You
“Let me know if you need anything, brother. I’m here for you,” he tells me while unlocking his truck.
“And we’re all here for each other,” I finish for him, and for the first time in a while, he smirks.
It’s a saying we all tell each other when shit gets rough and I’m glad it helped Grim feel a bit of relief.
He looks at the tombstone one last time and hops into his black truck.
Paul's mother was walking away with some family members comforting her, while his sister remained seated.
I’m hesitant to walk over, but I’m a bleeding heart and I can’t help it.
Every stride on the ground has my heart pounding through my chest, and I can feel my deodorant wearing off from all the damn sweating.
I get closer to Paul’s grieving sister and stand beside her with my hands in my pockets. She doesn’t notice me standing in front of a smiling portrait of Paul, but oh, how I notice her.
She’s fucking beautiful.
She’s beautiful…and holy shit. Now I fully understand why Paul has kept her a secret from us.
I don’t know her, but I’ll give up everything I thought I loved to know everything about her.
“Paul Alvarez was a great man. I’m going to miss him.” My voice comes out soft and welcoming.
Startled, she gazes at me as tears stream down her face. She quickly wipes them away like she’s embarrassed. Her eyes trail to my chest, and she stares at the Navy trident with such hatred, but it doesn’t bother me.
“Don’t talk about him like that. Like you know him. You don’t know him; you know nothing about my brother.”
She’s harsh and unforgiving, but it only intrigues me more.
“He was the best damn guitarist I’ve ever known. You could request any Mana song and he would play it for you. He also snored like a fifty-year-old man when he racked out and everyone knew to stay away from him when he ate something with dairy. Those farts of his were deadly.” I scrunch my nose. It’s my lame attempt to charm her.
She stops fiddling with the tissues in her hands and goes still. Her expression mellows as she looks at me, but she holds back a smile by biting her lip. She lets out a short laugh that almost sounds like a scoff.
I reach out for her hand to shake it.
“Kane Slaughter.”
Her smile fades away quickly, and for a second there, I think she is going to slap my hand away or throw curse words my way…but she doesn’t.
Finally, she takes my hand in hers and says in the sweetest, most angelic voice that makes me feel like I’m in definite trouble, “Ari Alvarez.”
2
DANNY
Ari slowly breathes into a mask full of oxygen as the ambulance races to the nearest hospital, bypassing cars and running all the red lights. Each second that passes, I’m praying I get to see my girl open her eyes for me.
I’m watching her now like my life fucking depends on it. I look down at her torso as the medics attend to her wounds, exposing her stomach, and I’m going crazy on the inside.
There’s complete, utter chaos burning every single cell within my blood, but on the outside…I’m calm and composed, as I usually am in these situations. My own parents trained me to be like this. An emotionless bastard since I was a child.
“Daniel, work comes before family, before friends…before love.”
I grit my teeth as I remember his condescending belittlement as a little boy.
“As soon as you understand that work always comes first, son, you’ll be a successful man like me.”
My father’s words ring into my head as I look at the woman who has me on my knees.
