Total pages in book: 178
Estimated words: 170884 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 854(@200wpm)___ 684(@250wpm)___ 570(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 170884 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 854(@200wpm)___ 684(@250wpm)___ 570(@300wpm)
This was my husband. This was who he was, and I wanted all of him.
The good. The bad. The psycho.
Twitch was a man of good intentions, stitched together with barbed wire and fueled by raw fury. And, as time went on, I came to realize I did not want him to change because the broken parts of him were the parts I treasured wholeheartedly.
A decision was made.
“Sit down,” I said.
His eyes snapped down at me in confusion.
“Sit down,” I repeated inflexibly.
He watched me a long moment before he slowly sat by my side, and when I spoke, I spoke carefully, in a way I hoped he would understand where I was coming from. “The first time you left me, I felt like it rained every single day in my heart. And the clouds blocked out the sun. For a long time, I saw nothing but gray.” I took in a deep breath and let out a slow exhale. “I don’t want that again. I will never be okay with being separated from you. Where you go, I follow.” I looked down at his hands and slipped my small one into his. “We belong together.”
When he finally found his voice, he asked, “What are you sayin’, baby?”
“I’m saying—” My unsure eyes met his. “—that maybe it’s time for a change.” My sad gaze slid over to the little monster playing mechanically in the corner without enjoyment or happiness. “Maybe this is a blessing in disguise. Maybe this move will be a good thing for all of us.”
He looked as though I was crazy. “Are you serious?”
“As a heart attack,” I muttered with a short nod.
“A.J. goes to a great school,” he countered.
“We’ll find another great school for him to go to in the States.”
“He has friends here, baby.”
“He’ll make new friends.”
He looked perplexed. “You have a life here.”
I shook my head. “It’s not a life worth living without you.”
And I meant that.
In all the time I’d known him, I had never seen Antonio Falco’s face soften in the way it did then. “Baby,” he uttered gently, and when he pulled me to him, I lifted my face to his as he cupped my cheek and kissed me as if I were the most precious thing in the world. It was then I realized this decision was a no-brainer.
Living life without Twitch was a torture I was not willing to subject myself to.
Ethan gave us our moment, and when we turned to face him again, his eyes smiled over at Twitch and, rather baffling, muttered, “Worth it.”
“So,” Twitch asked, “how does this work?”
“How long do we have?” I added.
Ethan snuffled a laugh out of his nose. “They want Twitch on the next flight out.” At the look of pure incredulity on both our faces, he quickly added, “But I can work on them. I’d safely say you have five or six days. A week at most.”
“A week?” I repeated.
Was that enough time to pack up our entire life?
I guess it would have to be. It wasn’t like we had a choice.
“Look,” Twitch said as he took my hand, running his thumb along mine caringly. “How about I go, and when shit is sorted, you bring your ass down with my boy?”
Wow.
He sounded like he positively hated that idea, like it was hard for him to even say out loud.
Lucky for him, that didn’t work for me.
It was crazy how much love you could harbor for another person. It coursed through my veins. Gave me life. “We go together,” I uttered gently before turning to Ethan. “A week is great. We’ll make it work. Thank you, Ethan.”
Ethan stood. “Great. I have a phone call to make. Excuse me.”
Once he was gone, Twitch’s fingers wrapped around then tugged on my wrist, and when I found his soft brown gaze, he muttered, “You don’t have to do this.”
My response was blunt. “I know I don’t.”
His brows rose. “This attitude of yours is new.” His lips thinned. “Don’t know if I’m loving it or hating it, Lex.” I couldn’t help the grin that stretched my lips. And when he looked at me, I mean really looked at me, his brows lowered marginally. “Are we really doing this?”
I tilted my head in thought. “Yeah,” I said quietly. “We are.”
“You sure?”
I had a feeling he wasn’t going to ask again. This was the time to speak up if I had any concerns or disputes. And the more I thought about it, I couldn’t think of anything I’d rather do than take our first steps as a family. To grow. To rebuild what had been broken together.
As I looked over at our son, I smiled to myself. “We’re good, baby.”
In fact, nothing sounded more perfect to me.
Chapter
Forty-Seven
Lexi
“They can’t do that.” Nikki shot up out of her seat, wide-eyed and furious.