Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 106346 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 532(@200wpm)___ 425(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106346 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 532(@200wpm)___ 425(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
“No. Matthew got there yesterday when Andrew was there, and if he tried anything, Matthew would have been another one arrested.”
“Oh my God,” I say. “Did he come with you today?”
“Everyone was there,” he says. “The men, at least.”
“Oh my God,” I say, putting my hand in my face feeling embarrassed.
“We got there, and I was a nervous wreck. I thought he wasn’t going to show. I think deep down I hoped he’d wake up and realize what he was doing, but he walked in there and had no care in the world.”
“He’s a horrible person.”
“He’s a son of a fucking bitch, and I fucking hate him,” Justin says. “I made sure he knew that he wasn’t allowed to contact him, and the only way he would have communication with Dylan was if Dylan wanted to talk to him.”
“What do we tell him?” I ask, and he takes a deep breath.
“I have no idea. I was going to say nothing and hope that when he gets older, he has no memory of him,” Justin says. “I hate Andrew, but he did do one thing. He made Dylan.”
“I had more of a hand in it than he did,” I say, and he laughs. “He’s mine. I want to change his last name.”
“Okay,” Justin says. “We can go to the lawyer, and he can take care of it.” He kisses me. “There is one more thing I did today, and I want you to know that I love you.”
“Why does this sound like you did something that I am not going to be happy about?” I ask.
“Well, you might be pissed,” he says. “Matthew said …”
“Oh, Jesus, nothing good comes when you start a sentence with Matthew said.”
Justin laughs and sits up, and I sit up with him. He reaches to the bed and grabs another sheet of paper, except this one is thicker than the one he just gave me. “I also did this.”
I open the papers and see my name now on a credit card statement and see the balance is zero. I flip to the next one, and it’s zero also. All the debts I had are paid. “What?” I ask, not sure I’m seeing right.
“How?”
“I might have stolen your social security number from your file at work and given it to my lawyer,” he says, and I just flip through the pages. “And I know you're going to be pissed, so you can pay me back, just with no interest.”
I look up at him. “You’re going to let me pay you back?” I ask, and he looks away from me.
“I was going to put it in Dylan’s account,” he says. “Or not.”
“I can’t believe this,” I say in shock. “This whole thing.”
“It’s about time,” he says, and I look at him. “It’s about time that someone finally took care of you and not the other way around.”
A tear escapes my eye. “You just have to protect and take care of us.” My hand goes to his chest, and my finger plays with the necklace that he hasn’t taken off. “I love you.” There are no other words that I can say right now.
“I love you, too,” he says to me. “Forever.”
Chapter Forty-One
Justin
“I don’t know about this,” my agent, Carey, says to me. I smile at him and adjust my tie when I get out of my car and walk into the building. I fasten the button on my blue suit jacket, and we walk to the elevator. “I have a bad feeling about this.”
“Relax,” I say, getting in the elevator and looking forward. I see from the reflection that he’s rubbing his forehead. I look at myself in my blue suit and white shirt. This morning when I put it on, Dylan laughed at me and said I looked like a banker.
“You know that, as your agent, I have to be on your side,” he says. “But this … it’s just …” He puts his hand on his chest, and I have to laugh again. He’s been with me since the beginning. “I thought your brother was nuts, but this …” Now I laugh. “It might kill your career.” He doesn’t just represent me; he has my whole family under him.
“That’s okay,” I say. “I made enough money to last a long time.”
We walk out, and the receptionist greets us and asks us to follow her. “Here we go,” he says when we get to the conference room. She opens the door, and we walk in.
I spot all the key players sitting around the table. The general manager for the team, Hartley. The owners of the team, Albert and Charles, and finally, the coach of the team, Claude. “Gentlemen,” I say, and they each stand and shake my hand. “Thank you so much for coming.”
“No problem,” Albert says.
“Anything for you,” Charles chimes in after him.