Total pages in book: 46
Estimated words: 43402 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 217(@200wpm)___ 174(@250wpm)___ 145(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 43402 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 217(@200wpm)___ 174(@250wpm)___ 145(@300wpm)
“It doesn’t really sound like my kind of place, Blade. You know, sometimes you’re so easygoing and casual that I forget you’re a big-city boy. It feels more like you grew up here,” she giggles, taking a bite of her sandwich.
“I’m a man of many talents, Usdi. I’ll show them all to you one day.”
Olivia’s eyes go big and wide. She gasps, getting strangled. I open her water for her, watching as she takes a drink—after calming her coughing. “You’re so bad,” she laughs.
We sit together and I listen to her as she tells me about her day at work. She’s trying to plan the annual Festival of the Arts, and it seems like all the main work is falling on her shoulders. She becomes so animated when she tells me about a local artist who has agreed to join this year. Her joy makes it easier to breathe. This woman is sunshine in a very dull and dark world.
But even while she’s smiling, all I can hear in my head is Bear’s warning that I might lose her. I can’t accept that. He’s wrong. I’ll do everything in my power to make sure of it.
Later, when Olivia’s curled up against me on her bed, her head on my chest, I make myself a promise. Tomorrow, I’ll start breaking down the walls between our two worlds. I’ll let her in—slowly, carefully—but not completely, at least not yet. I want her tied to me—to love me—before she knows who I really am. And if she can’t handle it … I won’t give her a choice. Olivia is mine and I will keep her.
Fuck, I’ll burn down anything that tries to come between us.
11 BLADE
Olivia’s house smells like coffee and muscle rub. The faint hum of the oxygen concentrator carries from the back bedroom where her father rests. The place is too quiet, too heavy. I’m sitting at her kitchen table, watching her move around the counter, pale under the harsh light, her movements small and tight like she’s holding everything together by will alone.
She finally turns, sliding two plates toward me—burgers she reheated from the takeout I brought with me earlier tonight—before her father got really bad. Olivia hasn’t taken a bite, just keeps running her thumb over a crack in the laminate countertop.
“Dad’s been worse today,” she says softly, stating the obvious.
“What is it he has exactly, Usdi?”
“It’s called CMT for short. It stands for Charcot Marie Tooth disease.”
“I’ve never even heard of it before,” I respond honestly.
“It’s a hereditary disease that affects the muscles by damaging peripheral motor nerves. It’s complicated, but basically it results in muscle weakness, atrophy, and loss of muscle control in the affected areas.” Her voice shakes, but she keeps talking. “For Dad it began in the muscles of his feet and legs, before spreading to his back, arms, and hands. He drops things now, and he can barely walk without help. It has also affected his diaphragm and lungs—which is why he's on oxygen. He also gets vertigo and numerous other things which is all a by-product of the disease, I guess. There’s no cure—just progression.”
I swallow hard. “Sweetheart …”
She shakes her head, tears glinting on her lashes. “He was always so strong, Blade. I’ve seen my dad lift the front end of a commercial grade, riding mower with his bare hands. Now there are days he can’t even hold the book he wants to read.”
She sits, her body tense and tears glowing in her eyes—refusing to fall. “I keep telling myself he’ll stabilize, but every day he gets weaker. Today’s pain was so bad. The muscles in his calves were drawing and bunching up so bad that you could practically see the knots forming underneath his skin. I don’t know how to help him.”
The ache in my chest burns. I reach across the table, covering her trembling hand with mine. “You’re helping him, Usdi. You’re here. You’re doing everything you can.”
Her lip quivers. “Sometimes I feel like I’m losing both of us at the same time—him and me.”
I squeeze her fingers gently. “You’re not. You are here, helping him through this every day. You might not be able to see it, but you are amazing.”
That makes her meet my eyes—just for a second. And damn, it’s another punch of emotion that hits me hard. There’s trust there, fragile but real, and it’s enough to make me open my stupid mouth. “You need a break,” I say.
“I do?” she laughs.
“Definitely. Bear invited me to a club party tomorrow night. Bonfire, food, music—just some breathing room. Come with me.”
The change in her face is instant. The softness freezes into something guarded. “The Saint’s Outlaws’ club?”
“Yeah. It’s nothing wild. Just family hanging out.”
Her shoulders stiffen. “I can’t, Blade. I’m not comfortable in that world.”
“They’re in the same world you are, baby. I’m here with you. I work with them every day. Bear is a friend. Right now, Livy, you’re being judgmental. Surely, you can see that. You’ve made up your mind, without even experiencing it firsthand.”