He bit his lip and it told me everything.
“Right.”
“Bunny,” he held my face. “It will be okay. That I can promise.”
I relaxed into him. “Okay.”
A MONTH LATER…
ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL
Marlon.
The fax machinewent off while I was already irritated.
“That should be it,”Marcus said through the phone. I walked over, pulled the sheet out with my free hand and read it:
Dillon Rodriguez.
Resignation.
Signedlike a regular business move and not the fallout of him losing his damn mind a month ago.
No apology or explanation. He was doing everybody a favor. I read it anyway.
Front to back.
“Tch,” I folded it once and set it on my desk. “So that’s it, huh?”
“Looks that way,” Marcus exhaled with exhaustion. “Per the agreement, he’s gonna step down as long as no charges are pressed.”
I rubbed my neck. “I never was gonna press them.”
“I was!” Marcus yelled through the speaker. “I had the shit written up and everything! You were shot, Marlon. He could’ve killed you! No matter what happened between you, him, Alice and Aurora, he took it entirely too far.”
I blew out hard. “It was an accident, Marcus. Like I told you before, we tussled for the gun and it went off.”
“He never should’ve pulled it!” Marcus was getting loud again. “I never should’ve allowed him to sweep the first time he did that to Jason under the rug.”
My eyes grew, “So he really did that?”
“I told you he did!”
“Yeah, but I thought you were exaggerating.” My shoulder pulled the second I turned to pick up my phone.
“Evidently, I wasn’t.”
“Hm,” I looked down at the sling. “It’s over now. I just want to put this all behind me.”
“It’s not a good decision.”
“Marcus, I can’t put Rory through that,” I finally admit. “Court? Testifying? Having to choose between me and her dad? She’s been through enough, man. I can’t do that to her.”
Silence.
“How’s Aurora doing anyway?” Marcus asked.
I shrugged and my shoulder stung. “She’s okay physically. Mentally?”
