Page 322 of Romeo

He turned toward me, probably irritated that I cut him off before he finished the threat. I didn’t care. There were promises a man made because somebody demanded them and promises that had existed long before anybody thought to ask.

This was the second kind.

“You don’t know that,” Georgie said.

“I know I’ll never be the reason.”

His expression changed slightly.

I kept my eyes on Fiona as Charlie abandoned her for one of the other kids and Claudia immediately intercepted him before he could collide with a table. Fiona laughed and caught her breath, one hand pressing against her chest while she watched the chaos she’d helped create.

“I can’t promise nothin’ bad will ever happen to her,” I told Georgie. “Yesterday proved exactly how worthless that kind of promise would be. But I can tell you I won’t betray her. I won’t fuck around on her. I won’t make her wonder where she stands with me, and I won’t disappear when shit gets hard.”

Georgie’s attention stayed on Fiona. “She’s had enough people disappear.”

“I know.”

“No. You know what she’s told you.”

The words should have bothered me. Instead, I understood what he meant.

There would always be things in Fiona’s past I hadn’t lived through with her. Years I couldn’t touch because they were already gone. Memories she might tell me one day and others she might never put into words. Loving her didn’t give me ownership of every scar she carried.

It just meant I planned to be there for everything that came after.

“She doesn’t owe me every ugly thing that ever happened to her,” I said.

That got his attention.

I finally looked at him. “She tells me what she wants when she’s ready. Same as everybody else.”

For once, Georgie didn’t have an immediate comeback.

“I still think this is fucking insane,” he said eventually.

“Would’ve been disappointed if you changed your mind this fast.”

“She’s eighteen.”

“You mentioned.”

“You’re an asshole.”

“Also mentioned.”

His mouth twitched.

I took another drink. “You done?”

“Not even close.”

“Thought so.”

Georgie looked back at the dance floor, and the humor faded from his expression. “She chose you.”

There was something in the way he said it that made me stop fucking around. “Yeah.”

“She doesn’t choose people easily.”