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“Fuck,” Blaze growled, knowing exactly who AJ was talking about.
At Blaze’s outburst, AJ seemed to pull himself back from the edge of whatever pit he’d stumbled toward.
“Fuck, man. I don’t even know what to say.” Running a hand over his face, Blaze couldn’t tear his eyes from the man standing before him, his body trembling with anger.
“I didn’t tell you all that for some bullshit response, Blaze. I’m telling you this because I know monsters. I lived with one for eighteen years. I lived in fear and self-hatred, wishing I would either die or find that single, miniscule weakness in his armor so that I could take Sallina and escape. But that never came. Not until I was old enough to get the fuck out. But Sally had to stay in that house another three years, man. Without me to protect her. So she and I, we know monsters. We survived a monster. So I know what I’m saying when I tell you that you are a goddamn coward.”
As if slapped, Blaze recoiled, rage curling his fists.
“What the fuck, man!” He shot to his feet.
“So what if you’re old man was a piece of shit who hurt you and left you wallowing in darkness. So what if you have a history. So what if you grew up with a monster. No, you never told me what happened, but as someone who knows what a shell of a man looks like because he sees it every morning in the mirror, I know that you’re about as fucked up as I am. The difference is, hermano, that I would give every goddamn thing I own just to know what it feels like to have a woman like Anna love me. You are letting a fucking dead man keep you from taking that better life—that life with Anna. That life I would kill to even touch a fraction of. That ghost you’re boo-hooing about is just that—a ghost. He’s dead. He can’t hurt you. He can’t hurt Anna. Nah, that’s all you. Believing that because you come from shit you are only ever going to be shit, so you don’t deserve to be clean. So what if you stuck your dick in every hole in Jackson Key. If Anna can look past that, if she can love you despite you being the king of all cunt chasers, then you should be able to put all that shit aside and take and cherish the goddamn treasure you’ve been offered.”
Numb. Emptied. Exhausted. Blaze blinked. Blinked again. The office was empty, AJ gone. The room echoing with the last vibrations of a slammed door.
His soul in tatters, his heart in shreds of muscle and shame and guilt.
Blaze dropped his head into his trembling hands.
And broke.
