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Doom shifted on his feet. “I didn’t expect you to come by this morning.”
“You couldn’t wait to pack, but you could wait to tell me? The first was a priority, the second an afterthought.” Arden sucked in a deep breath, hoping to dispel the aching pain that had settled in her heart. “It’s okay, Doom. I get it. You made it perfectly plain to me there was no emotional attachment on your part, so I only have myself to blame that I feel this way. I think it would be best if I stay away from the club until after you’re gone. I don’t want to leave Kat in a lurch today, so do you mind not coming in today until I leave?”
Doom took a footstep toward her.
“Don’t. Please don’t. I’m not going to beg you to stay, nor am I going to break and give you a going-away hookup. It will be better for me if we just end it here with our goodbyes.” Leaving the doorway, Arden walked toward him and hugged him, giving him a quick kiss on his cheek before stepping back. “Goodbye, Doom.”
“Bye, Arden.”
Keeping her face averted, she turned. Making sure not to look back as she closed the door behind her, she went to her car. She wanted to break down into tears; only the thought of who was standing guard, seeing her red-rimmed eyes, kept her strong.
She hadn’t broken down into tears when her mother told her she didn’t have long left.
She hadn’t broken down when her dad told he wouldn’t see another birthday.
She hadn’t broken down when Haven humiliated her in the breakroom.
She hadn’t broken down when Doom told her he was leaving on Friday.
No, she was saving all her tears for the day he left.
CHAPTER 54
THE NECKLACE
“Can I get you another refill?” Kat asked, pausing beside the table.
Doom slid his empty mug across the table that Train, Deacon, and he were sitting at. “Thanks.”
“Train?” she asked the man sitting next to him.
“No, thanks. I’m going to catch a few hours’ sleep.” Standing, Train stretched and yawned.
“Deacon, Wizard said he’d give you a ride to see Arden whenever you’re ready. Just let him know.”
“I will.”
“You look good,” Doom complimented Deacon once Train had left.
Making a wry face, Deacon took a drink of his beer. “Considering how I used to look?”
“Yes.” Doom didn’t mince words.
“Gained twelve pounds and bought some clothes that fit instead of wearing someone else’s second-hand ones.”
“Good food doesn’t take long to pack the weight on.”
Deacon’s weary gaze leveled on him. “Having food wasn’t the problem. Arden made sure Lizzie and I had plenty of good food. The problem was I couldn’t stomach it. Train said you’re going to be doing the type of job I used to do,” Deacon said, glancing down at his beer thoughtfully.
“The undercover part, yes.”
“There is something I want to give you.”
Doom watched as he withdrew something from his shirt pocket. Not able to see what it was, he held out his hand when Deacon handed it to him. He stared down at it and saw it was a woven leather necklace with a thin circle brass disk. Drawing his hand closer, he read the writing. “Today, I will remember Rule #1.”
“Lucky gave it to me a lifetime ago. I wore it every day until, my last assignment.”
Flipping the necklace over, Doom saw there was more engraving on the other side.
“#1: To Thine Own Self Be True.”
Doom started to hand it back. “I can’t take this. It was Lucky’s gift to you.”
Deacon didn’t take it back. “When Lucky gave it to me, he said he wore it every day until he didn’t deserve to wear it anymore. Then I wore it until I didn’t deserve to wear it anymore. I offered it back to Lucky a few days ago. He said he couldn’t take it back, just like the person who gave it to him refused to take it back. Lucky never told me why he quit wearing it, only that he had broken the rules. I stopped wearing it because I lost myself when I fell in love with Lizzie.
“Don’t get me wrong; I don’t regret loving her. I never will. What I regret was not admitting I was love with Lizzie before I almost got her killed and destroyed my career. Neither of those are why I quit wearing the necklace.
“I didn’t ask Lucky why he quit wearing it when I tried to return it to him, but I can tell you why I did. I stopped wearing it when I first bought drugs for Lizzie. It went against everything I stood for, what I had spent years working against. I tarnished a part of myself that can’t be restored.
“I’m going to tell you what Lucky told me when he gave it to me. ‘I’m giving you this necklace. Wear it every day, conscious of the integrity it takes to be true to yourself. If you do, the weight of necklace will be easy to carry. When it becomes a choker, you’re not the same man who was given the necklace to wear.’”
