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At least I hoped so.
“I’ve carried this with me for a long time, Romeo. This horrible thing that I did all those years ago. Fuck,” he said, running his hands over his face.
“No holding back,” Dr. Schwartz said. “You have him here, and he’s willing to listen when he doesn’t have to give you the time of day. So, this is your chance to state your piece.”
“I was an idiot. Ronny had introduced me to some strong shit back then. It should have been a red flag that he never did a lot ofthe shit that he was offering me. Or at least he managed it better. But he’d come into town with his dad, who was meeting with my dad, and he’d convinced me to skip school. We’d gotten drunk, and I was high and just a total dumbass—” His words broke on a sob. “I can’t believe the shit that I did. I was too fucked-up to know what happened for a while after that. I started numbing myself more and more with each passing day. My dad had said that everything was fine and that he’d taken care of it. But I learned that Patrick and my dad had pinned it on you and River after Ronny told them that two kids ran back inside to help Walt.” Slade got up and walked to the desk to reach for some tissue.
He went on to explain what he’d shared with me over the last hour and a half. That when he found out that Romeo and River had been sent to juvenile detention, he went to my dad and lost his shit. He threatened to turn himself in and confess to everything. The guilt was eating him alive. My father had once again said he’d handle it, and he’d hired someone to get them released early. Romeo listened. He didn’t show a lot of emotion; he just nodded and let my brother speak.
“Romeo, I fucked up so much. And that was the beginning of a horrible spiral for me. The guilt really did consume my life. I was disgusted with myself, and I think I didn’t know how to handle it. So, I grew even more reckless, which led to the boating accident and hurting so many people who didn’t deserve it. And then I just needed to be numb. All. The. Time.” Slade shocked the hell out of me when he walked toward us, and then he dropped to his knees in front of Romeo and sobbed. “I’m so fucking sorry. I should have come clean. I should never have allowed that to happen. I don’t know how to undo all the mistakes I’ve made. I don’t know how to be sober and accept the person that I am. But at least I can finally tell you that I’m sorry.”
My brother stayed down on his knees, crying, and Romeo leaned forward and squeezed his shoulder. “Get up, Slade. You don’t need to be on your knees for me. Hearing you own it, hearing the hell you’ve been through, it’s a start. But it’s what you do now that matters. We can’t change the past, but we can control our actions moving forward. You have a family who loves you and a sister who won’t give up on you. Put in the work, man. Demi loves you so fucking much. That’s why I’m here. And you have a long life ahead of you. There’s plenty of time to make things right.”
Slade moved to his feet and swiped at his face. “My sister is the best person I know.”
“Well, we have something in common, then,” Romeo said as he scrubbed a hand behind his neck. “She’s worth fighting for, Slade.”
He nodded, and I could barely see through all the tears streaming down my face.
My father had known all along that Slade had struggled with this secret. Slade had shared how he’d gone to him numerous times over the years about the guilt that he carried, and my father told him to keep his mouth shut.
But secrets had a way of coming to the surface.
“Thank you for hearing me out. I’m really grateful. I want you to know that I’ve been following all this stuff with Leo and your fight, and I really hope you kick his ass.”
Everyone chuckled, and Romeo glanced over at me, using his thumb to wipe away my tears. “Thanks. The odds are not in my favor, but I’m going to take it one round at a time and hope to leave in one piece.”
“I think you might surprise yourself by what Demi tells me about your training. And this Ronny shit… just be aware, he’s a devious dude. He’s threatened me many times over the years about talking. He has no remorse for anything he does. He’s aspoiled, entitled prick who is used to using his family name to get out of the shady shit that he does.” He held up his hands. “Trust me. I’m sure people have said the same about me. But I can promise you, I have been haunted by that day for nine years. There has never been one day that I didn’t think about it since I realized what had happened.”
“Okay. Well, let’s see what you do with this now.” Romeo raised a brow.
“Fair enough. Thanks for listening.” My brother’s eyes locked with mine, and I saw a flash of the boy I’d known my whole life. The brother that I’d looked up to and loved. He was still in there.
“Thank you,” I said, squeezing Romeo’s hand. “We’re going to go.”
Dr. Schwartz thanked Romeo, as did my brother, and we made our way outside. We didn’t say a word as he moved around the rental car and opened the door for me. But I didn’t get inside. Instead, I lunged at him, and I wrapped my arms around his neck.
And I completely lost it.
“Thank you for being here. For going in there. For supporting me. No one has ever supported me the way that you have. You just went in there blindly because I asked you to.”
He held me there for the longest time before letting go and pulling back to look at me.
“I will always have your back. I love you.”
“And I will always have yours. I love you,” I said, as I moved into the car and buckled my seat belt as he slid into the driver’s side and started the car.
I now understood the tattoo on Romeo’s shoulder. The one that all the guys had.
Ride or die.
Because it may not be inked on my arm, but it was etched in my heart.
We’d returned home to Magnolia Falls and the whole trip had been a blur as it had been a quick turnaround. I was looking forward to spending some time with Romeo’s sister, as she’d come home from school to visit her family.
“Is it hard for you to watch him work this hard?” Tia asked, when we walked next door to the coffee shop. I had a door that connected to the empty space that Romeo was training in now with Joey and Butch.
River and Hayes were there cheering him on, and I could see that Tia was struggling. Romeo worked himself to the bone. He had his arms tied back while he took hits to his body over and over. He did endless drills, including one-handed push-ups with weight on his back and sit-ups where he took hits to the body every time he sat forward. He jumped rope faster than anyone I’d ever seen, and he spent a lot of time on the bag, in the weight room, and sparring. Not to mention starting most days running out at my grandparents’ ranch while I sat on Teacup and pushed his pace. The man was a machine. He was training all day now. Even in between workouts, he found a way to lift and to move.
