Holden's Resurrection (Gemini Group #6) - Riley Edwards Page 0,90

enough to tell me, to talk to me about what the doctor said, to have a conversation about options, to let me be there for you while you were in pain. You took all of that away from me—from us. I thought I could, I wanted to, but I can’t.”

“Can’t what, Charleigh?” His voice had gone deathly quiet.

“Be with you. Make this work. Build a life and a family with you.”

He stiffened. “You can. We can. I’m so sorry. I was wrong, so damn wrong.”

“You were wrong. I love you, Holden. But—”

“Hold on to that, Leigh-Leigh, and fight. We can get through this.”

“I don’t—”

“Goddammit, don’t give up. Don’t make the same mistake I did. Fight, Charlotte. Yell at me, kick, punch, scream, but do not walk away.”

It wasn’t lost on me the regret that shone in his eyes. The sorrow in his words.

There was a knock on the door. Holden jolted and closed down.

Great. Splendid. More drama.

“Who’s here?” I asked him.

“The guy on the phone. Rhode. Let me answer the door and I’ll explain why he’s here.”

Dead. Cold. Distant.

Whoever this man was, he didn’t come knocking first thing in the morning on a Saturday to deliver good tidings.

Holden left the kitchen but I remained rooted, wondering how my life had once again gone to shit. Just like the first time it happened, it happened in the blink of an eye. One moment, we were discussing our future, the next that future was ash.

Maybe love wasn’t enough. Maybe love didn’t conquer all. Maybe love wasn’t kind. Maybe love was brutal and ugly. Maybe it left you in tatters.

Hours later, I would come to know the true devastation of love. It would be then, I would feel the crushing blow of regret. My life would be forever changed again.

28

With each step, Holden felt like he was walking toward his execution.

How had one bad decision rippled into catastrophe? One wrong choice, and he’d ruined everything. Dread filled him as he made his way to the front door. He’d waited too long; once again, he’d been a coward and put off telling Charleigh about the box until it was too late.

Rhode was there on the other side of the door. A panel of wood was Holden’s last defense. He didn’t have to open it. He could tell Rhode to go away, that they didn’t want to know what Paul had left behind. Holden could bar the door and save himself from the hell that awaited him.

What was supposed to be a beautiful Saturday with his girls had turned into an epic clusterfuck.

Would there ever come a time when the past wouldn’t hurt them and send their lives spiraling out of control?

When Holden opened the door and found Nixon standing beside Rhode, he knew the answer—today would not be the day he and Charleigh moved forward. Today wouldn’t bring healing. The universe wasn’t done fucking with him. He had more reparations to pay.

Fuck.

Holden wordlessly stepped to the side to allow the men to enter, his gaze going to the cardboard banker’s box that would serve as his noose. Whatever was in that box was bad enough that Rhode felt he needed to bring Nixon along.

Christ.

“Who’s that?” Faith’s sleepy voice filled the foyer and Holden inhaled sharply.

He hadn’t had a chance to call Alec or Jameson to ask one of them to come pick her up.

“Hey there, little lady. My name is Rhode.”

“That’s a funny name.” Faith’s cute face scrunched. Any other time, Holden would’ve melted seeing that look, but right then all he wanted to do was scoop her up, grab Charleigh, and flee. Take them both someplace where evil bitches and unknown horror-filled boxes didn’t exist.

“Faith, that’s not nice,” Charleigh chastised.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean it bad.”

“It is a funny name,” Rhode smoothly interjected. “The story goes, my mom wanted to name me Preston, but my dad was a biker and he wasn’t gonna name his son Preston. So after I was born, he waited for my mom to take a shower, then went to the nurses’ station and changed my name. Word has it, my momma was fit to be tied, but then my dad explained why he named me Rhode and my mom forgave him.”

“Why’d he change it?” Faith asked, totally enthralled with Rhode’s story.

“I don’t know. Neither of them will say. But I was stuck with a funny name.” Rhode winked at Faith and she smiled.

“My mom named me Faith because when I was born I gave her strength and faith after