Pawn (The Pawn Duet #2) - T.M. Frazier Page 0,72

solvent. Something to dissolve what’s holding it inside.

And that solvent is love.

It took love for my subject to begin to reject his previous conditioning and start building his own sets of beliefs. His own life free from the binds of hatred. He’s now free to love.

And so am I.

Real love isn’t a fairy-tale. It’s not what the influencers on social media show you. It can’t be summed up by a pretty staged picture or by an all-out public declaration of devotion.

Real love isn’t simple. And regardless of what you see out there in the world, it also isn’t easy. The relationship that love emerges out of love takes hard work.

There are times when I want to strangle Pike, and I’m sure there are times he wants to strangle me (even outside of our bed). But the test for a solid relationship is not perfection. It’s living every day thankful for the other person. It’s knowing that in the big picture of life that this person makes you want to be better. And through those heated moments, never ever doubting the love that brought you together.

I’ve learned that there is no valid reason to hate. And that love isn’t perfect, but it’s real, and it’s powerful enough to drive even the strongest hate from the heart.

Because love is the only truth that matters.

To subject P- Wherever you are, I hope you’ve found happiness within yourself. In turn, I hope that forgiveness has found you and that you’ve forgiven yourself. Thank you for teaching me that hate is not a mark that can’t be erased.

“It’s good, Mic. It’s so fucking good.” Thorne says, beaming up from the pages with pride. “What made you decide to turn your paper into a book?”

I glance over to Pike. “Well, someone told me that I couldn’t let the information I learned die with the Reich and that what I did needed a greater purpose. And my purpose is to help. I needed to expose the Reich for what they were, and I needed to share my findings with the world. A paper wouldn’t reach the masses, and so, this book was born. With this, I hope to educate and maybe even change a few minds out there.”

Pike presses a kiss to my head. A silent expression of pride.

Thorne rushes from the room when the sound of the bell above the door chimes.

“Hey, kid,” Preppy says, sauntering into the room, passing Thorne on his way in. “I just want to let you know that I always knew you were one of the good ones. Never lost faith in you. Not for one motherfucking second.”

“Really?” Pike asks.

Preppy smiles. “It’s true. You should ask the others. Actually, ask Ray and King how I got those two crazy kids together. It’s a doozy of a story.”

“Does it involve campaigning for their deaths?” I ask.

He smiles proudly. “No, but it involved a kidnapping and eventually resulted in my own death.”

“What is he talking about?” I whisper to Pike.

He chuckles. “I’ll tell you later.”

“I tell you what,” Preppy says. “Since you’re a bonafide author now, the story would make for a really good book.”

“Sure, I’ll think about it,” I say. Our cat, Greyson, meows at my feet, rubbing her fur against my ankle. Mindy’s happy barking echoes throughout the pawn shop.

Jo Jo comes running down the stairs, wearing a pink dress and blue polka dotted leggings. “Is it here? Why didn’t you guys fucking tell me!” she cries.

“Language,” I warn.

Jo Jo smiles sheepishly.

With the help of Nine, who is a guardian of the court representing children in the system, our adoption of Jo Jo will be official in less than a week.

“Sorry, Mom,” she sings. “But that’s so super fucking cool.”

I give her another stern warning, but it’s hard to be actually mad at her when my heart feels like it’s about to burst out of my chest with joy every time I see her. Every time I get to tuck her into bed. Every time she falls asleep while I’m reading her a book.

Pike winks at her. I give him a stern warning of his own. “What? Who decided which words are the fucking bad ones? Words are forms of expression, and I, for one, am not for the oppression or limitation of one’s personal expression. It’s not emotionally healthy.”

Jo Jo and I both look at each other in shock and then turn to Pike. “You quoted her book!” Jo Jo cheers with a smile. She scrunches her nose. “Wait, Dad,