kind of hard.”
“I think it would be very hard,” I tease.
He snickers.
“I think you would be right.”
I ease myself off of him, hating the feel of his loss already.
“As much as I want to stay right here, I have no idea if Journey is going to wake up or not. We should really try and get some sleep.”
I grab his t-shirt off of the floor and a clean pair of panties out of the drawer, feeling his eyes on me all the way to the bathroom where I clean myself up. He’s in a pair of black shorts by the time I climb into bed and curl up his arms.
“I checked on her while you were in the bathroom; she’s sound asleep.”
“Good.” I peek up at the monitor and lay my head on his chest. The sound of his beating heart puts a smile on my face. “You know, I don’t remember much about her birth, or when I named her Journey.”
I don’t know why I am telling him this now after we just made love. The words just flow out.
“When did your memory come back?”
He strokes my hair, waiting on my answer.
“The days seem to run together. I have no idea when she stopped drugging me, really. It’s hard to describe. Some things I remember clear as day and other things, not at all.”
He stops stroking and kisses the top of my head.
“I named her Journey once I became lucid enough to vaguely remember I had a baby. The name fit her after everything the two of us had been through. I think Tina stopped drugging me the closer we got to her plan to kill me. I really think she wanted me to suffer for her own sick reasons until that day came. I don’t even know how to describe her to you, Turner. She’s worse than evil. She’s-”
Turner hushes me, kissing me on the forehead now.
“Listen, she can’t touch you now. Both you and Journey are safe. I’m here and I will kill anyone who tries to take you away from me.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Trent
She’s finally free. Free to live the life she was meant to. Clove was never mine to begin with; she was always my brother’s. Even when she told me she loved me, she was his. And yet, I held onto that little thread of hope that she would eventually fall in love with me, forgive me for all the wrong I had done to her.
The funny thing about a black soul is that, no matter how much you might want to save it, when it’s too far down in the abyss of hell, life gives up on it, leaving it there without a second glance. I lived my entire life in that abyss, until I met her.
She knew the entire time I was with her that I wasn’t him, and yet she let me in just the tiniest bit to see the true meaning of love. I was blinded by her beauty. My jealousy of her love for him burned fire through my veins, leading me to attempt to kill my own brother. I will never be able to convince anyone that I am thankful he survived so Clove doesn’t have to suffer anymore.
Now I lay in here handcuffed to this hospital bed watching the morning news as reports from all over the country mock me, throwing in my face the fact that both Tina and Caleb are out on bail. I don’t know what Caleb will do, but I have no doubt in my mind that Tina will make a run for it and disappear, but not before she tries to seek revenge on Clove.
Tina has a way of manipulating people with her fake charisma. The way she can light up a room with that persona makes you believe anything that comes out of her mouth. She plots and schemes, forcing even the strongest person to bend to her will. And then when she finally has you right where she wants you, she will lure you into doing any damn thing she wants.
I have never hated someone more in my life, not even my father who was just as high on the ‘fucked up in the head’ scale as she is. Little did I know the bullshit Tina blew straight up my ass was filled with lies. The day she told me she planned on killing her daughter was the day I decided there was no way in hell I was going to let