“You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to,” I hush, caressing her soft skin with the pad of my thumb.
“But I do. I want to,” she replies emotionally, before placing a kiss on my open palm.
I place my forehead on hers, and with our breathing in sync, I silently tell her that she can share with me whatever she wants. As long as I have her in my arms, she will always be safe.
Will she, though?
God, I hope so.
“We used to be happy once,” she mutters. “When my dad lived with us, I mean. Momma had her spells, but Dad always knew exactly how to handle her. How to keep me from seeing the worst of it. He did everything for us. He took me to school, helped me with my homework. He took care of me, but most importantly, he took care of her. When he was put away, all of that changed.”
“Put away?”
“My father is in jail, Finn. Living on the Southside doesn’t come easy, you know? My father had to do a lot of shady things to keep a roof over our heads. Sometimes that meant he had to do some illegal dealings for us to get by. Unfortunately, he got caught up with the wrong crew—a bunch of scary assholes who didn’t like to leave witnesses of their criminal ways.
“On one particular truck heist, the driver pulled through and gave the police a description of one of his assailants, which fit my dad to a T. Since he was a known associate of a crew that was already under investigation, the cops didn’t hesitate in pinning it on him, regardless of the fact that he wasn’t even there when it all went down.”
“Shit, Stone,” I interrupt gruffly, feeling her pain and anger roll through her body in waves as she recalls that troubling time in her life.
“And since our judicial system is a goddamn joke, my father took a plea bargain just so he wouldn’t have to serve a full sentence. He knew for a fact that no jury would believe him since his track record wasn’t the greatest. He was only supposed to do fifteen years, ten with good behavior.
“While he was inside, some of his old crew members thought he’d rat them out. At the end of the day, they knew that my father was a family man and would do just about anything to get back to us sooner. So the assholes went after him inside. My father had to defend himself in any way he could, which resulted in him killing for real this time, adding more time to his already steep sentence. He’ll most likely never see the light of day again,” she explains distraught.
Her eyelids shut closed while her hand keeps its hold on mine against her cheek, comforted by the solace it offers.
“He drew up divorce papers once he knew he’d never get out, hoping my mom would sign them so she could start her life over without being chained to him. She couldn’t, of course. To this day, Momma refuses to move on. Sure, she has a boyfriend here and there to fill up her lonely time, but she’ll never give up my father. Even if she never sees him again, she’ll never let him go.”
“When did this happen, Stone? When was your father put away?”
“Almost thirteen years ago. I was just eight when my world fell apart. When my father was put behind bars for a crime he didn’t commit, my mother dove head-first into a downward spiral. I had just started third grade when I officially became the adult of the house—the one who needed to pick up my mother’s shattered heart from the floor and ensure she’d always be taken care of.”
“That’s a lot of pressure to put on a little girl’s shoulders, Stone.”
“I was never a little girl, Finn. That’s a luxury I never had.”
“Is that why you’re taking law? You want to be a defense lawyer?”
“Something like that. I want to be in a position where I can have a voice to shape this country’s laws. I want to help better our judicial system to ensure innocent men don’t feel that accepting a plea deal is their only option.”
I move an errant strand of hair away from her face, my heart filling with her drive and passion to better such a flawed world. Stone is defined by her past. While others would cower facing such adversity and