Page 122 of Falling Into Forever
He tells me how he’ll visit Ainsley next week, and he’s meeting with his brother at their company because even though he walked away, his brother never gave up on him.
And we laugh. It’s hard at first, but the longer we talk, the more he helps me relive the happy memories.
By the time the sun sets, we’re both emotionally exhausted but spiritually settled for the first time in years.
“I’m going to be a better person, Sass,” he says as the night comes to an end. “I hope you’ll allow me to be the big brother I should have been.”
I have no tears left to spill and no more words to say, so I do the thing I’ve mostly avoided for years. I hug him.
“I’m so sorry, Shan,” he whispers above my head, but I stay silent because he’s still searching for closure, and if this gives it to him, I’m happy to be a part of it. “Is Dante taking care of his brother?” he asks when I pull away.
“Yeah. He’s trying.”
“Can I help with that?”
I shake my head. “I think it’s one of those demons he has to slay himself or he’ll never be able to shake it.”
“I understand that. But Malimar I can do something about,” he says with a broad smile.
“What do you mean?”
“Sassy,” he drawls, pointing a finger in my direction and reminding me of the playful man he used to be. “I may not have been utilizing my family connections to punish myself for my father’s sins, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t at my disposal. Noah is running Kingston Corp now and is even more ruthless than I was. He can tear Malimar’s empire apart piece by shitty piece if I ask him to.”
When I was a kid, I had no clue who Blake or his family were. To me, he was just my sister’s boyfriend who treated her well and was always nice to me. The power he came from never occurred to me until his father ran Shannon off the road because they had threatened to elope and she didn’t fit into the Kingston mold. She died because some angry, entitled old man thought he could dictate how someone else lived their life. That’s the unfairness of it all because Shannon didn’t fit the mold—she created it.
The Blake I grew up with ate SpaghettiOs out of a can and helped me with homework. But the Blake standing before me now is hardened by experience, bound by duty, and out to take back his life.
When I stay silent, he says, “And I’m asking him to do it, Sass. By Monday morning Malimar will experience the pain he’s been causing.”
“Blake.” I’m not sure what I want, but he’s patient and allows me to work through it. “I don’t want Malimar to hurt anyone else the way he’s come after me, but…”
“But you need to fight your own battle too,” he guesses, and I nod. “Okay. I get that. We’ll start the process of dismantling his organization, but your fight is yours. If you need me for anything, I’ll be around this time.”
I nod because my throat is dry and scratchy, like I’ve pulled all my emotions of the last six years through it with thorns attached. I appreciate that he’ll help others not fall victim to Malimar, but I’m even more grateful that he trusts me enough to fix my own problems.
“I need about thirty minutes to make a statement down there. Then…” He rubs his palms on his thighs again. “Would you like to come to the cemetery with me?”
I remember the first time I went alone. I cried myself to sleep in the grass with my hands sunk in the ground like if I dug my nails in deep enough, I could bring them back to me, and I don’t wish that on anyone.
He’ll have to make that arduous trip someday, but not today. Today we take the first step to taking back our lives together.
CHAPTER33
DANTE
“These daily phone calls are beginning to feel like friendship, Grady. You’d better be careful…”
“Did you see the news?”
Words catch in my throat, and I toss the clothes I was packing to the floor, put Grady on speaker, and open a web browser on my laptop.
I don’t even have to search for it. It’s the top hit on everything from Google to Page Six.
The Kingston Heir Returns.
I click on the first one and lights dance in my vision. An older version of the man who treated me like a little brother as a teenager stands in front of Saylor’s home, telling the world how he lost his fiancée and his unborn son, and that his father was to blame for it all.
He keeps it short and to the point. He doesn’t take questions. By all measures, it’s the perfect public relations response.
