Page 90 of Reckless At Raleigh High
I shake my head, looking him square in the eye. “No. You won’t be welcome here.”
Giacomo chuckles darkly. “Whew. You weren’t kidding, huh? Straight from the hip.” He twists quickly, making a finger-gun and pretending to draw it on me, using his thumb to cock the hammer and shoot me three times in quick succession. “He’s too old for you to adopt him, Cameron. He’s got my blood running in his veins. He’s a Moretti. He’smyson. Best you don’t forget that.”
God, what a bastard. He ran out on Alex when he was six years old and he never looked back. Why the hell would he bother trying to claim him now, when Alex doesn’t need or want him in his life. “There you go again,” I say sadly. “I’ll say it one more time with feeling.People are not toys, Giacomo. You can’t break someone and toss them aside, only to throw a temper tantrum when someone else takes interest in them. Alexisa man now, and you don’t even know him. I’m afraid that probably isn’t going to change.”
Like a feral, threatened dog, Giacomo Moretti growls. “Whatever you say, Poindexter. I s’pose time’ll tell. Alex ain’t cut out for college. And he sure as hell ain’t cut out for marriage. I’m betting your precious Silver comes crying to daddy about her broken heart before the end of the first semester. Until then, I’m sure my boy’ll have his fun. We Morettis always do.”
Sighing, I pinch the bridge of my nose. It’s so,sosad how wrong he is. Truly. “The blood in Alex’s veins has nothing to do with who he’s become. You shove the Moretti name in people’s faces like it’s something to be feared. By rights, the Moretti name’s something your son should be ashamed of. You’re weak, and you’re selfish, and you don’t five a give a fuck about anyone else. Alexz is nothing like you, though. He’s brave, and he’s good. He’s loyal, and his capacity to love, despite everything you allowed him to suffer through, is remarkable. You might have tainted your family name, but Alex has made it shine. He’s restored it to something he can be proud of. And I’ll be damn proud when Silver becomes a Moretti, too, because as far as I’m concerned, it’s a name that represents strength and courage. Alex might not be my son by birth. He might not even be my son by law yet, but he is one of the brightest parts of my life, and I’mhonoredto have him as a part of my family. Now, if you’ll excuse me, if I hurry, I can still be early for my date.”
I’m not a very brave person by nature, which is why I’m all the more impressed with myself as I stroll past Alex’s father and up the path toward the cottage without flinching. I only know he’s not going to kill me when I hear the growl of his motorcycle start up on the street.
Once he’s gone, I lift my hand to knock on the cottage door…
…and Maeve Rogers answers with a smile on her face.
Epilogue
Ivy league.
Jesus fucking Christ.
When he was still alive, Gary Quincy took great pleasure in telling me what a worthless piece of shit I was. I can’t count how many times he assured me that I was never going to amount to anything, and all the while he was spewing hate and did his best to tear me down, I was scheming.
Tell me I’m worthless, and I’ll make damn sure I’m worth more than you.
Tell me I’m stupid and I’ll break my neck to make sure I’m way smarter than you.
Tell me I’m never going to amount to shit, and I’ll rise above just to spite you.
So now, through a series of bizarre, horrific, and sporadically wonderful events, I am a fuckingIvy Leaguecollege student. What a fucking riot.
Thanks to Coach Foley’s insistent and highly annoying nagging, brutal training regime, and her amazing stubbornness, not only did I manage to get into Dartmouth with Silver, but I bagged myself a full ride, too. The woman’s part psychopath, part miracle worker, and I owe her big time.
Graduation was a surreal affair to say the least. I didn’t feel like I belonged up there on that stage beside Silver, and yet I fuckingearnedmy place there.
Now I stick out like a sore thumb at college, just like I did at Raleigh. Only difference is…no one here really seems to care. The ink, my clothes, the way I walk and talk…none of it fazes anyone at all. And, most important of all, Silver’s happy. She’s more than just happy. She’sflourishing. It’s the most amazing thing; I get to watch her put down new roots in this remarkable place, and I get to watch her grow into herself.
Thanks to Cam’s non-too-subtle influence, I plan on studying architectural design as my major. Silver’s majoring in Space Sciences. We have no shared classes. We rush out of the door in the mornings at different times, and sometimes we’re both so exhausted by the end of the day that we don’t even get to eat dinner before we’re passing out on the couch. The classes are hard, the workload is unforgiving, and there aren’t enough hours in the day…but I’m with Silver. I could be walking through fire and brimstone and I wouldn’t mind, so long as I have her by my side.
“Did you know your new friend thinks the Earth is flat?” Silver asks, taking a giant bite out of her pizza slice. We have assignments hanging over us like the blade of a guillotine, but we’ve taken a break to fuel up on carbs and sugar. A Hammer Horror B-movie plays on the TV with the sound muted. The air conditioner in our small yet perfect apartment whirs industriously, doing little to cool down the living room, but I’m not complaining. If it were cooler, Silver would be wearing more than her skimpy little shorts and a thin t-shirt, and I am enjoying the view far too much to bitch about the stifling heat.
I arch an eyebrow at her, jamming my own pizza slice into my mouth. “Monroe?”
She nods. Her hair’s tied up in a messy bun, strands fallen loose, framing her face. Silver looks incredible when she’s run a brush through her hair and she’s wearing a little makeup, but she looks best when her skin is bare and she looks like she’s just been fucked. Which she has. “They have a flat earther society on campus.”
For fuck’s sake. Just when you think you’ve made a normal friend…“And Monroe’s a member?Monroe?The guy with the buzzcut and the tricked-out Dodge Charger?”
Silver swallows, smiling, and leans over to kiss me. “Sorry,passarotto. I think he’s actuallypresidentof the club.”
“Fuck.”
“Back to the drawing board on the Zander replacement, then?”
I pull her plump, too-tempting bottom lip into my mouth and I give it a gentle bite, running my tongue playfully over the spot that I just pressed between my teeth. “Zander should not be replaced. Zander is a pain in the ass. I’m relieved I don’t have to deal with his bullshit anymore.”
Silver laughs, falling back onto the sofa. The skin around the base of her throat that was once bruised dark purple is back to normal now. Just like the doctors promised, you’d never know to look at her that she’d even been hurt. “God, you’re such a liar, Alessandro Moretti. You miss having him around, I know you do.”
Urgh. She might be right. I’m on the verge of admitting to myself that Zander Hawkins proved himself to be a good friend after all. It’ll be a long time yet that I admit anything of the sort out loud, though. And potentially years before I tell him so to his smug, annoyingly cocky face.
