“Yes, but—”
“No, there is no but to this. I agreed to everything Marty asked of me because I loved you.” I laughed and clenched my hand into a fist. “And now you’re fucking me over, aren’t you? After everything I’ve done.”
“No, I’d never do that, but you act like you’re destitute when you still have millions in the bank.”
“That’s not the point,” I yelled at her. “Are you seriously telling me that you just walked away from me after what I went through? What I did for you?”
“It affected us too. For months after your arrest, every time we’d go out, cameras were shoved in our faces. We had to give interviews to the newspapers and television. Marty told you he lost his license, which wasn’t fair since they never charged him with fraud.”
“Yeah, I’m fucking well aware they didn’t.” I punched the pillow next to me on the couch. “It must’ve been so rough.”
“I was in bed for two months, Ronan, thinking I was going to have a miscarriage. It was so scary.”
And goddamn me, because even after all the shit she’d said to me, I wanted to rush and comfort her. But I closed my eyes for a second to let the emotion pass.
“You know what’s scary, Cassie? Hearing the sound of a door clang shut, knowing you’re not going to see the outside world for years. Having no visitors because your only family wasbusy. And now I find out the reality was you left and couldn’t even be bothered to tell me.”
“I’m sorry. We should’ve told you, but I just didn’t think. We were so busy trying to make everything right for the kids. But I wrote to you, and you said it wasn’t so bad, right? Like…you weren’t with murderers or rapists or anything. Not horrible.”
Not…horrible. My sister truly lived on another planet. How could I explain the unending boredom, the numbness of one day blending into the next? It didn’t matter what day it was—Monday could’ve been Wednesday might’ve been Saturday. It was all the same, and none of it mattered.Ididn’t matter.
“So you’re in Florida.”
“Yes. We’re renting a house until we save enough to buy. Marty’s dad hooked us up. It has a pool, and there’s a park and golf.…It’s paradise.”
“How nice.” Obviously, Cassie hadn’t picked up on my sarcasm, as she kept bubbling along like a goddamned babbling brook.
“It wasn’t always. Nicky had to switch schools, and it was really hard for him to make a whole new group of friends. It took a while for the women to warm up to me, but now we’re all in a good place.”
“I’m so glad for you.”
“You’ll be fine too. It’s been six years, and people have short memories. You’ll get into the swing of things, and you won’t even miss us. Why don’t you call up some of your old friends—what about Cole and Avery? Anyway, wish I could talk longer, but I have to give the kids a bath. They’ve been in the sand all day. I’m really glad you’re out. I love you. Talk soon.”
Without giving me a chance to respond, she ended the call, and I sat for a minute, staring at the phone in disbelief. Had she always been this selfish and self-absorbed, or had I ignored it, hoping she’d outgrow it? What happened to the girl who’d sat by my bedside in the hospital every day, holding my hand when the pain was too much to bear? She’d been the only light in the darkness of my life, and her love had given me the strength to fight.
The buzzer rang.
“Yeah?”
“Fresh Direct delivery.”
“Send them up, please.”
Ten minutes later I’d put the perishables in the fridge and cracked open a beer. Sprawled on the couch, I flicked on the television, reminding myself I’d have to get one of the new big flat-screens. The news came on, and after listening to the weather and traffic report, I stared at an almost ten-year-old picture of myself. The serious-faced reporter stood on the corner of my block.
“Ronan Michaels, who you might remember went to prison for embezzling millions of dollars from guardianships entrusted to his family’s investment company for both the elderly and young children, was released on parole today after serving six years of a ten-year sentence. Many are still furious that he was allowed out early, as some victims are still suffering the aftereffects of losing everything.”
Pictures of an elderly woman in a wheelchair and a little child in a hospital bed flashed across the screen.“Hear their stories on our website…”
I shut the television off and downed the beer in one gulp. Were people saying they hadn’t gotten their money back? I’d made provisions for that. Martin was supposed to have handed it over to my lawyer. Something wasn’t right. First thing tomorrow, I needed to contact my lawyer and see what the hell was going on.
The scars on my arms itched, and I rubbed them absently, staring into the wide-open space of my living room. I wasn’t used to it anymore. Strange how that ten-by-ten cell felt safer than my own two-bedroom apartment. The sound of my breathing and the pounding of my heart filled my head. For the first time in years, I was truly alone.
What the hell am I supposed to do now?
Chapter Two
Gabriel
