His lips move softly against my own, my favorite kind of kiss. Sometimes a kiss says more than a million words. His kiss hushes the runaway thoughts threatening to send me careening off the cliff. His kiss grounds me, the taste of him something I know I won’t forget for years to come. Mouth familiar and soft to mine, his lips quiet my brain, quiet my terrifying worry about the impending doom of morning.
Levi blinks slowly when I pull away to tug him into the safe cage of my arms. “You said for keeps.”
My heart pounds as I run a comforting hand up and down the damp skin of his back. “Sweetheart.”
“It’s real for me,” Levi murmurs, shivering hard.
Those are the last words Levi says to me. Because when I wake up, the sheets are cold, and every trace of him is gone. The odd sense of losing two people overwhelms me, momentarily breaking down the walls I so carefully built up over the years.
First my father.
Now Levi.
Will anyone ever stay?
CHAPTER TEN
TREVOR
Ithought by leaving New York City that maybe I’d finally escape my parents’ manipulative clutches. My parents are in prison. There are over one hundred federal prisons in the country, so surely the likelihood of either parent being incarcerated near me was small.
False. God laughs when you make plans.
Especially when it's me.
Months of manipulative phone calls from both parents begging me to deposit money into their prison trust accounts has me finally giving in to agree to visit my mother. Who else is going to visit? The rest of our family hates them. I’m an only child. The guilt to at least go see her a few times a year weighs so heavily on me that usually I end up giving in. Despite how seeing her kills me afterwards.
The clubhouse is quiet when I wander in on a Tuesday afternoon. Soft voices filter from Claire’s office. Davis, Claire’s assistant, sits at his desk, clearly on the phone with a prospective client. He sends a small wave my way, so I wave back with a pasted-on smile. Doubtful he’ll notice.
Claire does though. As always. Her eyes narrow dangerously as I stride into her office, carefully gathering intel on what could possibly be going on with me. The door of her office closes gently, and I lean heavily against it, feeling weighed down just at the idea of the conversation ahead of me.
“Which one?” Claire asks, leaning back just as heavily in her chair.
“Mother.”
“You want me to come with you again?” Claire’s voice is gentle, nurturing, as it usually is when the topic of my parents comes up.
I nod, unable to say the words. With a heartbroken sound, she stands, tugs her skirt down like the proper lady she is, then comes towards me to wrap me up in her slender arms. No tears come, despite the anguish rising inside me just at the idea of having to see my mother again. Everything about seeing her is so draining. The sight of the prison, the sounds of the place, and the smells. Dreadful experience every time.
“Let’s get it over with,” Claire announces with false cheer when she pulls away. “Have you given them money again?”
“Yes,” I admit, defeated.
“I wish you’d stop.” Claire cuts a look at me, not cruel, just slightly judgey. That’s just Claire’s way. Growing up together, she knows my parents, and all their manipulation tactics. Her parents weren’t too dissimilar from my own.
“Hard to say no.”
Claire hums as she grabs her purse. She leaves her office, heels clacking on the floor. I follow along behind her like a lost puppy.
“I’m gone for the rest of the day,” Claire tells Davis. “I’ll be back tomorrow. Let the other boys know I’m reachable by phone. Also, don’t schedule Trevor for anything for two weeks.”
My heart races. Two weeks? I can’t go without pay for two weeks. “Claire?—”
“Pay him the standard boyfriend rate,” Claire interrupts, eyes on her phone as she types.
“Yes, ma’am.” Davis nods, staring up at her, waiting for her to look, but she pointedly ignores him. His besotted gaze follows us until the elevator doors close.
Claire presses the button for the first floor, still typing away at her phone.
