Sweet as Sin (22 page)

“You’re too young.” Almost angry, his voice startled her.

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Gina laughed humorlessly. “I’m older than Mom was. And because of how she died, my

oncologist—”

“Oncologist?” Blood drained from his face.

Livvy reached out, circling his shoulders.

Under her hands, he trembled violently.

Gina’s face softened and she tried to smile at him but it quivered. “Just a precaution because Mom died so young. They’re being very

aggressive. I’ll have the lump removed in the morning and then, well, depending on the test results, Pete and I have some talking to do.”

John shoved forward, shrugging Livvy’s hands off. She sank onto a chair beside him, watching his fists clench over and over. Her heart shed a hundred tears. She loved him. His pain was now hers.

“I want to be there.”

“Johnny, no.” Gina ran her hands through her hair and Livvy wondered if she’d learned the move from her brother. “Look, my boobs are none of your business, okay? But there are only two people in the entire world I’d trust with my life, you and Pete. I need Pete with me. I need you to take my babies.”

Her voice cracked and she whirled to face the sink. Eyes closed, John bowed his head for a brief second and drew a long silent breath. Fierce determination etched into every line of his face 240

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when he raised his head. Around his lips, the grooves stood out like slash marks.

“Whatever you need, for as long as you need it.”

A promise, the deep baritone was solid and unwavering. Livvy reached for him and he

allowed it, curling his fingers around hers. If she had to describe him at that minute, she would pick the word resolute. Nothing and no one would stand between John and his pledge. If she hadn’t known before, this one moment proved how

deeply and fiercely he could love.

Gina closed her eyes. “I wish I could remember even one thing about her. I don’t even know what she looked like, Johnny. I’ve never seen a picture or anything. You at least have memories.”

“Alan burned all her pictures after she died.”

John released Livvy’s hand and rubbed both palms on his jeans before rising. Although heavy, his boots made little sound as he walked hesitantly to Gina. He leaned his hips on the counter and pulled his wallet from his back pocket. Livvy pressed her hands to her mouth and watched him take out a small crinkled picture. He held it in front of his sister’s averted face. “It’s not the best but it’s the only one I have. I took it out of a frame Alan missed and cut it down.”

Gina cradled the small photo. She touched one finger to the front as tears trickled down her Inez Kelley

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cheeks. “You’ve had this all the time? Why didn’t you show me before?”

John dropped his eyes to his feet. “I don’t know. It was mine, you know? The only part of her I could keep.”

Gina rubbed his arm briefly but her eyes

couldn’t stay off the photo. “Is this me?”

“Yeah. I think it might have been Easter.

Maybe Mother’s Day, I don’t remember.”

“Look how young you were.” Gina smiled and sniffed, her fingers tracing the paper.

“Goofy kid,” John teased, finally looking at his sister. The haunted pain shadowing his eyes broke Livvy’s heart.

Gina stared at the picture. “She’s beautiful.”

“You look like her.”

John’s voice cracked and Gina dove into his arms. She cried for only a minute, but clung to him for much longer, gripping his shirt sleeve.

Words too low to hear poured from him but his tone was reassuring and gentle. The sound of his comfort mingled with Gina’s sniffles. Pete walked in and surveyed the scene with a resigned look.

Over Gina’s head, the two men locked eyes and something passed between them. John nodded once and Pete echoed the move before touching Gina’s back.

“Boys are watching TV.”

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Gina pulled from her brother and turned to Pete, showing him the small picture. He caressed her cheek.

John held up his hand when Gina tried to hand the picture back. “Keep it.”

“No, it’s yours, Johnny. You’ve kept it for this long, it should stay with you. Make me a copy for my birthday or something.” Wiping her cheeks, Gina pressed the picture into his hand. “I need to go gather the boys’ things.”

Pete followed her out as John studied the floor.

He jumped when Livvy touched his arm but he gave her a soft smile. Cupping her nape, he sighed.

“This day needs to end.”

“Can I see?” she asked.

He handed her the picture with a small shrug.

Faded and creased on all corners, the cut was crooked. A stunning dark-haired woman held a small infant, both in pastel dresses. John, glasses canted, slouched beneath his mother’s arm. Each of them was smiling.

“She was beautiful. What was her name?”

Livvy murmured, handing it back.

“Elaina.” John shoved it in his wallet and took her in his arms. His heart pounded loud and steady against her ear. She simply squeezed him until he moved her away and walked out the back door without a word.

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Thorn collapsed outside Windago’s walls.

Frantic and terrified, Jondi followed Andros, who carried the bat inside, the lifeless wings trailing like a child’s blanket. The wizard barely spared him a glance as he mixed and ground the medicine. Although he hadn’t

spoken to her, when Vory coughed and then sneezed, Andros whirled around, his black eyes searching her face. Despite his

questions, she had no answers. She had

gotten sick before she met Jondi, but it got worse the farther out of the Dell they

walked.

One heaping spoon of herbs in a teacup

was shoved at Vory while Andros poured

more into Thorn’s fanged mouth. Jondi

watched in growing fear as Andros muttered in confusion. This was not a sickness from nature. This was Nordrake’s hate. Away

from the rotting dampness of the Hidden

Dell, the scent of evil clung to both his friends. Nordrake’s reach was long and

possibly deadly. All the faith in his small body prayed Andros could cure them.

But the night only got longer and his

friends sicker.

In a John Deere-themed bedroom, Livvy found Gina shoving clothes into a duffel bag that was 244

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already overflowing. “A sweater, Gina? It was nearly a hundred degrees today.”

Gina looked at the clothing bag and sighed.

“What am I doing?” She sat on the twin bed and buried her hands in her face. Livvy moved the duffel bag and sat beside her, running her hand up the woman’s back.

“You’re on autopilot. It’s okay. We can sort through this in just a minute.” The brunette nodded and covered her face with her hands.

“You’ll be okay. No matter what happens, you’ll be okay.”

Gina raised her head and looked around her son’s room, an ache plainly written on every curve of her face. “I can’t leave them. I have to be here to see them grow up.”

“You will be. Stop thinking the worst.” Livvy continued rubbing her shoulder until Gina once more was back in control. She popped off the bed like an oven timer and dumped the bag on the bed.

Together they sorted and folded the assortment of clothes.

“Livvy, what’s your earliest memory? How old were you?”

The question stumped Livvy for a minute and she rested a small pair of Scooby Doo underwear in her lap while she thought back.

“Just before my brothers were born. I

remember sitting with Mom and coloring for Inez Kelley

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hours, eating ice cream sandwiches for lunch and hoping the twins would never be born so I wouldn’t have to share her.” Sheepishly, she grinned at the staring woman. “Sounds a little selfish now but that’s what I remember, wanting to be the only one.”

“It sounds beautiful,” Gina whispered and closed her eyes. “I was about four, I think. I remember Johnny kneeling on that damn

broomstick, sweat streaming down his face, hands stretched out and shaking like a leaf while my father screamed to an empty church. It must have been a Saturday, when he would practice his sermons. My ears hurt even though I tried to cover them with my hands. Your memory is nicer.”

Four tee shirts and a few pairs of socks later, Livvy had gathered enough courage to ask. “Gina, what broomstick?”

Stunned eyes flew to hers and Gina sat back on her heels. “You said he told you.”

Livvy focused on lining up seams and pockets.

“He told me Alan beat him…and a little about the night he died.”

Gina dropped the jeans on the floor and ran her hands through her hair before staring at her. Livvy got the sense she was looking through her, not at her, to a time long past. “He didn’t tell you anything. Damn it, Johnny.”

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Fingers laced around the back of her neck, Gina closed her eyes and drew a noisy inhale.

When those eyes snapped open, they held the same resolute haunted look John had had in the kitchen fifteen minutes earlier. The similarity was frightening.

“Livvy, are you in love with Johnny? I mean for-keeps type of love? Through thick and thin and all that?”

“Completely.”

“How tough are you?”

Livvy steeled her jaw. “Tough enough to

handle anything except losing him.”

Gina thought a minute then nodded. “I’ll be right back.”

Livvy finished folding the small pile of clothes.

The odds and ends that weren’t packed got smoothed and stacked on the dresser in front of a big green tractor toy. Not sure what else she could do, Livvy sat and waited. What did Gina mean John hadn’t told her anything? The thought of there being more to his past filled her with a cold heavy dread. But a powerful urge to get answers grew like a tidal wave. Lifting her chin, Livvy realized nothing she could learn would make her love him less. But she might, just might, be able to understand some of his mood swings. If John wouldn’t or couldn’t tell her, maybe his sister would.

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Gina slipped into the room with an old cloth clutch bag. She closed the door like a thief, making sure it made no sound, before crossing to the bed. She unzipped the duffel and then opened the clutch. Inside, a faded army-green folder nearly two inches thick was stuffed full of papers and envelopes. Gina fixed her with a hard stare.

“God, I hope I’m doing the right thing.” She pulled her shoulders back with a visible strength.

“I don’t know how Pete got it, but this is Johnny’s defense file. He should’ve walked free. He would have if the judge hadn’t had a burr up his ass. All I know is Pete spent a lot of money under too many tables to get this. I’m sure it wasn’t ethical and it certainly wasn’t legal, but he got it, for me.

There were some answers I needed that

Johnny…just wouldn’t give up. I got more than I asked for, more than I really wanted to know. But I got answers. Maybe you will too and can help him…if I’m not here.”

The bag disappeared under layers of shorts and jeans. “Don’t let Johnny see this, Livvy. And whatever you do, don’t tell him I gave it to you.”

“I won’t.” Stunned and immensely curious, Livvy took the duffel bag in trembling fingers.

Gina blew out a harsh breath. Her mouth opened at the same minute the bedroom door did.

Pete looked in with raised eyebrows. “Booster seats are in the truck and John’s ready to go.”

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“We’re coming.” Gina smiled at him. When his steps sounded on the stairs, she turned and gripped Livvy’s hand. “Listen to me. Love him hard. And when he pushes you away—and he

will—love him harder. When he gets mean, love him even more. Stick like glue, Livvy. Despite anything you read, he’s a good man. You’re the only woman I’ve ever seen make him happy. I’m counting on that to mean something.”

“I love him. I’m not going to let him go. He’s why you became an attorney, isn’t he?”

Gina blinked away a crystal glaze. “Read it, Livvy. Then you’ll know why… Every child

deserves a protector. Johnny never had one except the ones he made up in his head, and they don’t help much in a court of law.”

He had to leave her with a smile. Gina kissed and hugged her children for a third time and John knew he had to see her smile before he drove away. Pete scooped three-year-old Tyler up in his arms, tossed him in the air and carried him to the truck behind Livvy. Five-year-old PJ talked a blue streak as she swung their clasped hands back and forth. On the high concrete porch, Gina watched with shiny but firm eyes as they got into his truck.

“They’ll be fine.”

His words drew her gaze down to him on the lawn and she nodded with conviction. “I know. I Inez Kelley

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don’t have to worry about them. They’re with my big brother.”

John bowed his head before she totally

unmanned him. “Yeah, he eats nails for breakfast with a Drano chaser.”

She leaned on the railing. “Better than that nasty sugared crap he used to eat.”

“Hey, I like that sugared crap.”

Like he was one of her sons, she leaned down and ruffled his hair.

“Call me.” He caught her hand and squeezed.

She squeezed back. “I’ll have Pete call. Try not to let PJ drive you nuts.”

“He can’t be any worse than his mother was.”

Her laugh thrilled him. “Boy, are you in for a surprise.”

His tongue rolling around inside his cheek, a million words flew to his mind—how she meant everything to him, how glad he was that he hadn’t been alone growing up because of her, how she better not leave him now, how sorry he was that he couldn’t protect her this time.

What he said was short. “Be good, sister-

mine.”

She knew it without words. Her eyes misted and she nodded. His focus swung back to the truck and he watched Pete check the booster seat straps around Tyler. He shook his head with an ironic snort. “Car seats. Gina, there are car seats in 250

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my truck. You know you’re the only one in the world I’d do this for, right?”

His sister studied him for a long minute before turning her eyes to the truck. Livvy waved goodbye through the opened window. “Really, brother-mine? The only one? You sure about that?”