Page 39 of Old-Fashioned

I moved so my front was plastered to his side, only then did he continue, “Somehow his parents had found him again, he was beaten black and blue, his right eye was swollen shut, his jaw looked broken, his right arm was bent at an odd angle. Two people, a woman and a man stood there, laughing, completely ignoring the fact that I had just busted the door in, and a man was behind Caelan.” He swallowed then, “Caelan was crying. My tough-as-nails, takes no shit, brother. He was only two years younger than me, and almost as big as I was at the time. The man… he was doing unspeakable things to him.”

I felt tears hit my eyes immediately, poor Caelan… “I blacked out. When I came back to the right frame of mind, I had fractured sixteen bones in my right hand. I was hitting him so hard that his head concaved in.”

It took a few moments to get the words out, but when I did, even I didn’t recognize the hatred in my tone, “Good. That bastard got what he deserved.”

Abel wasn’t looking at me, but he nodded, then continued, “Apparently, they were recording the whole thing, and gave it to the cops with giddiness. The two of them are still in prison for cold case files they finally admitted to. They won’t be out until the two of them are ninety-seven and ninety-three.”

It was long moments before Abel seemed to come back from where his mind was at, and then he looked at me, and at the sight of my tears, his face softened, and he maneuvered his hand, so I was no longer holding it.

He lifted me up, so I was in his lap, my legs dangling over the side of his. One of his hands, pressed my head into his neck and there against my hair, he whispered, “Don’t cry for me, or Caelan, Baby girl. We are the men we are because of our past.”

I tried to nod and swallow my tears, but I found it rather impossible.

It was a few minutes later that I got a handle on my tears, and I didn’t realize that Ryker had moved over to us sometime earlier, not when I felt him licking my hand that was lying on my lap.

We were both quiet, and then Abel lifted me and placed me back on the couch, only then did he turn to me, lock his eyes with mine and whispered, “Now, I’m going to let you process everything I laid at your feet. You take your time. You think about if you want to be seen on my arm. If you can be proud to call me, your man. Or if you want to have me in secret. And if everything I told you makes you pull away from me completely.”

And before I could say another word, he laid another kiss on my forehead and walked out of my house.

Sadly, the hits of the day kept on coming.

Tabitha had to quit because her mother had a heart attack earlier this morning and she needed round-the-clock care.

“Oh fuck, I’m so sorry,” I told Tabitha and offered her a hug.

Abel looked at me and the other girls, “Need y’all to pull doubles for a bit until we can find someone to take her shifts.”

We all nodded.

So, on top of pulling doubles, I also had to think about everything Abel said to me on my couch.

And I had to give the man credit, not once, did he ever pressure me for an answer.

He stayed the same as he always did, but he was more attentive than before.

And I didn’t think that was possible, but I would soon find out that when Abel told me he wanted to give me the best of him… I hadn’t seen anything yet.

Not. Even. Close.

Chapter 8

Abel

If Birdie needed a couple of days to figure things out, then I was fine with that.

If she needed a couple of weeks? That was fine too.

Or hell if she needed months to figure out what she wanted? I’ve gone my whole life without her, I can make it a little while longer.

For her, there’s no time limit.

As long as I know she’s breathing and I can lay eyes on her, then I’ll wait for her for as long as it takes.

Speaking of having eyes on her, it took me a moment to realize something, I haven’t seen her come to the bar.

Looking around, my eyes searched for her raven black hair thrown up in a messy bun, her tight navy blue fitted V-neck shirt that all the girls had taken to wearing because Isla and Birdie had come up with a theme for the bar. On the back of the shirt, it says, Touch it. You die.

My eyes were scanning slowly from the farthest corner of the bar all the way to the closest corner.