27. Twenty-Seven
Twenty-Seven
Rosie
R unning to Alexa and away from Vic triggered a pang of sadness in me. A reminder of the void created each time I part ways with him.
Despite the anger running through my veins all week, the touch of his body against mine triggered a rush of memories, as if we were long-lost lovers finding each other again.
I needed to keep it together; he lied to me and betrayed me. But my traitorous body has a mind of its own. It wasn’t on the same playing field as my mind, which is idiotic after he crushed my soul.
“Will someone please tell me what the fuck is going on?” Poison Ivy asks from behind the wheel.
“Jenna, Rosie. Rosie, Jenna,” Alexa says while breathing in and out heavily. Her light blue eyes are wild, and her dark brown hair is a complete mess, adorned with leaves and branches. “Back there... well, that was Gage. Oh my God, that was Gage,” she says before putting her head in her hands and continuing to say, “Oh my God.”
Gage’s stupid devil costume and the need to keep her in the dark makes a lot more sense. I feel pretty stupid for not thinking he’d keep tabs on her, too. He seems to be quite the puppeteer in both of our lives as of late.
“Nice to finally meet you, Rosie,” Jenna says while still driving like a bat out of hell.
“Nice to meet you, too,” I say as I rub Alexa’s back.
Jenna and I engage in small talk as we keep a watchful eye on Alexa as she runs through twenty different emotions. I’ve learned to let her purge, as she likes to call it. She needs this moment of vulnerability to herself without questions. But best believe I will hit her with them once she’s ready.
“So, when are we going back? That place is insane, and those guys in masks were intense. I’m surprised my panties didn’t disintegrate from how wet I was and probably still am,” Jenna says, wagging her brows.
Alexa whips her head toward Jenna before shoving her arm. “Are you seriously thinking about going back while I’m in crisis mode?”
“Hey, I’m driving here, and yes, I want to see those three again. I’m just pissed I didn’t get one of their numbers. You think Gage knows?”
I can tell by the grin on her face she’s attempting to ease Alexa’s tension. I can’t help but appreciate her for being a good friend.
“You’re contemplating being with all three?” Alexa says with wide eyes at Jenna.
“There's no contemplating. I’m totally into it. You think he knows them?”
“I don’t care who he knows. No way in hell will I ever see or speak to him again.”
“Not even for me?”
“Nope.”
“Come on.”
“I can barely handle one guy, and you’re trying to go for all three... You’re crazy.”
“I take that as a compliment.”
“You shouldn’t. But I still love you.”
I’m thankful Alexa could find a friend who’s had her back since she left. It makes me think of Jess. She would’ve thought tonight was wild. I make a mental note to text her and plan something for us soon.
As we walk into an apartment, Jenna yells something about wine before walking away. I take a seat on the couch as Alexa comes out in pajamas with a bundle of clothes in her hands.
“Thought you might want to get comfy.”
I grab them and then wrap my arms around her, squeezing her tightly. “I’m sorry for whatever my brother did. I had no idea he even knew where you were.”
“Me neither. I’m such a fool,” she says with a sniffle.
Jenna saunters in carrying three bottles of wine, a box of chocolate under her arm, and wearing superhero-themed pajamas, which I find hysterical.
We sit cross-legged on Alexa’s bed, a bottle of wine in our laps and a takeout container between our fingers. We listen to “Bad at Love” per Jenna’s demands on repeat until we’re truly drunk off the wine.
“Okay, spill. Who was that guy earlier? He looked upset when you left,” Alexa says .
“It’s a long, shitty story.”
“Spill, Rosalinda.” My eyes widen at her nerve.
“Don’t you dare full name me, Alexandria.”
“How dare you!” She screams and then we all laugh until Alexa jumps up, cursing under her breath and scanning her surroundings with wide, panicked eyes.
“Cameras.”
“Huh?” Jenna and I murmur in unison.
“Fucking Gage. He put cameras in my room before I knew it was him.”
Okay, that’s fucking weird.
“So, you were putting on private shows for the devil?” Jenna’s eyebrows go up and down as she twirls her long blond hair around her finger.
“What? No! I was flipping him off most of the time.”
“Rightfully so. That’s creepy as hell,” I say, looking around.
My brother is insane. I didn’t think he’d have the nerve to carry out something like this.
“Do you know where they are?” Jenna asks as she springs from the bed and looks around.
“If I did, I would’ve already gotten rid of them, genius.”
She nods her head before continuing her search. “Right... Be right back.”
Jenna runs back within seconds, some sort of box in her hands with antennae on the top. “Sorry, boys,” she says in a singsong voice before clicking a button to turn it on.
“What’s that, Inspector Gadget?” Alexa peeks over Jenna’s shoulder .
“Something that won’t allow any devices to work.” We give her a questioning look. “What? I’m scared of skeevy landlords watching me dance around naked.”
With the invasion of privacy taken care of, we take our respective seats back on the bed and continue to drink our weight in alcohol.
“Okay, spill.”
“Everything was great until it wasn’t.”
I start with the easy details.
“Wait, wait, wait. You told me about a piercing, never about a tattoo! Who are you, and what have you done to my best friend?”
“Why do you keep saying that? It makes me sound like a prude.”
“It just means you busted out of that sweet little quiet shell you had, and now you’re a little vixen! Let me see it.”
I pull my shirt up, and both Jenna and Alexa squint.
“Oh, I love it! What is this?”
I roll my eyes, “It’s a unalome—”
“I know what that is, genius; what’s this?”
“What’s what?”
“Holy shit,” Jenna says while laughing.
“What?” I say as I try to peek at my side.
“R.V.W.?” Alexa questions.
With a jolt, I spring up and hastily glance in the mirror. “That motherfucker.”
“He practically branded you with his initials. How did you not notice?” Alexa asks.
“Because I’m an idiot, apparently.”
“His possession is kinda hot,” Jenna says with a shrug .
“More like insane. Only you would find romance in something so dark and twisted,” Alexa says while I continue to look at Vic’s initials on me.
Again, there were clues, and I missed every single one.
“Plain old roses and chocolates are played the fuck out. Get a tattoo of my name to show me you’re serious, or stab someone in my honor. That’s romance,” Jenna says.
“You know, you’re more of a Harley Quinn and less of a Poison Ivy. I feel sorry for your future husband,” Alexa says.
“Ugh, as if anyone could hold me down.”
“True that. Okay, continue,” Alexa says as she looks at me.
“Fuck the PG shit... we want the juicy details.” Jenna wags her eyebrows and rubs her palms together.
“He wanted all of my firsts, so we did everything I haven’t done yet, which was a lot, obviously.”
“Oh really. Do tell more,” Alexa says.
“Damn, girl. Your face got bright red.”
I roll my eyes. “I’m talking about the things our parents wouldn’t let us do. Skinny-dipping, toilet papering a house, which somehow turned into burning bags of shit. Don’t ask, I’m still scared. Getting high, bungee jumping.”
“And...” they prod.
“And we did the deed,” I say, covering my face.
Jenna snaps her fingers. “Details.”
“Not on your life.” I giggle.
“Well, I find it adorable he wanted you to experience new things with him,” Alexa says, playing both sides of the coin. Damn her. “He also made you more spontaneous and adventurous. What happened?”
“He lied about who he was. ”
“I don’t understand.”
“I never told you, but Gage’s cellmate started writing to me, and we continued to talk even in college.”
“What?”
“I should’ve told you, but I wanted something for myself. I know that sounds selfish, but I did.”
“What does this have to do with Vic?”
“Are you slow from your meltdown earlier? Homeboy was the pen pal,” Jenna says.
“Oh… No fucking way.”
“I didn’t find out until the bitter end. He asked me questions about myself as if he didn’t already know, and my stupid ass was more than willing to answer them.” I shake my head at my idiocy.
“Why didn’t he just tell you from the start?”
“The night Gage dropped me off, he literally threw a girl on the bed I was sleeping in by mistake. He said he knew he lost me then.”
“What a stupid excuse. He could’ve still told you.”
“Yep.”
“So, what now?”
“I don’t know. My heart fucking hurts. I fell for him hard, and the scars from his betrayal still burn.”
“I’m so sorry, Ro,” Alexa says.
“Do you think there’s a chance you can forgive him?” Jenna asks.
I think about it for a second. Do I forgive him? Can I forgive him for the lies? The feeling of his arms wrapped around me still clings to my memory. It felt so good, so right.
Like home.
He feels like home.
From the top of the highest mountain, my heart screams yes, while my brain still struggles to process the feelings of betrayal.
“Part of me already has, but that doesn’t change the fact that Gage is trying to marry me off to someone. What does it matter?”
“We can fix that. You won’t do anything you don’t want to. I won’t allow it,” Alexa says with so much conviction in her eyes I almost feel hopeful.
But the fact of the matter is, I’m unsafe by myself.
If the bar incident and the kidnapping attempt taught me anything, it’s that I can’t survive on my own while my father is still breathing.
He won’t let one of his pieces go.
“Okay, enough doom and gloom. This calls for more wine and a song change,” Jenna says as she rushes for more refreshments.
A weight lifts from my shoulders as I finish telling Alexa and Jenna my story. It still hurts, and I still feel lost, but the feeling is less heavy.
“Your turn,” I say with a pat on her thigh.
Alexa goes into minor details about my brother Gage, as I think the rest are too private, and I’m grateful for not having to hear about my brother’s sex life. However, from what I’ve heard, I’m pretty disappointed in him.
He hid his identity from her, much like Vic did to me. But the betrayal is twice as bad since Alexa and Gage have had a relationship since birth. We all grew up together. We formed bonds at a very young age and are family, even if not by blood. She not only thought of him as a best friend but also more, from what I hear in her drunken ramblings and tears .
If he would have told her who he was right away, she would have embraced him immediately. His leaving hurt her just as much as it hurt me. If not more.
The bottom line is that the guys are idiots, and there’s no reason for all the secrecy.
By the end of our bottles, we vow to buy an island and ban all men. We will allow only women. Wine will be on tap, unless it’s Sunday, then we switch to mimosas, obviously. It’s a solid plan, and something I’m truly contemplating.
Jenna has no man to complain about but decides to be mad at Gage since he inadvertently ruined her night.
“You guys don’t understand. They sounded hot.” Jenna fans herself like she’s overheating.
“They could’ve been complete gargoyles under those masks... just saying,” Alexa says, pointing her chopsticks at her.
“One had trippy-ass eyes. They were so light that they were almost white. A guy with eyes like that can’t be ugly.”
I inhale an audible breath, and Alexa looks over at me. “What?”
“He’s definitely not ugly, but he’s scary as fuck, if it’s who I’m thinking of.”
“Girl, tell me more.” Jenna’s now on her stomach, palms under her chin and legs crossed at the ankles behind her.
“They’re part of a motorcycle club Vic was in. They’re all best friends.”
“You never mentioned that!” Alexa yells
“It wasn’t important to the story.”
“Bullshit. That makes him sound even hotter. You had a biker daddy.”
“First, never say that shit again. The guys were nice, I guess. At least they were to me, and funny as hell, but they’re bad news, like, in the criminal activity kind of way. Their moral compass was broken when they were born, and they’ve been raising hell ever since.”
“They sound like a delicious pool of warm water I want to drown in for a little while.” Jenna pretends to do butterfly strokes on the bed.
“Bitch, give me the rest of your bottle. You’re done for the night.”
I giggle, watching Alexa wrestle the bottle away from Jenna.
“So, what do you plan on doing with biker daddy?”
I scrunch my nose. “That name grosses me out.”
“You know it doesn’t. You miss him.”
“Possibly,” I say with a shrug.
“Do you want to be with him?”
Yes.
“I’m not sure.”
“I have a certified letter for a Rosie Gallo Moretti.”
“That’s me.” The mail courier hands me a manila envelope, then walks off.
My heart skips a beat as I take in Vic’s writing scrawled across the front.
Since Halloween night two days ago, I haven’t heard a single word from him. For someone so intent on spending that night with me, then begging me for another chance, he sure ghosted me fast.
Dear Rosie,
I wanted to apologize for letting you down and for the sadness I’ve caused. My desire to keep you close clouded my vision. Torn between my own selfish desires and doing the honorable thing, the right thing. You see, people have come and gone in my life, but you remained a constant for years—I couldn’t bear the thought of losing you, the memories we created together, and the bond we shared. The lies weighed heavily on me, and I think they always will.
You deserve to know the real me. I think it’s only fair to you.
My name is Rush Victor Whilcott. I’ll be twenty-two on November 18th. Art has been more of a lifeline than a hobby to me. It was how I escaped and coped with my childhood. I spent my early years hungry and yearning for love and attention. As I grew up, I wasn’t sure where I fit in since I had zero family left after my parents died. I was terrified of rejection and losing people once I formed a connection because that’s all I ever knew. Loss.
I made a lot of mistakes but found my family through my friendships with the guys. Once I got out of prison, my last remaining relative died, and I was given money and the deed to the forest and lake. Half of me wanted to burn it to the ground out of sheer spite, but when I saw the clearing with the dock, it gave me the same peace riding and your letters gave me.
For a second, I imagined sitting beside you at the end of the dock. Us watching the sunset together. Hand in hand. You with a breathtaking smile on your face and me with a smile on mine while I looked at you .
I’m glad my foolish thought became a reality. I will cherish it always, as I’ve cherished every letter, every laugh, every hug, and every moment I shouldn’t have taken, but took anyway, with you.
Our time together exceeded all expectations, and I am in awe of your remarkable soul.
I made a deal with your brother so you could be free. My hope is that you cross off the rest of your firsts, add more, many more, and most of all, be happy. No one is more deserving than you.
Fly free, princess.
-Rush Victor Whilcott
My tears mingle with his words until they swim, and I can no longer read the writing.
“Lex, I need your keys,” I yell down the hall.
“They’re on the... Are you okay?”
“No.” I hand the letter to her.
She reads it over, her eyebrows raised in shock before her eyes get misty around the corners. “He just offered himself on a platter to Gage for you to be free.”
I grab the letter from her and hold it to my chest. “He can’t. I can’t let that happen, Lex.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I need to talk to Gage.”
“My keys are in my bag. Do you want me to come?”
I shake my head. I need to do this on my own. “I’ll be back.”
I race to Gage’s, mere miles from Alexa’s place, storm into his house without knocking, and find him in his office.
“Is this true?” I say, holding up my letter.
“Is what true?”
“Vic sacrificed himself for me to be free. ”
“Sacrificed himself sounds dramatic, but yes. He works for me now,” he says, making my heart clench in my chest.
“Why would he do this for me?”
“You know why.”
My chin trembles as a tear escapes my lid.
“Take it back. I want him to be free. You can marry me off to whoever you want.”
Gage shakes his head. “What’s done is done.”
“I can’t believe this. How can you do this to him?”
“He did this to him.”