Chapter 20
Hard Decisions
Rico
“Son, here, take this,” my father says as I pass him in the foyer.
I look down to find him handing me a leather notebook. I look back up at him and lift a brow. He gives me a smile and pats my cheek as I take the book from him.
“It belongs to Oni. She left it in my office the other day. You might want to take a peek. That is one special young woman.”
I open the book to the page that has a ribbon in it. I’m taken by surprise as a sketch of me comes into view. It’s so detailed I would think I was looking at a photograph of myself if I didn’t know better.
“Wow,” I breathe.
“Yes, wow.”
I look up into my father’s eyes, hearing his unspoken words. I have Oni here for the wrong talents. Once again, it sinks in that I don’t deserve her.
I know this, but I also know I’m in love with her and it’s going to be nearly impossible to let her go now. The look on her face from earlier comes back to me. The right thing would be to let her return to New York and forget about everything that’s happened here.
She’s capable of something this beautiful and yet I’ve turned her into a killer. I swallow hard and turn to walk away with my thoughts. Once I’m in my room, I change for bed and climb into it with the notebook to look through it.
Drawing after drawing takes my breath away. She’s so skilled. How did I not know this about her?
I’m leafing through the pages when the door to my room opens. Lightning fast, I reach for my gun and flick off the safety as I aim at the door.
“It’s me.”
I release a sigh of relief and place the safety back on the gun. Placing the gun back where it belongs, I then move the notebook to my nightstand. Forcing a smile to my face, I wave her in.
“Come here, baby,” I say as I open my arms.
Oni rushes over to me and straddles my lap. I envelope her in my arms as she sobs into my neck. I hold her tight and rub her back.
I had a feeling this was going to happen at some point. She handled everything like a champ earlier, but she’s still an innocent sixteen-year-old girl. So much turmoil fills me.
The next words out of my mouth taste like shit. “I’m sending you back home. Your debt is clear. You don’t ever have to worry about me or my family ever again.”
She pulls away and looks me in the eyes. Big fat tears are gathering and spilling from hers. I cup her face and wipe them away with my thumbs.
“You’re getting rid of me. You don’t want me anymore?”
I crush my lips to hers, but don’t deepen the kiss. I don’t know that she’s ready for that. I just want to show her I still want her, but this is the right thing to do.
“I still want you, baby. God, you don’t know how much I care about you. I just feel like this is the right thing to do.
“You don’t belong in the middle of any of this. If I love you, I should let you go.”
She sits frozen as she searches my eyes. I think over my words and realize what I just said. A little smile comes to her trembling lips.
“You love me?”
“Yeah, baby. I do. I love you so much it’s going to fucking kill me to let you go,” I breathe against her lips.
“I love you too. I don’t want to leave you. I promise I’m okay. I just needed to get this out of my system.”
“Shh, we can talk about it in the morning.”
I slide down until I’m lying on my back, and she is resting on my chest. Her soft body feels so right on top of mine, but I can’t even get hard because I keep seeing images of her sitting on my desk with her dress and swimsuit torn.
I wish I could bring that motherfucker back to life so I could kill him again. Feeling like steam is coming out of my ears, I dial it back to focus on my girl.
“Oni?”
“Yeah?”
“What do you plan to do with your life? I mean, you can’t steal cars forever.”
“You’re like the third person to ask me that. I don’t know. I never thought about it.”
“Have you thought about art school?”
She lifts her head and looks me in the face. “What would make you say that?”
“Pop gave me your sketchbook. You left it in his office or something. I have it here.”
She turns to look at where I’m pointing. Shaking her head, she looks back at me. Sadness fills her eyes.
“I love art. I’ve been drawing for as long as I can remember, but I’ve always been told I couldn’t make a living off it, so I never thought about art school.”
“That’s bullshit. There are a ton of ways to make money through art. My family alone has made a fortune in art dealing.”
She scoffs. “You act as if I have the privilege you and your family have.”
“You could. In fact, I’m going to talk to Pop and see what he can do. Talent like yours shouldn’t go to waste.”
“If you say so.” She yawns and places her head back down on my chest.
My mind begins to spin with all the opportunities I plan to have opened up for her. I want Oni to have it all. This life isn’t for her.
I’m going to make this right. If it’s the last thing I do, I’m going to make this right.
Her little snores fill the room and bring a chuckle from my lips. I rub my hand down her back and close my own eyes. I can rest knowing she’s safe in my arms tonight.
“I love you, Oni.”