Page 74 of Shattered Love
Dominic
A lot has changedin the last two weeks since everything went down and we got Juliet out. She had nothing but a few bruises. Inferno kept to his word and kept my daughter safe. I owed him everything.
Juliet turned up at my door with her bags, saying this was her home, that we’re a team.
I still can't believe I have her in my life. She like fucking sunshine.
There is so much of Avery in her.
Carter is taking the news that Molly, fucking Marilyn, whatever she wanted to call herself, killed Avery badly. His whole married life was a total lie, as well as his friendship with Mac. When he found out he completely fucking lost it.
Carter has always been the light-hearted one, but now there is darkness in his eyes that will always be there.
He told me he had his suspicions, not that it was Molly, but that there was a bad cop working in the station. That's why he had wanted me to drop the case. But the fact was, he had been sleeping with the enemy the whole time. He never forgave himself. Although, he holds no fault other than falling in love.
Mac has gone underground. Nobody knows where or when he left, but we later found out that he came from a pretty rough place. The life he led us to believe he lived was a complete lie. Maybe it was the one he dreamed of. Maybe he made it up so he could sleep better.
Sharon, Avery’s mother came to see me. She promised me that they never held me responsible for Avery’s death and that to them I was family and always would be. She tells me that she promised Avery they would love me and she is keeping that promise.
I apologized about missing Derek’s funeral and Sharon said that Derek never really recovered from Avery’s death. He was never the same man, she’s found some peace in knowing they are together again.
Sharon also told us Cecilia was also having a hard time from Molly’s betrayal. They had been friends and kept in contact until only a few years ago. She is having a hard time dealing with the fact that we all had a dagger in our backs without any of us being suspicious of it.
I find Juliet looking lost sometimes. I know she has her own demons now but they are different from mine. It seems as if she’s at war over something. I hear her crying at night. She’s going to the doctor soon, even if I have to drag her there, because she is making herself sick.
* * *
I standby the black stone, not taking my eyes off her name. Today marks twenty-two years without her.
Instead of ending up at the bottom of a bottle, drinking until I black out, I go to the place I said I’d never return to—home.
I can’t go back to our house because it’s just too much, but we pop in to see Sharon and have lunch with her. I stop dead in her hallway. It’s covered in photos of Avery, me, and Juliet. I take them all in—our dreams.
Juliet’s first day at school, building sandcastles, her face covered in chocolate from making cakes, on a picnic, riding her pink bike and finally Juliet dressed in a tutu with Cooper dressed in a matching one. Cooper had stayed with them, too, and died only a few years back. He guarded my baby girl.
“Hey, Mom. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for bringing Dad back to me. I knew you could do it.” Juliet kisses her fingertips before touching the stone as she lays sunflowers in front. She turns to me, her eyes taking everything in.
“I’m okay, kid. I just need a word with your mom.”
She walks back to the car, but not without checking over her shoulder first.
Then I look down. “Hey, beautiful.”
It’s silent.
“She’s amazing. She’s also right, but never tell her that. I will never hear the end of it.” I trace the stone. “I know you brought her back to me. You gave me back the sunshine. Thank you, beautiful. I promise I’ll look after her and keep the monsters away. I’ll tell her something new about you every day! I love you, Avery Stone, so fucking much. I’ll wait for you in my dreams until we meet again.”
Ever since that one night, she’s visited me in my dreams a few times, but never once spoke again.
I learned later that I coded but came back with a start. I know it was Avery who sent me back.
As I walk away, the breeze wraps around me and I smile. My beautiful.
* * *
I gethome and Juliet is looking out the window. She hasn’t even noticed I came in. She has been quiet all morning.
“Baby girl.”
