Page 3 of Parrish
One hundred and fifty-six months.
Four thousand, seven hundred and forty-five days.
Turning once more to my wife, I brush her hair away from her eyes and watch as she lifts her tear stained face.
This woman.
This beautiful woman I never deserved, saved me. Day after day, night after night, she provided me with a steady place I could let go of my defenses. When the darkness consumed me, she brought the sunshine. Part of me wonders if she regrets it. If she looks at me and sees all the consequences loving me has brought to her life. After all, doesn’t every good woman eventually tire of giving their love to someone who does nothing but chip away at their spirit. It’s only a matter of time before my good woman realizes she was drowning trying to save a man who only kept pushing her head under the water with every bad decision he made.
“We’ll make it work,” she assures.
Nodding, I drop my hand and stare across the table. I pull the toothpick from my lips and lift my hand to my mouth, spitting in my palm before extending it to Ritzer.
Blow me, motherfucker.
“Jack,” Reina scolds.
“Thanks, but no thanks,” Ritzer grunts, declining my hand as he slips his papers back inside his briefcase. “My office will draw up the new deal and we’ll meet back here at six o’clock this evening.”
“That’s only seven hours,” Reina murmurs.
“Mr. Parrish has a family he needs to say goodbye to,” my lawyer asserts. “A young boy who is losing his father for thirteen years and a pregnant daughter who is also ill. Give us tonight and we’ll be here first thing in the morning.”
“He just spit in his hand and offered it to me.”
“He’s a very sick man,” Holden says solemnly as he kicks me under the table.
Biting the inside of my cheek, I fake remorse and nod my head agreeing that I am indeed a very sick man.
A sick fuck whose number is up.
“What if he runs?”
“He won’t,” Reina says, surprising me. Bracing both hands on the table, she stands and stares down at the D.A. “Please,” she begs. “I know you see him as a criminal. In your mind he’s just a menace to society, a man who has cheated the judicial system more times than a person should ever be allowed but to me and my family he is everything—our entire world. Put yourself in my shoes before you say no,” she cries.
This woman.
This beautiful woman.
I should’ve tried harder for her.
Now, the nights ahead, they’re going to come fast and hard. The darkness will engulf me, and I’ll look for her light. Memories will run through my head like blood surging through my veins, and I’ll reach for her. I’ll cry for her. But she won’t be there. I’ll feel lost as sleep escapes me and my maker reminds me of all that is gone.
All I’ve lost.
I should’ve tried harder to be better.
To be right and just.
To be a man worthy of his sunshine.
“Reina,” I murmur, leaning forward to take her hands and draw her back to me. She resists, keeping her eyes firmly locked with Ritzer’s.
“Please,” she pleads.
“For your sake, I hope he comes out a better man, someone worthy of you,” the cocksucker says. “Ten o’clock, tomorrow morning you will sign the deal and we’ll process you into the system. In the meantime, put a pair of blue and whites on Mr. Parrish in case he decides to push his luck and run.”
My maker begins to taunt me, making it clear, me and her are about to get reacquainted.
You can run but, you can’t hide from me.
There is no time for crazy and so, I shake my head and beg for silence. I’ve got less than twenty-four hours to get my affairs in order, say goodbye to my family and remind Reina she is and forever will be property of Parrish.
