Page 98 of Savagely Scarred

I borrowed Lorenzo’s cell while I sent Dorian on some errands for me. He should be back soon with a new phone.

“When do you get to see her?”

“Not soon enough. These past few hours have been torture.”

“I can imagine.” She pauses and I can hear her soft cry. “I’m so glad you’re both alright.” She sniffs and drops into her Irish accent again, “and that fuckin’ gobshite is dead. I’d bring him back and kick his arse if I could.”

“Maybe if he would have met you first, he would have stayed away,” I tease.

“Damn straight.”

The rain is starting to slow, turning into a fine mist. It dances across the parking lot lights before fading back into the darkness.

“William,” her tone serious, “Your father would have been proud of the man you have become.”

I stare at my reflection on the window—a ghost etched in the glass. The knot I have carried since childhood loosens a little.

“Yeah. I know.”

And then she yells again, “I can’t believe I’m going to be a grandma!!! As soon as Olivia is healed up, I’m taking her shopping. I’m buying every pink dress I can find…”

She continues rattling off things about a baby shower and a nursery when Dorian walks back into the waiting room.

“Hang on a sec, Mom.”

“Peaches is fed. Litter is cleaned.” He slaps a phone into my free hand. “Phone is ready to go. I had them load all your stuff at the store from the cloud.”

“Thanks, man.” I pocket the phone and then my mother interrupts.

“OH! John is on his way back from the vets with Sadie.”

Sadie was checked out and cleared to go home. My parents will be watching her until we are discharged from the hospital. I felt guilty when Lorenzo told me that our dog had been taken to the vet. I had completely forgotten she had been in the back seat during the crash. Olivia was my priority. Nothing else mattered at the time.

“Thanks again, Mom. I appreciate it.”

“Anything you need, son.”

I look at Dorian and hold my hand back out. “And the other thing?”

His eyes light up and he reaches into his pocket and places it on my open palm. I curl my fingers around it before placing it into my pocket. His smile falters when Commander Roberts walks through the door.

“Mom, I gotta go.”

“Give that girl a kiss for me. Love you!”

“I will. Love you too,” I rush out and hang up.

Lorenzo comes to my side, and I hand him his phone back as Roberts approaches us. Ava remains seated in the opposite corner of the room, pretending not to be paying attention to us.

We stand together in a circle, and I cross my arms over my chest, waiting for the shoe to drop.

I killed an unarmed man.

Not in self-defense.

A single, cold, calculated move.

Roberts’ eyes bounce between the three of us, dragging out the tension. He finally clears his throat and breaks the silence.