Her Unflinching Warrior by Caitlyn O'Leary

Author:Caitlyn O'Leary [O’Leary, Caitlyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Passionately Kind Publishing

14

He needed the comfort of his bedroom to have this talk. When he got to his bed, he pulled her into his arms, then gently settled them against his pillows so that she was cuddled against his chest.

“So, this is a bedtime story?” she attempted to tease.

That was his Jada, always bringing humor to any situation, even when he was twisted up inside.

“Well, it’s a story that haunts my dreams, that’s for damn sure. I hurt the people I loved.”

He saw her frown.

“No, it’s more than that,” Gideon continued. “I didn’t hurt them, I walked away from them. I made decisions that destroyed everything important and good in my life. When you hear this, you’ll know who I really am, and the thought of that kills me.”

“Gideon, I know who you are, and I love—”

He put two fingers to her lips before she had a chance to finish her sentence. “You love an image I project, not the real me. Hear me out, okay?”

She nodded.

He took away his fingers, but she pulled them back and kissed them. “But you’re wrong. I don’t care what you’ve done in the past. You’re the man I called when I was desperate, you’re the man who I counted on to save me, and you did. I know you, Gideon Smith.”

He blew out a deep breath. “Just hear me out, okay Angel?”

She nodded again.

“You asked about my Ma. Let’s start there. My mother hates me. Literally hates me. I abandoned her and Pops when they needed me the most.”

Jada frowned and shook her head. “That’s not possible.”

“Shhh, you promised to listen, Honey.”

“Okay.”

“When I was thirteen, Pops got injured when he failed to lock a car lift into place at the body shop where he worked. It fell down on him and damaged his spine. He had multiple surgeries and was going to need extensive rehab if he was going to walk again. There were neurological issues too.”

“Oh, Gideon, that’s awful,” Jada said as she stroked her hand down the side of his neck.

“Because of this, our family was going to lose the house. But before that even happened, Mikey was being recruited by the Crips, and that was when I pulled a runner.”

Her hand stilled. “What—”

“During the middle of that shitstorm, I said I was leaving. Pops told me to never darken their doorstep again. He died before I ever had a chance to heal that breach.”

She looked up at him. “You would never do that,” she whispered. “You would never abandon your family.”

He gave her a grim smile. “Ask Ma, that’s exactly what I did. To this day, she won’t speak to me. After Pops died, and Mikey decided to move to Virginia Beach to be near me, I bought her a house in San Jose close to her sister, but we had to say that Mike did, otherwise she wouldn’t move in.”

“I don’t get it, what happened?”

Gideon swallowed.

“When I was just a little older than my nephew Felix, I started messing around with different video games.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.