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She looked ateyes Just like always, she was trying to paint ht than I deserved The reality was lier than I think she could handle

“That’s not exactly true, Bax Parents are supposed to love their kids, provide for theuide them into adulthood Unfortunately, that doesn’t happen across the board anyo and build a life for himself; you made the choice to stick with her and provide for the two of you the only way you could You could have let her go, just like she did the two of you You could have given yourself other opportunities It wasn’t entirely Titus’s fault”

“I was a kid, Dovie What were my options? Starve? End up in the syste like a charity case while my mom drank herself to death? You tella thief”

She cleared her throat and I could have sworn there was a sheen of tears in her gaze when she looked back up at me

“You wouldn’t have ended up in jail You would have never had to sell your soul to Novak You wouldn’t have to fight for Nassir and end up getting stabbed I don’t knohat the exact answer is, Bax, but I do know you uy and you can ht her point was moot I had only ever been this way It was how I survived, how I lived, and aside fro out from under Novak’s thumb, it was a life I made work for me It wasn’t my problem that she not only wanted but deserved so after she was gone She didn’t get to come in and dismantle my entire world for the short tih that was exactly what she was doing

I needed a cigarette but she always gave ed back the rest of the beer and changed the subject to ere here in the first place

“Hartot locked up for intent to sell and blackes dropped, which of course he had no control over When he told her that, she lost it and told him she would tell the wife, that she would plaster it all over the society pages because that junk still mattered to people on the Hill Hartman freaked out, tried to put a contract on you, only Novak is smart and has plenty of money A rich man in his pocket was a much better tool” I shookinto where youranyed to keep her locked up and quiet in order to keep Hartman under his thumb”

Her eyes darted away and then came back to me She looked a little paler than nor even though her chest was now rapidly rising and falling

“Hartman wanted you dead, but turns out Novak wanted to keepready to bail, so he told Race about you and the contract on your life He also oh-so-generously gave Race a recording of the old e for your death That’s how Race black you out of foster care It’s also how he got control of his college fund, which he used to support you guys while you finished high school”

I saw her shiver I wanted to go wrap her up in a hug, but this was ugly, and offering her comfort wouldn’t ive Novak in return?”

“My undying loyalty and souarantee that I would behave and follow the rules frouy Race pulled out of the house that night was in business with Novak He was soiant, worth more money than you and I will ever see in our lifetiuess he was getting ready to go to the feds because he was tired of being owned by a gangster Novak wanted him out of the way and wanted uy, ere supposed to meet up at the spot, and I was so a bullet in his head Novak was gonna tape it, use that as leverage to keep me tied to hi, only Titus and the heat showed up and things went to hell”

“Why did Novak think you would shoot the guy? What could he have done to o that far?” Her voice was quiet, like she was scared of hed and threw my head back and closed my eyes

“Because if I didn’t do it, he would’ve made Race do it, and he knew there was no way I would’ve let it go down like that He had you as leverage to work Race like a puppet, and he had Race to pullof the city by being stupid”