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“I’m afraid if I do, I’ll cause problems between them My parents love each other Like, so much I hat they have And I adore uy ever I don’t want to put him in the position where he feels like he’s in a war between his kid and his wife I need to get out of there I think once I have et better”

Michael nodded “You could be right My life is better now I’m out of my parents’ house”

I knew from Gary that Michael had followed in his dad’s footsteps to be a cop, but I’d picked up on little things Michael had said over the last few reat “You’re not close with your dad, are you? Despite the cop connection?”

He shook his head “My dad is a lot like your mouess he saw so that , but it only drove me to succeed at whatever I put my mind to I worked hard at school, and I played ball Gary’s dad was a fuckin’ nightmare, and he didn’t deal with that very well Gary pulled a lot of shit he shouldn’t, and I was always there, trying to get him out of it Dad liked that He liked me in trouble” The muscle in his jaw clenched, and I squeezed his hand “I wanted to go to law school, but we couldn’t afford it I was trying for a scholarship, but Gary broke into a liquor store, and I got caught trying to stop him Gary told the cops I was there to stop hiuys ith hio But Dad told my coach, as a hardass He benched me My math teacher, who I respected, and as a Boston U alum, found out why and withdrew his reco that scholarship So, I graduated, and I did the next best thing, which was to apply to the police academy

“That pleased my old man ‘See,’ he said, ‘you ain’t no better than me’”

“Michael,” I said, hating that for him

He shook his head, his dark eyes blazing with deter to stop me, Dahlia One day I’ll o all the way to captain Let him choke on that”

“You’ll do it too” I kneould “Absolutely”

We shared a tender smile, and I watched the shadows lift from his eyes “Gary said the

sa At least I have him He’s the one person who has always had my back”

“I never realized when I called you that you’d understand so coh I wish you didn’t I don’t want that for you Do you at least have a mom who’s like my dad?”

Just like that, the shadows came back “No My mom is a timid woman She’s afraid of my dad”

“Does he hurt her?” I was almost afraid to ask

“Not anyh to take the hits instead I orried when Ia cop now, I’d fuckin’ ruin hiain”

Without thinking about it, I reached across the center console and wrapped my arms around hi arms enveloped me