Page 80 of The Saint

“What would you say if I asked you not to go back?”

My chest squeezed as I tried to take a breath. I raised a hand, rubbing at the tingling sensation in my chest. Blinking rapidly, I opened my mouth, trying to find the words. Any words, because I felt like a silent fool.

“I don’t know, sir.”

“I want you to think about it, Rolly. Picture yourself not having to go there, not having to work for someone else. Think about what it would be like, spending your days creating art, making a living doing what you love.”

“What about you?”

Zio smiled, his head tilted to one side. “What about me? Do you think I’m incapable of replacing you at the docks? Do you think I’m so heartless that I’d make my only nephew give up his dreams to work a job he doesn’t want to be in, just for me?”

I lifted my glass from the table, drinking down half of its contents and the fire that burned as it slid down my throat.

“If your other paintings are half as good as this one,” he said, gesturing to the wall, “then I have no doubt you’ll do well, both at your show and after. I don’t want you to continue working at the docks out of obligation to me. I want you to do what makes you happy. Whatever it is, just as with Jael, I will support you.”

Air left my lungs on a huff, and I deflated against the back of the couch. After tossing back the remainder of my drink, I pulled my gaze back to my uncle. “Are you serious? You really mean—”

“Rolly.” He held up his hand to stop me, then rose to his feet, extending his arms at his sides. “Have you ever known me to say something I didn’t mean?”

“No, sir.”

“Then what do you say?” His fingers curled twice against his palms, gesturing at me to come to him. I jumped off the couch to my father’s deep laughter, then ran to Zio and threw my arms around him. He slapped both hands against my back, holding me tight against his chest, and I swear it was the only thing tying me to the earth. “You’ve always been my favorite nephew.”

“I’m your only nephew,” I reminded him needlessly as we both chuckled.

“Yes, that too.” Zio let me go, and I turned to my parents. They both pulled me into a hug at the same time. Mom had tears running down her cheeks, but the biggest smile on her face.

And I felt happy. For the first time in as long as I could remember, I felt like things could go right.

There was a knock at the door, and my parents released me as the door swung open. Jael stepped through the doorway with Jet right behind her, her jade green eyes wide as they searched the room and fell on me.

I started for her, but Zio beat me to her. Just as he had a moment earlier, he extended his hands to his sides. Jael’s shoulders were pulled to her ears before his body blocked her from my view. Before my uncle, one of the most powerful men in the world, enveloped my girlfriend in his arms.

Her brow was furrowed when he released her, and I had a desperate need to erase her fears and let her know everything was going to be okay. I reached my hands out, grabbing her cheeks between my palms, then lowered my forehead to hers.

“Jael,” I whispered, her name barely making it off my lips before my mouth descended upon hers. She was too startled to kiss me back, and I couldn’t blame her, not one bit. But her arms wrapped around me, her embrace feeling like the most solid, most real thing I’d ever felt.

I was in love with her, and even though it would be hard coming out from behind the curtains I’d used to separate every part of my life, I knew, with her by my side, I could make it through.

21

JAEL

I looked into the mirror and hated the person looking back at me. It’d been a month since Jet told me what happened after I’d left five years ago, and I still hadn’t forgiven myself.

Rolly was a bright light in this world, and to know that his light had almost been snuffed out because of me was intolerable.

I’d done everything I could since to show him how much he meant to me. When we’d returned to Jet’s party, I stayed close to his side, letting him decide when it was okay to hold hands, to touch, to kiss. We’d never been like that before—showing how we felt around people we knew—but Jet had suggested we let people see how much we loved each other.

At first, I thought he was delusional. I thought Rolly would never act that way, because even though he always had big feelings, he never talked about them. But after Paulo had hugged me in his office—when he’d whispered that I needed to take good care of his nephew—and Rolly had grabbed my face and kissed me with almost as much passion as he had in the sitting room before we were caught, I wondered if maybe Jet was right.

Rolly held my hand like letting go meant he’d never see me again. He looked at me with such intensity I felt like he was stripping me bare for the world to see. And when he kissed me, in front of everyone who had come to celebrate Jet, it felt like we were the only ones there.

Fiddling with the ends of my hair, I was frowning at my reflection when the bathroom door swung open and Shaw came into the room behind me. “It’s packed down there.” She closed the door behind her, then did a double take when she saw me, nearly dropping the shoes in her hands. “Sorry, I’m not used to seeing you like this.”

“I could say the same about you.”

She looked down at her clothes, the slinky red dress and her combat boots. I was used to seeing her in hoodies and t-shirts, and jeans and leggings were her pants of choice.