Page 232 of The Bluffing Game

She stares for just a second, and then she starts crying. “I ain’t never going to feel like that again. Not a day in my life.”

“Let’s just try and see, okay?” He grabs her hand and pulls her up. “Sometimes in life, you see the deepest and the darkest, and you don’t think you’re ever going to get out of that, but sometimes, you see a light, and you realize it doesn’t have to be dark forever.” His voice trails off, and I wonder what he’s talking about, but I don’t ask him.

She holds on to his hands and shakes her head. “Fancy that. You two handsome men come in to save me, come in to look after little me, and I don’t even deserve it.”

“We all deserve a second chance,” Brett says. “Do you mind if we drop her off somewhere, Dalton?”

I shake my head.

“Are you going to come with us, Louisa?”

“What choice do I have?” she says. “You ain’t bringing me no dope.”

I chuckle even though I’m not feeling like laughing, and we leave the motel.

“Is there anything you want to bring?”

“I ain’t got nothing here,” she says as we walk out and down to my car, which I’m happy to note hasn’t been touched.

Brett slides into the back seat with her, and I slide into the front.

“Where are we going?” I ask him.

“If you don’t mind, drop me off at my place. I’ll put her in my Jeep. I have some friends who owe me some favors. We can get her in a center to try and detox her. Some new detoxes that they’re doing with new drugs that help. The least we can do is try, right?”

“Thank you, Brett.”

“It’s okay. I respect a man who does what he can to help.”

I start the car, and I drive away. I feel sad for Louisa, and I feel sad for Toby. I feel guilty that Toby doesn’t have a father or a mother, and that’s not necessarily my fault, but in some ways, it is.

“You look serious up there,” Louisa sleepily says from the back seat. “You should know something, Dalton,” she says.

“Yeah?”

“I don’t blame you for Igor dying, and you shouldn’t blame yourself either. He had it coming to him. There was plenty of men after him. Plenty. You just happened to be the man who took him out.”

“I didn’t take him out,” I say. Although, technically, those words are true, it was my fault that he was gone. “Thank you, though, for saying that. I appreciate it, Louisa.”

“Thank you for looking after my little boy. I lied, you know?” she says softly from the back seat, and I can see that she’s crying.

“What do you mean?”

“I lied when I said I never loved him. The very first time I saw his face, my heart, it expanded. It grew, and I felt true love for the fourth time in my life. The first three times belong to my three older kids, and I thought if I could just be a good mother, but then the next day, I just couldn’t seem to get my act together. You’re a good dad. You wouldn’t be here if you weren’t, and I want you to know that. I want you to know I’m thankful to you, no matter what happens. And Toby, well, he’s lucky to have you.”

“Thank you,” I tell her.

“I don’t want to go. Let me out,” She’s screaming and banging on the windows. “You’re kidnapping me. Let me out.”

I look into the rearview, and I see Brett grabbing her hand and stroking it as she screams. He nods at me, and I keep driving.

“We’re going to get you help, Louisa. I promise.” I speak into the darkness as Brett murmurs something in her ear, reassuring her that she’ll be okay.

I’ve never seen this part of him before. It makes me wonder what he’s seen in his life. More darkness than me, I’m sure, and yet he doesn’t show it.

Louisa eventually falls asleep, and I turn on the radio. Brett sits there, saying nothing, and all I can think is that maybe she was right. Maybe in this twisted game of life, I did something that was honorable that didn’t benefit me. Even though it didn’t feel that way. I still felt like I was paying for my sins.

My mind starts thinking about Sage, and I know I have to tell her. I want to tell her everything, the truth. I don’t know how she’ll react or feel, but I need her to know I’m not just this grumpy, charming saboteur who’s ruined her dating life and loves to make love to her. I’m a man with a past—a dark past that I’m trying to get over—but I want to give her the chance to decide whether or not she can be with someone like me, whether or not she can kiss someone like me, whether or not she can look beyond the man that I once was.