Gambled - A Titan Novella Read Free

different, and wasn’t she the most beautiful thing he’d ever set eyes on.
    Her petite frame that always fit under his arm, her perfect freckles that he could map in the dark. The way her auburn hair fell over her shoulders. How familiar it always smelled, like sunshine and summer.
    “Three minutes. Then it’s good-bye.” Nothing in her tone was sunshine or summer.
    He nodded, words not coming.
    Her brow pinched. “If you’re coming in, then come in, Brock. Otherwise—”
    “No, I’m here. Coming.” He stepped through the threshold into a small living room that very much reminded him of his mother-in-law. Doilies and pristine furniture. A few cardboard boxes were flattened and leaning against a wall. The kids had toys strewn on the floor, and he’d kill to have a Barbie to step over in the middle of the night again.
    The living room opened into a kitchen, and he followed Sarah to the table. A newspaper had been laid out. Pen marks and circles decorated what looked like the classifieds. Heaviness hung on his chest. She’s slipping further away from me.
    He tried to read her notes without being obvious. “What are you doing here?”
    “What are you doing here?” she countered, sitting down and snagging her pen.
    Sarcastic Sarah. Again, not expected. “I didn’t mean…” God. Could he really not form coherent thoughts around her?
    She studied him then tilted her head to the side, slowly twirling the pen. “I’m looking for a job.”
    “A job?”
    “You know, what people do to make money? Not everyone kills and maims in order to put food on the table.”
    He deserved that one. Time was ticking, and he had no response. “I’ve missed you like crazy, angel.”
    Angel had just popped out. It was natural, more than saying her name, but maybe not appropriate. Too bad. She had always been his angel. Nothing had changed for him.
    Her bottom lip quivered until she thinned it into a line. Sarah twirled the pen again and studied the paper. “Here’s one for a preschool teacher.” Her voice waivered. “I’d be perfect for that.”
    He took a step closer, and his arms ached to hold his wife. “Yeah, you would.”
    “How would you know, Brock?” Her chin jutted up, her eyes watery and wounded. “We don’t know each other.”
    “You don’t mean that.” He pulled the chair out next to her. So close, but he wouldn’t touch her. He shouldn’t. No matter how badly he craved her. “I need to explain things to you. Be upfront whereas before I was… vague.”
    “Vague? Vague wasn’t my problem.”
    “I didn’t know what to do. I messed up. Bad. But it was like my world went black when you all were taken. I couldn’t think. Nothing was logical. It was all survive and react.”
    “I never knew how close our family was to danger. Brock, you almost had another woman killed. That’s not an environment I want to raise our children in.”
    She was concerned about Sugar? He wanted to shake Sarah. So what? God love Sugar. But he loved his family. His wife. There wasn’t anything he wouldn’t sacrifice to return them to safety. “Sugar is not your problem. And I know, from the bottom of my soul, you wouldn’t care what I did if it protected Jess and Kelly. Let’s boil it down to basics. Bad things happened, and I was the cause.”
    She looked away, and tears streamed over her cheeks. “I can’t talk about this. I can’t even breathe thinking about it.”
    He needed to wipe them away. Needed to make her hurt dissipate. But he didn’t know the rules right now. Couldn’t risk scaring her. “I take the blame for all of this. Things should’ve been different before you were taken.” Guilt exploded in his gut. He threaded his fingers into his hair. “I would’ve done anything to bring you girls home safe. You can’t see that, and I can’t explain that. So just know I did what I thought was best while I was out of my mind.”
    She sniffled, wiping away the waterworks. “I’m not sure what to