Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen

Spade

I see the look on Pearl's face and immediately go on the defense. "If you know then you know what he did to her? What her mom did to her?"

"Spade."

Instead of saying anything, Roman holds his hand up to show us his scuffed and bruised knuckles. "We disagreed about how he was handling things with my sister. I, however, am not aware of what Mom did."

"Spade!"

"You should tell him. He loves you and doesn't care what your mom and dad have to say. You should let him know everything." She turns to look at him, so I whisper in her ear. "Take him to the living room and I'll get us something to snack on."

I can tell the two of them need a moment to be together and I don't want to take that away from Pearl. Or hell, Roman either. I start pulling stuff out of the fridge and making us all sandwiches when I feel eyes on me. I turn to see Roman standing at the island looking at me.

"Do you love her?"

"I already told you I do."

"And you'll never hurt her?"

"If I hurt her…you won"t have to worry because I would take care of myself way before you ever came after me. I would die before I hurt her."

"Mom and Dad… they fucked us up pretty bad with their bullshit."

"I have a way worse background, buddy. But me and Pearl - and you - we aren't going backwards. We're going forward and that is what we make it, not what they want it to be."

"You know… you're very good at this whole people thing."

"Yeah? I've been told that before." I recall the conversation from the locker room when he first told me about his sister. "I still like numbers better than almost anything in this world. Anything…except my Pearl."

He gives me a tired-looking smile, "You'll be good for her. You'll take care of her. She needs that."

I push a plate over to him, "You know… given the way our teammates are dropping left and right, you might want to think about finding someone yourself."

"Yeah, that's never going to happen, buddy."

"I wouldn't be so sure. These things have a way of sneaking up on you and…," I step around him so I can catch Pearl before she hits the top of the island because she's tripped on a rug I've been meaning to get rid of, "falling right into your arms."

"Oh, that was…so cheesy."

"Wait until you see the wedding I plan to give her."

Pearl pulls herself from my arms with a shocked look on her face. I take her back in my arms not wanting her to be away from me for too long. "You…you want to…marry me?"

"Yeah, beautiful. What did you think I meant when I said I would be your only one?"

"I…I…I love you."

"I love you too. Forever, beautiful."

"Man, you do realize you sound just like one of those movies she loves to watch right. The detective ones."

Pearl giggles and I laugh as we turn to her brother and start making plans for our future. It might sound dorky as hell, but Bogie can keep his falcon because what me and Pearl have… that's the stuff dreams are made of and my Pearl, she is the dream I never knew I wanted to have. My beautiful little Pearl. My femme fetale. My perfect accident. My forever.

Yeah, that's the most beautiful dream anyone could ever ask for.