45. Chapter Forty-Five

Chapter Forty-Five

Roman

“ R o?” I hear Holden call from the living room.

“Coming!” I shout back, heading down the hall toward his voice. I come to an abrupt stop when I see a guy in a suit standing next to him.

“Hello, how can I help you?” I ask.

“Hello, Roman. My name is Jason Coates. I’m your father’s attorney.” His words catch me off guard. I wasn’t even aware that my father had an attorney.

“Okay,” I say. “What can I do for you?”

He glances between Holden and me for a second. “Can we please sit?”

“Uh, yeah. That’d be okay,” I mumble, then turn to Holden with a look I know he’ll understand as, “Don’t leave me alone with this guy.” I was right because he gives me a slight nod and follows us into the dining room.

Once we’re all seated, Jason places a folder on the table in front of him. “I’m the executor of your father’s will. I wanted to meet with you and talk to you about what you’ll be receiving as his beneficiary.”

I nod, reaching blindly for Holden’s hand. He grabs mine instantly, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

“Your father left you everything—the property, the house, its contents—and you’re the beneficiary on his life insurance policy.”

What? “His life insurance policy?” I didn’t even know he had an insurance policy. Hell, Beck and Holden had to help me pay for the funeral.

He opens the folder and slides it across the table to me. I lean forward and glance at the papers. None of them make any sense to me. There are crazy documents with different numbers and what looks like a deed, but I’m not sure. “What exactly am I looking at here?”

Jason clears his throat and leans forward. “The total payout on the policy is $500,000. Inside, you’ll also find the deed to the house and all other documentation you’ll need to cash out the policy.”

Holden gasps beside me, echoing my own shock. “I’m sorry, what? That can’t be right.”

My eyes find his, and he gives me a slight nod. “I assure you, it’s correct.” He pulls an envelope from his coat pocket. “I was also instructed to give you this after your father’s passing.” I take the envelope from him with shaky hands. “All the information you need is inside the folder. If you have any questions, you can call me at any time. My business card is stapled in the back.”

I nod. My thoughts are a mess, though. This man, who treated me like shit most of my life, left me a half-million-dollar life insurance policy? What the actual fuck.

Holden stands and walks Jason to the door. Meanwhile, I stare at the folder on the table for a second and then turn my gaze to the envelope in my hand. Written on the front in my dad’s scratchy handwriting is Rome . The thought of reading this letter makes my stomach turn. I slide it under the folder so I don’t have to look at it.

When Holden comes back into the dining room, he rushes over to sit beside me. “Ro, look at me.” I turn to face him. He looks concerned, which, yeah, makes sense. I’m a little fucked up right now. “Are you okay?”

“I, um, I think so?” I’m a little numb and a lot shocked, but I don’t think I’m about to freak out or anything. So that’s a plus.

“I’m going to call Beck,” Holden says, reaching for his phone.

“No, don’t do that. I’m alright.” He studies my face for a few minutes. I’m not sure what he’s looking for, but he must find it because he nods sharply.

Fuck, I did not want to have this conversation like this, but now’s as good a time as any. “I need to talk to you.”

He takes my hand in his, his green eyes locked on me. “Whatever you need, Ro. You know that.”

I take a deep breath. “I want you to have the house.”

His brow furrows as his jaw drops open. “No. No fucking way.”

“What? Why not? When you told me we should get it cleaned up, I thought I’d just give it to you. I can’t live there. I don’t want to.” Especially not after receiving the news a couple of days ago that the body they found was indeed my mom. And worse than that, she was found under a tree I spent the majority of my childhood climbing in while hiding from Dad.

Holden blinks at me a couple of times. “And you think I want to live there?”

I shrug. “Why not? It’s better than letting it rot. Someone should get some use out of it.”

“Roman,” Holden says, and between the fact that he full-named me and his tone, I know I’m in for it. “If you really think for one second that there is any way in hell I want to live in the house that brought you nothing but pain and terror, you’re fucking crazy . What do you expect me to do? Walk past the deadbolt on your childhood bedroom and just go on my merry way?”

“I mean… you can take the deadbolt off. I only had it there to protect myself.”

He pinches the bridge of his nose in what looks like frustration, mumbling something under his breath. With a sigh, he drops his hand and looks at me. “Do you hear yourself right now? ‘I only had it there to protect myself.’ There is absolutely zero way in hell that I will be able to make a home for myself in a place where my best friend, the most important person to me in the entire world, had to protect himself. No way, Roman. I’ve seen you wake up sweating bullets, screaming your head off because of what that man did to you in that house. And now you think I want it? That I’m going to be happy in the place that brought you nothing but misery? No way.”

“Well, what do you propose I do, then?” I ask, frustration rising. I owe Holden so much. I wouldn’t be where I am without him. I don’t understand why he won’t just accept what I’m offering him.

“Sell it. Burn it to the ground. Anything. I couldn’t live there, Roman. I couldn’t. I love you far too much to subject you to the horror of you coming to visit me there.”

His words send an icy chill down my spine. He points at me. “See! That’s the exact reaction I’m talking about.”

I take a second to let his words sink in. If the roles were reversed, what would I do? I close my eyes, picturing the Holden I met ten years ago. No way in hell I could subject him to the horrors of his childhood, either. I open my eyes and nod. “Okay, I’ll sell it.”

Holden slumps back against the chair, his relief clear. “Holy fuck, though, Hold. A half-million-dollar life insurance policy? Did not have that on my bingo card.”

“Good. Take that money and do something nice for yourself.”

A laugh bursts from my chest. “Like what?”

Holden shrugs. “Anything. Go back to school, buy a house. Anything, Ro. The future is wide open.”

An idea hits me so suddenly it damn near knocks the air out of my lungs. “If I started a non-profit here, would you volunteer?”

Holden’s face lights up with a bright smile. “Of course! You know I loved helping the kids before.”

A sobering thought hits me. “I’m staying here.”

Holden cocks his head to the side. “Yeah, I know that, Ro. As you recall, I was the one who called you on your shit when you tried acting like you might not.”

I take a shaky breath. “Yeah, but what about you?” Fuck, I do not like the idea of him leaving and going back.

“What about me?” he asks, confusion furrowing his brow.

“Are you going back home?”

He looks at me for a second before understanding passes over his face. “Nah, I am home. I love the hospital. And you and Beck. I don’t want to be anywhere else.”

Oh, thank God. I pull my hand from his and hold my arms open. He stands up and steps toward me, wrapping his arms around me.

“Everyone okay in here?” Beck’s voice echos from the other side of the room, and I turn my head to look at him. Fuck me, the man can wear a set of scrubs.

“Yeah, we’re alright,” I say, releasing Holden. “What’s wrong? Why are you here?”

He glances at Holden. “I got Holden’s text.”

I turn and shoot Holden a glare. “What the hell. I told you not to call him.”

He shrugs. “I didn’t. I texted him. To be fair, I texted him when the lawyer got here. So it was before you told me not to.”

Beck’s right. Total fucking chaos twink. I roll my eyes. “Why did you even ask if I wanted you to call him if you already texted him?”

“Well, because I didn’t tell him to come home. I told him a lawyer was here to talk to you,” he says with another shrug.

“And if you think for one second I’m letting you do hard shit without me, you’re crazy,” Beck adds, crossing the room to come stand beside us.

I cross my arms over my chest. “Both of you have called me crazy today.”

Beck leans over, dropping a kiss to my forehead. “I don’t know why CT here called you crazy, but stop expecting me not to show up for you, and I’ll stop calling you crazy.”

Holden scoffs. “When I find out what CT means, your ass is grass, Beckett.”

“Good thing you never will,” Beck says with a smirk. He turns back to me before Holden can respond. “Are you okay?”

“I mean… yeah? I think so. I’m also apparently half a million dollars richer.”

Beck’s eyes widen in shock. “I’m sorry. What did you say?”

I gesture toward the table. “Apparently, my dad left me a life insurance policy totaling $500,000. Oh, and also this note,” I say, pulling the envelope out from under the folder and holding it out to him.

He takes it from me and looks it over. “You haven’t read it?”

“No.” I’m not even sure I want to if I’m being honest. “Holden doesn’t want the house, so I guess I’m going to sell it.”

“Yeah, I can’t say I blame you,” Beck says, turning to Holden.

Holden throws his hands up in the air. “Thank you! At least someone gets it. That’s why I called him crazy. He didn’t seem to understand why I wouldn’t want anything to do with it.”

“Gotta say, beautiful, I’m with Holden on this. No one who cares about you would want anything to do with that house.”

“Thank you!” Holden says again, exasperation clear in his voice.

“Alright, alright. I get it,” I mumble. “I just wanted to do something nice for you.”

Holden places a hand on my knee. “Ro, you literally saved my life. You taught me how to drive. You put me through nursing school. Fuck, you practically raised me. You’re like my big brother. You don’t need to do anything else—you’ve done enough.”

“You’ve done as much for me as I have for you,” I whisper, knowing how many nights he held me together, how many times he wiped my tears and kept me safe from my own mind, and how hard he pushed me to get into therapy to help with my trauma.

“Exactly,” Holden says with a grin. “So stop feeling like you owe me. We take care of each other. It’s what we do.”

Beck’s hand lands on my shoulder and I turn, worried that we’ve upset him, worried about what I’m going to see on his face. But his eyes are soft, and his smile is genuine and light. Relief washes over me.

“Well, I’m gonna go find something to get into and leave you in Beck’s very capable hands,” Holden says, tapping my thigh once before standing.

Once he’s gone, Beck sits down across from me. “So, are you going to read the letter?”

I shrug. “I don’t know if I can.”

“I can read it for you.”

“Okay, yeah. I’d… yeah. Out loud, please?” I ask.

“Of course,” he says with a soft smile. He turns his attention to the envelope. The sound of him opening it makes my stomach flip, and not in a good way. He slowly unfolds the note and glances at me.

He scans the page for a second and then takes a deep breath.

“My Rome,” he reads. “I hope you actually read this, though I’d understand if you didn’t. There are no words to describe all the ways I’ve failed you. You and I both know my faults and my failures—”

“Yeah, no shit,” I cut in, interrupting Beck. “Shit, sorry. Continue.”

He gives me a soft smile then clears his throat, before looking back at the note. “I don’t have any words that can make up for it. I know money is not the cure for anything, but I hope you can take this and have a better life than the one that I gave to you. I’m so very sorry for the way I treated you. I love you more than anything, and I lost my way. You deserved better.”

Beck stops and sets the letter down on the table. “That’s all?” I ask.

“That’s all.”

Well, that’s enough to piss a person off. It would have been better if he had just… not . Years of being put through hell, and he thinks it can all be fixed with some money and a note? “Well, fuck him,” I snap.

Beck nods. “Fuck him indeed.”

“I want to start a non-profit here with the money. Do you think that’s stupid?”

Beck motions for me to come closer, so I stand and sit in his lap. He wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me against his chest. “No, I don’t think it’s stupid at all. I think it would be the perfect thing for you to do.”

I nod and sink into his warmth. After a few moments of silence, Beck asks, “You okay?”

“Yeah, I think I am, actually. He was a shit dad. I didn’t need his money or that note, but I’m going to do something good with it.”

Beck nuzzles my cheek. “Of course you are. That’s the kind of person you are. I’m so proud of you.”

His words bring a smile to my face, and I turn, catching his lips with mine. We settle into an easy rhythm. Every touch, every soft breath shared between us feels like a promise. The world narrows, until it’s just the two of us, lost in each other.