I Won't Give Up on You (7 page)

“Hey, Caston baby, I haven’t talked to you in a super long time.”

Trying to ignore her, I mumble, “Uh huh.”

She steps in front of me, stopping me in my tracks and slides her arms around my neck. Her bottom lip protrudes out, and she whines, “Caston, I miss you. You aren’t nearly as fun as you used to be, since shacking up with what’s her name.”

Before I even have a chance to react, she lunges up on her toes and places a kiss on my lips. I quickly grab her hands from behind my neck and push her off of me. Hearing someone gasp at the end of the hall, we both turn in the direction of the sound.

Sabrina stands frozen in her spot. Her mouth hangs open with unspoken words.

“Sabrina!” I yell for her.

My voice brings her out of her daze, she shakes her head and storms off around the corner out of sight.

Shoving Lane away a little harder. “Sabina is her name, and you know I’m off limits now, Lane. Fuck, what are you thinking?”

She keeps trying to get back to me. “Caston, we were so good together.”

“Lane, you’re done. Get your shit and leave. Don’t ever step foot on BH property again. I will not tolerate your behavior.”

Hastily getting away from her, I run down the hall. This was a huge mistake. Fuck what was wrong with me? I should have turned my head. I should have moved away as she came near me. Hell, I shouldn’t have even come to the front door today, then I wouldn’t have run into Lane. She was a plaything when I was single. Fuck, back in the day, I would’ve grabbed the bitch and took her into my office for a quickie. Not now, now I love Sabrina, she is my one and only.

I have to fix this! Taking off down the hall, I turn the corner and run right into Terrance.

“Sir, what’s wrong?”

“Terrance, I fucked up. Please, make sure that Lane is escorted off BH property, tell HR I’ve let her go and get the paperwork for her termination started,” I yell as I take off running down the hall to Sabrina’s office and studio.

I pace back and forth in front of her closed office door and drag my hands through my hair. How would I even explain myself to her? She has every right to kick me to the fucking curb.

My text alert on my phone makes me jump as I fumble to get it out of my pocket.

Get the FUCK away from my office.

I hang my head as I type my response.

Bre, I’m sorry. I can’t even explain to you.

Deleting what I just wrote I retype.

I’m sorry.

I wait by her door and listen to see if I hear any movement from inside. After what seems like hours, I push myself off the wall and shove my hands in my pockets as I dejectedly walk to my side of the building.

Entering my office, I slide into my seat and drop my head on the cold desk.

“Come in,” I say when I hear a soft tap on the door. I don’t even lift my head up because I know it isn’t going to be Sabrina.

“Caston?” Sara says gently, “What’s up?”

I groan. “I fucked up—bad.”

I hear her walk closer to my desk, and I can smell her perfume. Lifting my head, I see the concern in her eyes. “Want to talk about it?”

Leaning back in my chair, I rest my hands behind my head and tell her everything that happened this morning to just now. She’s very patient; never making a comment or interrupting me until I’m finished, even though I can tell she wants too. As if on cue the phone rings, and I motion to her to hold her thoughts.

“Caston Black—Terrance, thank you. I owe you one.”

Turning back to Sara I tell her, “Terrance got all the paperwork done, so we won’t be seeing anymore of Lane. He deserves a fucking raise.”

“That’s good to hear, Cass. Now what about Sabrina?”

Scrubbing my hands over my face, I think long and hard. “I have no idea, Sara.”

My heart feels like it’s busting into a million pieces, and I didn’t know what to do to fix it.

“Well, you need to figure it out. Preferably before we go shopping today. She won’t want to shop for a wedding dress if she’s mad at you.” Chuckling at her comment she ruffles my hair a bit.

“Hey, quit that.” Trying to smile, I mumble, “Thanks for listening to me ramble.”

She walks over to me, hugging me from behind. “Anytime.”

I squeeze her arms that are around my neck. Clicking open my email, I immediately select the one from Detective Alverez and start scanning the contents.

“What’s wrong?” she says. “You just tensed up.”

“Detective Alverez thinks he found my real mom.”

“What!”

I jump at the tone of her response. “He says he was looking into old records of Beverly’s and came across something that didn’t seem right. He wants me to call him.”

She moves to the edge of my desk and rests on it, crossing her arms over her chest. “Are you going to?” I can see the concern on her face.

“I don’t know. I need to talk to Sabrina.” I cringe as soon as I say it. How can I talk to her about it if she isn’t talking to me?

Sara looks down at her watch. “Well, she should be finishing up a shoot now and be heading back to her office. Then we’re going dress shopping, so if I were you I would get to it, stud.”

Leaning my elbows on my desk, I rest my head in my hands as my fingers run through my hair. I’ll go bald before my time from stress the way I’ve been pulling at it the last few weeks.

Sara pats me on the back and leaves me to ponder what I need to do.

I push my chair away from my desk and head to the door. As I turn the corner, I nearly run Sabrina over.

“Jesus Christ, Caston!” Sabrina catches herself on the wall.

I grab her by the shoulders, trying to help. “Sabrina, I’m—Are you okay?”

“Fine,” she snipes back at me. Rolling her shoulders and getting herself back on her crutches, she says flatly, “I just wanted to tell you that I’ll be leaving soon to go with the girls. I don’t know what time I’ll be back. Maybe I’ll end up staying at Beth’s. I’m not sure.”

“Bre, no,” I say, dragging my hand through my hair again.
I have to stop doing that
. “Please, come in and sit down. Let me explain.”

She backs up shaking her head. “I’d rather not, Caston. I think I saw enough this morning. If I feel like talking tonight, we might.”

My heart sinks. If? “Bre, can I at least talk to you about something Detective Alverez emailed me about?”

Seeing her suddenly tense in front of me, I continue while shaking my hands in front of me, “Nothing about Beverly. We’re still safe.”

She puts a hand over her heart and takes a deep breath. I hate that I’ve put her through so much. That my past has caused her so much anguish in her life.

“Please, come in?” I entreat, holding my hand out to her.

She hesitates for a moment before snubbing my hand and hobbling into my office. I release the breath I didn’t know I was holding. At least she was giving me this.
Tread lightly
, I told myself.

As she passes me, I take a deep breath—lilacs and Sabrina. My most favorite scent in the world. I follow her in, shutting the door behind me and locking it, ensuring we won’t be interrupted.

I turn around and drink in the sight of my beautiful girl in front of me. Her brunette hair is still swept up on the top of her head in a messy bun. The tendrils that fall frame her face. She has a slight blush from the exertion of moving about on her crutches. Her lips are plump, and I want nothing more than to kiss them. She has a lime green camisole on that I know matches her undergarments. I feel my dick twitch at that thought. Her black pencil skirt stops right above the knee, hiding the scar and more importantly the tops of her black stockings and garter belt straps. I find myself taking a deep breath and swallowing hard, trying to keep myself from jumping her right here in my office.

“Caston?” she says, sounding annoyed.

“Sorry, please, sit,” I apologize, shaking my head, bringing myself out of my daydream while motioning to the couch on the side of my office.

She props the crutches on my desk and walks slowly to the black leather couch. Seeing her walk on her own puts a smile on my face.

“I love that.”

Quickly snapping her head in my direction she looks at me like I’ve got two heads. “What?”

“I love that you’re walking there without your crutches. You seem to be getting steadier every day, baby. The doctor said you don’t have to use them anymore. I’m not sure why you still do.”

I see her clench her jaw. “I do what’s best for me, Caston. Is this what you want to talk to me about, because if it is I’ll turn right around and walk back out of here?”

“No, no,” I say as I walk past her and wait to see where she’ll sit.

Finally she sits on the couch. I move to sit next to her. I’m disappointed when I feel her tense under my touch and pull away, setting her hands in her lap while turning her head.

Not wanting to make anything more awkward than it already is I start, “Bre, I got an email from Detective Alverez saying he thinks he found my real mom and that she’s alive.”

Her head snaps in my direction, eyes wide as saucers, and her hand flies to her mouth, covering the escaping gasp. “What?” The sound is barely audible.

I hang my head and think about that email. “He has emailed me a few times, but I haven’t responded yet. I’m not sure how to.” I look up and lock eyes with her. “I’m not sure I want to.”

“Oh, Caston.” She moves closer to me, resting her hand on my leg, sending an electric jolt through my body. I love that her touch does that to me.

“Honey, you have to at least talk to him. See what he has to say. Trust me, if you don’t, you’ll never forget it and wonder what if. Caston,” she places a hand on my cheek, “it’s okay to be afraid. I can go with you if you want? You don’t have to do it alone. Trust me, though, you will want to know. I’d give anything to have my parents back.”

I slide a hand into her hair, and she leans into my hand. “Bre, will you tell me about how you lost your parents?”

Her eyes immediately well up. I feel bad asking, but I have to know her account of the accident. I’ve read the reports a million times. I don’t see how she thinks it was her fault they died. It was a freak accident. Her dad lost control of the car in the rain.

Taking a deep breath she starts, “Dancing was my life. Ever since I was three, I’d been in some sort of dance class. My parents gave me every opportunity to make my dreams come true. They gave up so much, and I never thanked them. The house went into disrepair, they got second jobs, and carted me around at all hours just to give me the leading edge. Countless times I’d ask to take another class or to attend a special convention, and my parents never said no. I saw the worry lines grow deeper around my dad’s eyes and the way he would look at their checkbook every month. There wasn’t enough money to pay all the bills every month. But did they ever tell me I couldn’t dance? No. I took advantage of being an only child. Every spare cent and more went to me and my dreams.”

I pull Bre closer to my side, trying to calm her. I can tell that she needs my strength to get through this story.

“Caston, my parents lost their lives because of me.”

Shaking my head, I run my thumb along her jaw. “I’m sure that’s not true, Bre.”

“It is, Cass.” Tears start streaming down her face. I lean in to kiss them away, but she withdraws from my embrace, getting up to pace the room.

“It was my senior year of high school. I lived at school or the studio. Only four weeks before graduation, I had a rare night off. However, I begged my parents to take me to the studio on the way to the store, so I could get in a few extra classes. They hesitated, knowing extra classes meant more money, but like I said earlier, they never said no to me. Me and my selfish ways. We all should’ve been home eating dinner together, catching up with one another, but no, I insisted they take me to the studio. We got to the hill just before the studio, and it started to rain. When they dropped me off, I ran into the studio, never looking back at them when they drove away.”

She stops walking and hides her face in her hands, sobbing into them. I immediately walked over to her, wrapping her in my arms. Holding her for a while before her tears slow. Lifting her chin to look up at me, I wipe her puffy eyes. Helping her back to the couch, I draw her onto my lap. She immediately curls into my neck before taking a shuddering breath to calm herself down.

Finally, she goes on, “It was about forty-five minutes before they were supposed to pick me up when there was commotion outside of the dance room. The teacher stopped class and went to investigate. When she came back in, she looked like she’d seen a ghost. She came over to me, taking me in her arms before she broke down crying. I had no idea what was going on, but my stomach started churning when I saw the police officers in the door way. My legs gave out from under me and my teacher and I sunk to the floor. I knew they were gone. They were gone, and I never said goodbye or that I loved them. I just ran off into the studio. Caston, I never even looked back. How could I have been so horrible? They should still be alive.”

I tighten my arms around her. Lightly stroking her back, I kiss the top of her head repeatedly. My poor girl for keeping this in for so long. I wonder if she ever talked to anyone about that night before now.

“The rain made them lose control. They spun into oncoming traffic and into the path of a semi. They died immediately. I have no family, Caston. My parents were only children, and so was I. My grandparents are dead, so I was immediately an orphan. My teacher talked with the cops and social services. She took me in until I graduated. From that moment on, I spent every waking moment trying to become a professional dancer, so all my parents’ hard work wouldn’t go to waste. I almost lost my will to go on when I was with Mark, but since I’ve been with you my life has turned around. I thought I could finally make it for them.”

“And you will, Bre. They’re still with you. Every time you do something amazing in life, they’re smiling down on you.”

She doesn’t respond. We sit in silence for a while. I’m thankful she finally told me and that I’m able to hold her close, offering her comfort. I want her to know I’ll always be there for her.