Still too pissed to calm down, I snapped the frail curtain rail in half, throwing the fractured pieces across the room.

My drunk-ass momma stumbled forward, pointing in Molly’s face. “Molly here needs to know that her scheming won’t work.” Taking a large drink from her glass, she slurred, “Leave him alone. You have no idea who you’re taking on, do you? Shelly is engaged to Rome and some trailer trash nothing will not get in the way of that. It’s been arranged for years. I always get what I want, darlin’. You just remember that.”

My control snapped and I embraced the searing hot rage pumping around my body. I looked dead into the nervous eyes of Shelly and spat, “I’m not engaged to her and never will be! Screw your f**kin’ fortune; I want nothing to do with it!”

Lifting my head, I stared at the old chipped wall, now spattered with hole after hole, my fists covered in splinters and plaster, the room a complete mess, scattered with broken furniture. I stepped back, the pain in my chest affecting my breathing, and not knowing what to do next, I walked forward, pressing my forehead to the wall.

Taking tight hold of Mol, I began dragging her out the door, when my momma ran after me, lashing out and slapping me hard across the face. The smell of liquor was so strong on her breath that I was surprised she could even stand. “You insolent child! You dare speak to us like that after everything we’ve given you? You’re the worst thing that ever happened to this damn family, you ungrateful piece of shit! You never get anything right, do you? Always screwing things up, and bringing that into our lives is the worst to date,” she shrilled, pointing her finger in my face.

“Take that back,” I threatened in return. My mind was racing. She’d never shown such hatred toward me in front of anyone else. Was she losing it? Was she so drunk that she was about to let the truth slip?

“Enough!” my daddy shouted, obviously worrying about the same thing. “I won’t discuss this any further. Quit f**king the girl and get on board with what’s happening. Your one f**king purpose in this life is to do as we say and do your duty as a Prince! So do it! And stop being such a pig-headed ass**le!”

Laughing without humor, I gripped Molly’s hand and announced, “I’m through with y’all. I choose Molly. I choose to not be in this f**ked-up life anymore. Jesus Christ! What more can you do to me?! You’re the worst f**kin’ people I’ve ever known. I’m your only son and you can’t stand me.” I had one more question, and even then, I couldn’t help but hope the answer would change. “Have you ever even loved me? Ever just once felt anything for me?”

My daddy curled his lip in disgust. “How can anyone love you? How can anyone love a stone in their shoe? You’re just one giant disappointment. But you will do your duty to this family, regardless. We’ll find a way to make you see reason, you mark my words.” The answer was always the same. I’d been a damn fool to ever think otherwise—they would never accept me.

My breath stuttered. Even just reliving tonight’s shitshow felt like a thousand daggers being plunged into my back one at a time.

I was in a bad place, one of the worst I’d ever been… And then the door opened, and I knew my girl was here to leave me for good, to deliver the final killer blow.

23

As soon as I heard the door shut, I decided to use offense as the best defense and whirled to face Mol.

“You should never have made us come here!” I screamed, seeing her red-with-crying eyes enlarge at the lack of control I had over my anger. “I warned you! I told you they weren’t happy about us, but you didn’t listen to me. You told me it’d be okay, that they would see us together and realize what we meant to each other. But no! Instead, you agreed to your own f**king execution. Christ, Mol! The way they treated you…” I waited for a sign, for some indication of what she was thinking. But there was nothing. She was numb, unmoving, and my heart f**king broke.

“Rome—” She eventually began to speak, but the way she said my name was wrong… off. Panic set in my veins and I interrupted her before she could continue—I couldn’t hear that she was leaving me. It would be the final straw.

Pacing before her, I yelled, “I could’ve stopped it—should have! I knew what they were capable of and still I trusted that you could handle it. But I saw your face in there, Mol—you f**kin’ checked out on me!” She had. They’d attacked and she had cowered.

Red burst across her cheeks, and she stepped forward, eyes blazing, meeting my shit head on. “I don’t care about what they said to me, but I care about what they are doing to you! Why do they hate you so much, Romeo? There has to be a reason. That was beyond brutal. What kind of parent hates their child for no reason?” Tears welled in her eyes and she croaked, “Your mother, the way she hit you, how could she treat her only son that way?” She was struggling to keep her composure.

Why did she hit me? Why does she hate me? Fuck! There was a reason all right! I’d kept the damn secret for so long that I felt I was buried under its massive weight.

Staring at Molly and pulling desperately on my hair, the words not coming easily, I decided to just spit it out quickly, get it done. I’d lost her anyway; may as well tell her why my life was so f**ked up.

Blood roared in my ears, and reaching forward, I let go and heard myself shout, “Because I’m not hers!” I sucked in a sharp breath when the sentence had finally been said.