Love and Sacrifice Read Online Free PDF

dumbfounded.
    This was dumb.
                  “Hi,” he finally speaks.
                  “This is weird.” I let out a little ha-ha laugh to lighten up the mood.
                  “No shit.” He seems a little angry.
    “Okay, yeah, I’ll go.”
    “Wait,” he stops me from walking away. “I’m sorry. I’m just a little… I don’t know, really.”
    “This is a big coincidence, isn’t it?”
    “You have no idea.” I’m confused by his answer. “Who are you here to see?”
    “My brother, Christian. Half of my family is buried here, my grandparents, uncles, cousins. It’s the place where God’s angels look after the fallen.”
    He seems to be bothered by what I’m saying.
    “Are you okay?” I ask him.
    “Yeah,” he laughs and shakes his head. “It’s just that… my mother.” Now when he says ‘mother’ it sounds more like mutha . It’s cute. “She used to say the exact same thing to me.”
    “My mom used to tell us that when we were kids too.” I hesitate to ask him my next question. “So… who are you here to see?”
    He points to the headstone in front of him. I walk up next to him and read the name. In Loving Memory of Lyra Dumas.
    “My mother,” Tommy says.
    “I’m sorry,” I say.
    “I’m sorry too.”
    “Dumas, that’s French, right?”
    “Yeah, my mother was French and my father was Italian.”
    “Dad still in the picture?”
    “No. He’s not. He was a bastard.” He pulls out a cigarette and lights it. I try to hold my breath when he exhales the smoke. “Your brother, how did he die?”
    “He was killed by crooked cops. I’m surprised you haven’t heard the story.”
    “The story of Roman Pierce who goes legit, moves to the suburbs and loses one son while the other hooks up with the daughter of the assistant U.S. Attorney, who turns out to be corrupt himself?”
    “Pretty much,” I say.
    “The dark-haired girl at your party. That was her, right?”
    “With my brother? Yeah. She moved in with us after everything.”
    “Really? Your father let that happen?”
    “Yeah, we saw how much they loved each other and said what the hell.”
    “Your folks are cool.”
    I laugh a little. “Yeah, they are.” I glance at the time on my cell phone. “I have to go. I promised Dina I would meet her at the carnival at six.”
    “You need a ride?”
    I wish I needed a ride.
    “I drove my car. You’re not going, right?”
    Please say you’re going.
    “Do you want me to go?”
    I chuckle. “Well, that was ballsy.”
    “It’s a simple question. Do you want me to go?”
    Instead of staring at his eyes, I stare at his lips because a guy with confidence and mystery makes you want to do that.
    “Yeah,” I answer.
    He flashes that sexy smirk. “I’ll see you there.”
    The fact that we just flirted in a cemetery should already give me a warning about this guy, but I’m choosing to ignore it because of those adorable hazel eyes.
    Tommy
                  There is so much irony and coincidence tonight.
    First, Christian Pierce is buried in the same cemetery as my mother. Second, the same saying my mother said to me about Saint Angels Cemetery is the same saying the Pierce kids grew up knowing. It’s crazy how the next time we see each other, I don’t have anything to do with it. Is the universe playing a trick on me? I mean, it’s one thing to run into someone at a store or on the street, but to run into them at a sacred place is another thing altogether.
    It was fun flirting with her, though. I knew when she said she wanted me to come to this carnival, I was in.

 
    Chapter 4
    “Fear”
    Ella
                  “Who are you looking for?” I jump at Claudia’s question.
                  “What?”
                  “You keep looking around. Who are looking for?”
                  “She’s looking for the hot waiter,” Dina informs.
                  I roll my eyes.