Rome's Chance (Reapers MC #6.6)(41)

“How could you know that?” I asked.

“I’ve seen a lot of people die,” he explained, his face shadowed. “And it’s more complicated than you think. Your mom was down for a long time before we got there. Probably twenty, twenty-five minutes. She didn’t have any corneal reflex at that point, which means her brain was already dying. If we’d gotten her heart going she could go on life support, but the odds of her ever waking up again… I tried to save her, Randi. I really did. But I was relieved when I heard that the doctor finally called it. Her brain was gone, and once they’re gone, they don’t come back.”

I tried to process his words, my anger wavering. He was telling the truth—I could hear the sadness and certainty in his voice.

“So that’s it,” I said. “She never had a chance.”

“Not that I can see. Not unless we’d gotten to her a hell of a lot faster.”

The anger dissolved, and my stomach clenched. For a second, I thought I might puke…

Lexi had waited to check on her, and now Mom was dead.

Oh, this was bad. Really bad.

“Lexi can’t find out,” I said, looking up at him. “She said she heard a loud thump, but she was taking a bath and Mom was drunk… She didn’t think it was a big deal. She’ll hate herself forever if she learns she could’ve saved her.”

Rome shook his head.

“You can’t think like that,” he said. “Even if Lexi had gotten to her right away, it might not have been enough. Her lung function was shit, Randi. Once it gets that bad, it’s a vicious cycle. She needed steroids to breathe, but you take enough and they start to destroy the body. Bones die. The meds can cause heart damage, too. We have all this advanced technology and we like to think we’re in control, but we’re not.”

Easy for him to say.

He wasn’t the one who’d left his little sister at home so he could spend the night partying.

“My brother, Damon, was a hell raiser,” Rome said, his voice quiet. “We both were. Born to cause trouble. Dad has us jumping out of planes and racing motorcycles when we were barely in our teens. For a while, Damon rode bulls and we both fought fire. People said it was crazy. That we’d end up dead, and you know what? They were right. Damon died. Guess what took him out?”

“What?” I asked, remembering Rome and the other bikers during the bar fight. Had his brother been a Reaper, too?

“It was my mom’s birthday, and we were playing Uno,” he replied. “Mom used to love Uno. God, I hate that fucking game. But it was her day and that’s what she wanted, so that’s what we did. Damon was winning, and I’d just flipped him off behind her back when he got this funny look on his face. He said his head hurt really bad. Then he fell over. It happened that fast.”

“Rome…”

“Cerebral aneurysm,” he continued. “He was twenty-six years old. No symptoms, no warning. And you know what? I saved him. I started CPR and the ambulance came. We got lucky. He didn’t die. Except he was already dead, Randi. Like your mother. We just didn’t realize it yet. And we had to stand in that room and watch while they turned him off.”

I swallowed, my mouth dry. How awful, and beyond sad. I reached out and touched the side of his face, wishing I could take away some of the pain in his eyes, and that’s when it hit me.

Rome understood exactly what this felt like. No wonder he’d seen through my anger.

“I’m sorry, Rome.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry too,” he replied. “And I’m sorry about your mother. Sometimes people just…die. And you think life isn’t going to go on, but it does. That’s why I want you to get some rest, babe. Because you’ve got two kids who need you, and it’s already tomorrow morning.”

He was right, but my brain was still spinning. I couldn’t go to bed like this. I couldn’t do anything like this.

“Rome, can I sleep with you tonight?”

“Sleep or fuck?” he asked bluntly.

I opened my mouth to say sleep, but the word wouldn’t come out. Maybe sex would help. Maybe it would make me feel less…empty.

“Sex.”

I don’t know what I expected. Maybe that he’d sweep me off my feet and into his bedroom like Rhett Butler. Instead he gave a low laugh and shook his head.

“What the hell?”

“There is no way we’re fucking tonight,” Rome said. “Not when you’re going through this. I’ll admit it—I stole your car. I needed to get home. And it’s true I can be an asshole. But even I have lines I won’t cross. I’m not gonna be the guy who used your mother’s death to get laid.”

I snorted, biting back a laugh. Rome gave me a wary look, but the man was so far off target about this situation that I hardly knew where to start.

“I know you’re not trying to use me,” I finally said, leaning in closer. I raised a hand to his chest, pressing against his heart before letting it slowly slide down toward the front of his pants. “I’m trying to use you, dumbass. I don’t want to be alone, because you’re right about all this stuff. I’m tired, and tomorrow I have to figure out how to handle everything. Lexi and Kayden need somewhere to live. Oh, and we have to plan a funeral but I don’t have any money for a funeral.”