We Were Forever Read online

  We Were Forever © 2019 Brandi Aga

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events or locales, is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. This book may not be redistributed to others for commercial or non-commercial purposes.

  Editing: Virginia Tesi Carey

  Cover design: Jay Aheer, Simply Defined Art

  Photo: Paul Jamnicky Photography

  Model: Chris Fleming

  Formatting: Lee Ching, Under Cover Designs

  CONTENTS

  Playlist

  Reader’s Note

  Prologue

  1. Leylah

  2. Roman

  3. Roman

  4. Leylah

  5. Roman

  6. Roman

  7. Leylah

  8. Roman

  9. Leylah

  10. Roman

  11. Leylah

  12. Leylah

  13. Leylah

  14. Roman

  15. Leylah

  16. Leylah

  17. Leylah

  18. Roman

  19. Leylah

  20. Leylah

  21. Roman

  22. Leylah

  23. Roman

  24. Roman

  25. Leylah

  26. Roman

  27. Roman

  28. Leylah

  29. Leylah

  30. Roman

  31. Leylah

  32. Roman

  33. Roman

  34. Leylah

  35. Roman

  Epilogue

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  More Books by Brandi

  Teri Michelle.

  Thanks for all the tears of laughter.

  #Seeyousoon

  We Were – Keith Urban

  Man Enough Now – Chris Bandi

  Leave Me Alone – Tyler Braden

  Hate me – Ellie Goulding, Juice WRLD

  Mercy – Brett Young

  Time – NF

  I Ain’t Going Nowhere, Baby – Cody Johnson

  Wish You Never Met Me – Papa Roach

  If You Met Me First – Eric Ethridge

  Someone You Loved – Lewis Capaldi

  Truth Hurts – Lizzo

  My Heart I Surrender – I Prevail

  Somebody’s Got Me – Mitchell Tenpenny

  Used To Love You Sober – Kane Brown

  One More Chance To Stay – Sam Riggs

  Hear Me Now – Bad Wolves

  Boo’d Up – Ella Mai

  Talk – Khalid

  Creep – Radiohead

  Bad Liar – Imagine Dragons

  To Save Something You Love – Sam Riggs

  Kiss Away My Ghosts – Creed Fisher

  Just A Phase – Adam Craig

  Cross Me – Ed Sheeran

  Right Girl Wrong Time – Jon Langston

  Tell Me You Love Me – Demi Lovato

  Withdrawals – Tyler Farr

  Losin’ Control – Russ

  Hurt Me - Lapsley

  Yours to Hold – Brett Young

  Marry Me – Thomas Rhett

  DEAR READERS,

  Please make sure and pick up We Were Memories before you read We Were Forever.

  This is the continuation of their story.

  Lots of major plot points will be spoiled and misunderstood if not read in the correct order.

  * * *

  Xo

  Gang violence or personal vendetta?

  Roman Blackhart, 34, of Newport Beach California, has been acquitted for the murder of Armillio Caballero in the first degree. Blackhart was picked out of a lineup by witness Sherry Cole, who goes by the alias of Meka West. She was at the nightclub at the time of the shooting. Although the .40 Smith & Wesson used to kill Caballero was never found, Blackhart was convicted and sentenced to life in prison just over one year ago.

  However, he was recently freed with most charges dropped after an appeal court cited lack of evidence, including the murder weapon. Also, the defense team was able to poke holes in Sherry Cole’s original statement and shed doubt on her motives for testifying, suspecting that she had been paid off by an off-duty police officer.

  In the end, after over a month of speculation, the Supreme Court rejected a prosecutor’s appeal to retry Blackhart, stating that the evidence in question wasn’t strong enough to place him as the shooter. His case was overturned.

  It is rumored that Blackhart has been having a romantic relationship with his seasoned lawyer, Veronica Decosta, privately. Our news team reached out to Blackhart and Decosta for personal insight, but the rest of the details are unclear as both parties refused to comment.

  -Laura Renley, reporter, NBT

  “So, I’ve been meaning to tell you, I’m seeing someone. I have been for a while, actually.” Erin shoves a giant bite of French toast into her mouth at the end of her sentence, most likely to avoid the firing squad she knows I’m going to rain down on her in questioning.

  She’s been in and out of the dating game for years. This is nothing new to us, but lately she’s...different. “He’s really something,” she says around her fork, still shoveling her food in.

  “What? No, you didn’t mention it.”

  “I didn’t?”

  I narrow my eyes at her attempt to downplay the situation, to silently let her know I’m on to her, but for her pride’s sake, I feign innocence. I know better. I know her better than she knows herself. I almost feel guilty for a split-second. The thoughts that are running through my mind are not that of a best friend. We haven’t had near as much time together this past year as we did before. Before men and babies, like we promised we always would. But life happens and the show must go on.

  She shakes her head in confirmation, insisting she swore she told me, sticking to her story. I continue my role as a good girl and don’t call her out on it. “Well, I helped this guy rent a place a few blocks over from the apartment.”

  This earns her judgement from all around the table. Ryan gives me a small smile, kindly not saying anything out loud either, but I know he’s thinking exactly what I’m thinking. This guy was her client and now they’re sleeping together. Typical Erin. Always taking on a charity case.

  These men take advantage of her and bounce once they get what they want from her. I.e.: in her pants, her money. Whatever they can get. I try to hide my disapproval but it’s not an easy job. I can only tolerate so much before something’s got to give. “You guys should meet him!” I see that look in her eyes and give in like I always do. I’ve seen it all too many times. I’ve had that look myself not too long ago, I’m sure of it. I put on a fake smile for her and give her what she wants, once again.

  “We’d love to. Maybe we can double date or something one night when I can work the sitter in for nighttime. We’d like that, right babe?” I look to Ryan again for support and he nods in agreement. Luckily for him, I don’t have to kick him under the table. “Who is he? You never told me all the juicy details.” This, I really do kind of want to know. Ryan rolls his eyes and mutters under his breath.

  “Oh, his name is Blaze. Well, that’s what he goes by, anyway.” My fork clatters to my plate. I choke on a piece of toast, that feels like cotton balls instead of food, being shoved down my throat. Her and Ryan both watch me recover, genuine concern etched all over their faces.

  “You okay, Ley?”
he asks as he takes our plates from the table to the sink. I put my hand to my chest to slow my breathing and clear my throat. I wipe my mouth on my napkin and fold it into a hundred tiny folds and leave it on the table. “Yeah, fine. Just need more juice.” I hold my glass up for show, avoiding Erin’s face at all costs. I can see her watching me, staring at me out of my peripheral vision. She’s on to me. She knows something’s amiss. No matter the length of time spent apart, we still read each other like an open book.

  Ryan nods. “Why don’t you two go out back? Catch up. Spare me the juicy details.” He wiggles his eyebrows jokingly, but he truly couldn’t give two shits about the dude Erin’s boning. “I’ll clean up and take Maddy.” She squeals at the mention of her name and I can’t help but smile. Erin picks her up out of her high chair and squishes her cheeks together while she smothers her with kisses. I’m feeling all kinds of things and I don’t know how much longer I can watch this.

  Thankfully, Maddy reaches for Ryan and wraps her little hands around his neck as he takes her from Erin. I grab ahold of her arm and pull her along behind me toward the privacy of the patio.

  “We’ll be out here if you need us.” I don’t wait for Ryan to respond before I shut the door behind us. I lean against it. Slowly taking in one deep breath after the other.

  “What are you doing? And why do you look like you’re about to explode?”

  “I’m breathing.”

  “Okay. That much I know. What’s going on?” My hands fly to the top of my head and I lock my fingers together out of frustration. “What? Tell me.”

  “You said his name is Blaze?”

  She nods.

  “Do you have a picture of him?” She digs her phone out of her back pocket and scrolls through it till she finds the right picture to show me. Of all times, the Selfie Queen can’t find a decent picture to share. She finally turns her screen toward me, and I grab it out of her hands the second my eyes land on his. They’re lying together, on her bed, his arm wrapped around her shoulders. “Shit, Erin. This is not okay.” I shake my head and pace around the patio. I curse and bite my nails and pace some more. I’m not sure what to make of this. Is this a joke? It has to be. Right?

  “Ley, I need to know what’s going on. You’re scaring me.” She puts her hand on my arm, stopping me from looking like I’m two steps away from the looney bin, no doubt. Her eyes flick to the door. “Ryan’s right inside.” She lowers her voice another octave. “You have to tell me. What is this?” I have a really bad feeling in my belly. Maybe I shouldn’t have eaten so much breakfast. Or let her come in at all. I feel like I’m going to be sick.

  “Roman,” I force his name past my lips and tears fall down my cheeks at the mention of it. I don’t understand why. I don’t miss him and I sure as hell don’t have any good feelings left to feel about him. Not anymore. That sick to my stomach feeling, as if I could throw up everything I just ate right here on the concrete, is back in full swing. I walk back to the chair and sit. I tap the phone screen to light it up again and stare at his picture, study it, look for clues. Fuck, I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with this information. “He works with Roman. I’ve seen him. Erin, I’ve met him.”

  “What? Are you sure he doesn’t just look like him?”

  “What? I’m not an idiot. I promise you. How did you meet him?”

  “He came into Robin’s. I was the only one in the office that day. He wanted to look at a house…”

  I shake my head as her sentence trails off, worry replacing her obliviousness from just two seconds before. “You can’t.” I grab her cold hands and grip them tight in mine. “It won’t end well. Please.”

  She pulls away from me and leans back in her chair as if my words have burned her. The hurt running deeper than I intended it to. My touch mixed with my words more than she can handle. “I don’t know what to say.”

  “I know you’re confused but that’s what they do. That’s what Roman did to me. You saw it! He made me love him and then completely cut me out. You were there, Erin. He’s done some bad shit, and I know his friend there is no saint. Don’t do this.”

  “Wow. I don’t know, Ley. I think I need to go.” She stands abruptly, taking her phone away from me with shaky hands. I’m on her heels to the back door before she can get too far. I put my hand over the knob before she can grasp it to open it.

  “Don’t bring him back here, Erin.” Our eyes lock for a moment too long and it’s uncomfortable. Unfriendly. I blink back the hurt to ward off any stray tears that haven’t yet fallen. She says nothing. Instead, she swipes my arm out of her way and walks through the door and straight out the front, leaving me standing in the doorway with my jaw on the floor. Ryan calls out to her from the living room, but she doesn’t even stop and say goodbye.

  The perk of being on the inside for so long, if you’re optimistic and like to call it that, is that everyone knows who you are. Mostly the guards. I was treated like shit in here until I earned my place. Now it’s all about respect. I respect them, they respect me. Everyone else sees that, so I get respect from them too. Every now and then a newcomer thinks they can run up and get shit done but they quickly get knocked back down a notch. Prison ain’t like the outside.

  My once thriving, beating heart was capable of being a decent human being. Of doing what’s right and understanding the act of right from wrong and fully prepared to deal with the consequences.

  Now? That heart is long gone. Obliterated into nothing but an empty dark hole.

  “Blackhart. Your lawyer’s here.” The guard stands outside the door of my shared cell. I stand in the doorway with my feet spread apart and my palms flat against the wall so they can shackle me as usual. “What’s her name?”

  My eyebrows dip, not sure who he’s talking about but not wanting to fully give away my vulnerability that I don’t know, either. “I don’t have a lawyer.”

  “Then who’s that hot blonde waiting to see you? Guess I’ll give her a go myself if you don’t want her.”

  Her.

  I didn’t call a lawyer. Obviously, he’s screwing with me and I’m not in the mood for it.

  I shrug. “Fuck you. Are we doing this or not?” He pushes me down the walkway and I trip, catching myself before I hit the ground.

  “Be careful, Blackhart. Don’t forget where you are and who you’re talking to.”

  I laugh subtly. “How could I forget?” I hold my chained hands up, stopping at our destination. We’re in a private room today. This is new. My senses are on full alert. The reality hits me that there probably is no lawyer and I’m probably about to get jumped.

  “Relax and sit down. She’ll be a minute.” He smirks and pops his gum between his lips. He shuts the door behind him, and I’m left alone in a small metal room, not much bigger than my cell, with nothing but a metal table and four chairs. All secured to the ground. I checked.

  A few minutes later, the metal hinged door creaks open and in walks a small blonde figure, also alone. No guards escorting her in. This is new, too. My eyebrows lift at the sight of an unexpected familiar face from my past. “What are you doing here?”

  “Saving you.”

  I have questions. So many questions. But I can’t let her know that, not yet. Not until I know what’s really going on here. They’re probably listening in on our talk anyways. Actually, there is no ‘probably’, they always listen. She walks to the table and leans over it to set her papers down in a neat stack between us and rests her palms flat on the cool shiny surface. Her small cleavage poking out of her shirt. She smiles the moment she catches me looking.

  I lean back in my chair as much as I can and get comfortable. This should be interesting. “I don’t need saving.”

  “Oh, big bad Roman.” She rolls her eyes. “You don’t have to do that with me. That tough guy shit. Because it looks like you do from here.” She reaches across the table and grabs the chains around my wrists and shakes them for show. Her long blonde hair, her Victoria’s Secret perfume, she’
s intoxicating. It brings back all the memories of years and years ago. Or maybe I’ve just been chained up in here too long. I haven’t touched someone else since…

  “Veronica…” I warn, her hands roaming down the chains still attached to me, past my wrists, and down to the top of my thighs on my lap. When she doesn’t back off, I pull her forcefully the rest of the way across the table to my lap. Fuck the cameras, then. If she wants to dance, I’ll show her how. She pulls my shackled hands up over her head and down behind her back to rest just above her ass. “What if I did do it?” Her breath hitches but she isn’t scared. She’s not afraid of me. If anything, she’s turned on, intrigued. This isn’t the same girl I knew back then. But then again, we were only just out of high school. Babies.

  “Then you fucking lie,” she whispers as a matter-of-fact, her lips only an inch from mine. I pull back and look in her eyes. Searching for deceit or anything that tells me she’s full of shit. “You lie. And I lie. We lie our asses off together and get you out of here. Help me help you.”

  Veronica and I go way back. All the way back to junior high. I got her knocked up in high school, but she lost the baby. Or at least she says she did. She could have had an abortion or been lying about the whole thing for all I know, because she wouldn’t see me for months. We tried to reconcile a while after that, but she left town to go to law school after college and I sure as shit didn’t. I shied away from serious relationships after that and look where that got me. I never told anyone else about her. I guess I tried to forget about her entirely when she hurt me. Which is funny now, if you think about it, seeing as I did the same thing to someone else. I guess we are two peas in a pod.

  “Why do you wanna help me? We haven’t seen each other in years. You vanished.”

  The lawyer in her comes out and she shimmies out of my hold and walks around to take a seat. Being so close to me clearly threw her off her game more than she thought it would, or at least more than she wanted me to know. She shrugs. “Figured I owed it to you.”

  Ah. “You owe me nothing. I don’t need your pity get out of jail card or whatever this is.”