I didn’t want to walk down memory lane.
“I’m not going to do it, Layla. My wife is dead. I won’t go through that again.”
“She wanted you to live, Dylan. She wanted you to be happy.”
“I was.”
“That’s not what she meant and you know it.”
“I won’t do what she wants me to do, Layla. I can’t.”
“Why?”
Sitting up, I got to my feet, pacing. I didn’t want to have this conversation, especially with my sister. There were some things better left unsaid. My life was not open for discussion. The past was dead and buried and would stay that way.
No sense in opening another can of worms.
“I’m not talking about this.”
“Too bad. Come tomorrow, everything changes. You know that. What are you going to do? Just ignore what is before you. She is giving you a second chance, Dylan. Take it. Grab it with both hands and don’t look back.”
“I can’t!” I roared into the darkness. “It’s not that simple, Layla.”
“Yes, it is,” my sister said, getting to her feet. “Come tomorrow, there will be no more Golden Skulls. This chapter will be finished. What comes next, you can change. All you have to do is forgive yourself and accept the gift.”
“I can’t change the past.”
“I’m not asking you to. Neither was she. All we are asking is that you try because if you don’t, you will die alone. Neither of us wants that. Don’t let her death be in vain. She planned for every outcome. You know she did. She loved you, Dylan. She wanted something better for you.”
“Better than her?” I snapped, rounding on my sister.
I was so fucking angry.
Angry at her, my sister, the position both of them were forcing me into. This was my life. I should have a say in how I lived it.
“You’ve had two great loves in your life, Dylan. One of them is dead. The other is still breathing. You have the blessing of your dead wife, her pleas begging you to make that leap. Don’t deny her last request because of your pride. Mom raised you better than that. I know you’re better than that and so did Kitty.”
Shaking my head, I whispered. “I won’t do it.”
“Then you will lose them both.”
“I already have,” I muttered, walking into the darkness.
I needed to get away from my sister. She was making me think of shit that I long forgot. Shit, that was dead and buried. A lifetime of memories that had no bearing on what was happening tomorrow.
I wasn’t capable of anything else.
As for the rest, it was moot.
It didn’t matter.
Once I found Ascari, I would fulfill my promise and disappear.
My mind was made up. Nothing was going to change it.
My life was my own.
I decided how I wanted to live it.