"And where you gonna look?"

"I don't know. Everywhere. I can't just do nothing. They've taken everything from me... Everything!"

Ally moved right in front of me, panic all over her features. "Rome, I understand the need for justice, I really do, but be logical. Let the police do their job. They'll be found and dealt with in the right way."

"Al..." I whispered, unable to find my voice.

"Promise me. Don't let them ruin your life anymore. You go after them, and you'll end up in trouble. I know you Rome, you'll lose it."

"Goddamn it, Al!" I complained, but slumping my shoulders, I reluctantly nodded my head. "Okay, we'll go to Birmingham but... let's go now, before I change my mind."

Ally tentatively placed her hand on my shoulder. "We'll get our bags packed and get straight on the road. I'll drive."

I stood numbly and reluctantly left Mol's bedroom, following Ally to her room while she got her stuff together. Everywhere I stood felt suffocating, so I stepped out on the balcony to think. It was the wrong choice; it was out here where Mol and I had really hit it off. It was the beginning of us.

After about ten minutes, there was a panicked knock on the door, and Lexi and Cass ran in, their faces dropping when they saw me standing outside, looking at them blankly.

"Hey, Rome. We're sorry. We didn't know you'd be in here," Lexi said. I didn't reply, just turned away again to stare out at the trees once more.

"Where's Molls?" Cass whispered, trying to be discreet, but her thick Texan accent sounded like a foghorn in the quiet room.

"Gone," Ally whispered back, causing all my muscles to tense.

"Jesus! Gone where?" Cass asked, her own anger seeping through her words. "Wherever it is, we need to go and get her! Now!"

"Too late, Cass. Looks like she's gone back to Oxford, caught a flight outta here earlier tonight, hitched a ride from the hospital with the professor," Ally informed her, and for the first time that night, I heard her own tired sadness leak through.

Someone sniffed, and then Lexi's soft, broken voice cut in. "Poor Molly, what must she be feeling? I want her back where she has friends. I want to hold her, comfort her, and tell her everything will be okay. No wonder she left. How's she expected to cope with everything that happened?"

"With me!" I screamed, almost involuntarily, and whipped to face our shell-shocked friends. Lexi's heavy black makeup was smudged down her face, her bottom lip trembling as she stared at me, eyes wide.

"I'm sorry, Rome, I-"

"She had me!" I shouted again, approaching them furiously. Ally moved before me, trying to stop me with her hands flat on my chest. I cast her aside, yelling over her shoulder. "We were meant to get through all of this shit together! She promised me, over and over! I'm so fuckin' mad at her! You all stand here crying, but she ran out on you too. She left all of us! She's almost twenty-one and she still runs when shit gets tough! She should have fuckin' stayed, stayed and got through our baby's death with me!"

Lexi and Cass stood rooted to the spot, tears streaming down their faces. I actually felt some semblance of guilt seeing Cass reduced to a weeping mess. But I was pent up with rage, stuck in fucking limbo, unable to see past my own grief.

The door burst open, and Jimmy-Don and Austin stepped in. Austin glared at me as Jimmy-Don wrapped Cass in his arms, eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he registered the scene. Austin pulled Lexi beside him, cupping her face, then turned to look at me, mouth tight. He was pissed at me too?

Perfect.

"Rome, you need to calm the hell down and stop ripping on the girls," Austin said calmly, but I could hear the heavy threat in his voice.

"Fuck off, Austin. You have no idea what I'm going through," I snapped, moving to walk away.

His already dark eyes seemed to blacken even more, and he grabbed my arm. I looked down at his hand wrapped around my bicep and clenched my jaw.

Austin watched me, lurching back slightly, but hissed, "You're right, I don't, none of us do, but don't give Lexi shit because Molls left you, okay?" That caused me to pause, and Lexi lowered her head in embarrassment, avoiding my gaze.

Whatever. I couldn't give a rat's ass as to what was going on between those two right now.

Ripping my arm free, I looked to Ally and asked, "You ready?"

She nodded, exhausted, and addressed the rest of our friends. "We're going to my momma and daddy's early. Have a nice Christmas, y'all, and we'll catch you when we get back." She hugged each person tightly, but I just pushed past them to the door-I wasn't exactly full of Christmas cheer.

A firm hand landed on my shoulder.

Austin.

"You okay, man?" he asked, no longer pissed, just worried.

Shit. This was Austin, my best damn friend. I sagged and shook my head no. "She'll come back," he assured me.

I met his eyes, then Cass's and Lexi's. "Look, about before-"

Austin grasped my face in both of his hands, interrupting me mid-sentence. "Don't apologize. Just get the hell out of here and get your shit together. We got a championship to bring back, and you need to be in top form." He planted a typical Sicilian kiss to my forehead.

Stepping back, I ran down the stairs, past all of Mol's sorority sisters watching me in pity, and out into the crisp winter air, making my way straight over to the Mustang.

Ally joined me seconds later and in silence, we drove to my frat house, I gathered some clothes, rang my coach, and we hit the road.

Destination: Birmingham.

30.

"Rome, we're here," I heard Ally say from beside me as the roaring engine of the Mustang grew to a stop. At first I was disorientated, but then I remembered... everything... and that excruciating pain that had subsided, if only for a short time during sleep, stabbed back into my chest with vengeance.

Taking a deep breath and opening the passenger door, I smiled at Aunt Alita, who was running from the small country cottage, arms spread, tears running down her face, shouting, "Rome, mia Rome! Viene aqui, viene aqui!"

Smashing against my chest and squeezing her arms around my waist, my tiny Spanish aunt cried into my shirt. The lump in my throat expanded with her over-the-top affection. It was how a mother should be-nurturing, protective, loving-and that thought sliced my heart more. Even though unborn, Molly had been all those things to our child.

Pulling back, Aunt Alita asked, "My darling, are you okay?" in her heavily accented tongue. "Ay dios mio! Such a tragedy. May the Lord strike down your parents for such cruelty!"

My uncle stepped onto the small porch, pulling my attention, a sympathetic frown on his face-his face that looked too similar to my father's to bring any comfort.

"Mama! Leave him be," Ally said, rolling her eyes in my direction, ushering her mother away and into the house.

With a deep breath, I walked to my uncle, stiffening as he laid his hands on my shoulders. He immediately lifted his palms into the air. "Sorry, son. I forget how much your daddy and I look alike."

"No, it's fine. I'm just not used to people touching me, that's all. And yeah, you do look so much like him at times it's uncanny."

Uncle Gabe smiled sadly. "Though nothing alike, I hope?" Placing his hand on the back of my head, he pulled me close. "That man is evil, Rome. I knew he wasn't a good man. Hell, even growing up, he was an ass, but for both your momma and daddy to do what they have lately... Well, I could never have believed them capable of such behavior."

Letting out a humorless laugh, I said, "Yeah, well, I'm sure Charles Manson's family thought the same about him too. Some folks are just born to be bad and no one can stop them."

Uncle Gabe's brown eyes glistened, a tortured expression on his face. "I should've done more for you, took you away from it all... fought for you harder. I've let you down." There was a pause in his breathing before he whispered, "I failed you so bad, son."

Shifting out of his embrace, I replied, "No, you didn't. My bastard parents keep getting away with this shit, everyone blaming themselves for their actions. But no one's to blame but them. For reasons only they will ever know, they take enjoyment in destroying people, people they should've loved."

Uncle Gabe's eyes dipped, and putting his arm around my shoulder, he guided me into the small house, revealing, "Well, it seems karma may have caught up with them at long last."

Stopping dead, I asked quickly, "What are you talking about?"

Walking ahead into the front room, my uncle pointed to the TV. "It's all over the news. Hell, it's everywhere..."

Heart pounding, I raced into the room where Ally and Aunt Alita where already sitting on the couch, eyes glued to the screen.

Ally went to say something, but the images on the news almost brought me to my knees, and she stayed silent.

Breaking News: Tide Star QB's Girlfriend Miscarries Amidst Prince Oil Money Laundering Scandal My exhausted mind raced to take in all the images. They showed Molly on a gurney being ushered into the back of an ambulance, with me holding tightly onto her hand, her dress and my white suit covered in blood.

The reporter spoke in depth about the incident and the breaking story of how my momma assaulted Molly at the hospital and how she'd been arrested for assault. Next, a preview of tomorrow's paper covered the screen, with that same fucking image, and the anchors went on to talk about the night of the dinner and how Molly had miscarried later on. It infuriated me that they didn't even know to mention how she'd changed my fucking life, how she'd been brutally robbed of being the best fucking mother on Earth, and how she was the most important person in the world to me.

The next image was of my father in handcuffs, being taken from his home. The usual arrogant sneer was on his face, unchanged, as the police pushed him into the squad car. The camera switched back to the anchors, who went on to discuss the massive amount of money my father had been laundering from his own company's profits to cover what looked like some corrupt off-shore investments. They were suspecting that my father owed a set of dubious people a lot of money and that he'd drained his share of Prince Oil's profits over the last year-the only share left in the black belonging to Martin Blair, who had yet to make a statement.

And then it hit me. The marriage. My arranged marriage to Shelly would've given him access to Martin Blair's money as per the agreement the two of them had made. The bastard! The Princes of Alabama would've been penniless without it... ruined.

Money. It was always about fucking money!

Launching to my feet, I made a move for the door, but a hand on my shoulder held me back. I struggled to get away.

"Woah! Rome, calm down, son!" Uncle Gabe protested, backing away. Ally and Aunt Alita, all wide-eyed and nervous as they watched me fall apart.

Gripping my hair in anger, I let out a loud scream and left the room, apologizing over and over. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry... I just... I need to get out of here... I need air..."

Bursting out into the cold night, I kicked over anything in my path: the grill, chairs, Christ, every neatly potted plant I could see, and rammed my left fist against the large stone wall surrounding the yard, numb to the skin ripping apart at the impact.

All the shit I'd been put through this year was because my daddy was in debt up to his fucking eyeballs? My girl and my unborn angel destroyed because of my parents' fucking greed! I couldn't take it anymore. I couldn't take any more pain or disappointment. I was drowning, fucking drowning in misery.

Throwing myself down on a lawn chair, I pulled out my cell. Molly would still be in the air as she flew the hell away from me and the fall of the Prince Empire, but I had to call. I needed to hear her voice; it was the only thing, bar her touch, that calmed me.

Dialing her number, my heart flipped when her voicemail message immediately played: Hi! You've reached Molly. Sorry I can't answer the phone right now, but if you leave your name and number after the tone, I'll get back to you when I can.

Ending the call, I dialed the number again... and again... head lowering and heart cracking with every English-accented, "Hi!"

After the fifth time of letting the message play out, I finally spoke: "Mol. There's a story in the paper. It's about us... about losing our angel. Christ, Mol, there's a picture of you. It's breaking my heart and you're not here. My momma has been arrested for assault; my daddy has been arrested for money laundering. Please, call me. Tell me where you're at. It's all fucked up. I'm going crazy without you. I love you. Come back to me."

I hung on the line until it went dead, then succumbed to all the pain ripping me apart and, no longer able to stave them off, let out the wracking sobs. I couldn't breathe, couldn't stop the shaking of my body. I was completely falling apart.

Seconds later, I felt an arm wrap around my shoulder and I automatically flinched and moved to get up. Strong arms pushed me to stay seated, and as I looked up through my fallen hair and blurry eyes, Uncle Gabe pulled me to his chest, patting my head soothingly. "It's okay, son, let it all out. Don't fight it."

Giving in and taking comfort in his support, I gripped to his shirt, confiding, "I can't do it anymore. I can't be without her. What am I going to do? What if she never comes back for me?"

My uncle's strained and hoarse voice replied, "Shh, son. It'll be okay. None of this was your fault. Losing your baby should not be on your conscience."

Anger fused in my veins and I snapped, "It was, though. It was all my fault!" My face was wet with too many tears and, giving up the last of my resistance, I sagged and said brokenly, "Everybody leaves me. Nobody ever has faith in me. I'm never enough... I'm never fuckin' enough... What is it that makes everybody leave me...? What is it that makes them not love me enough to save me too?"

My uncle tightened me in his hold and then moved before me to grip my cheeks. "You are enough! It's not your fault, you hear me?"

My head shook in disagreement and my eyes closed, but the fucking stream of tears just wouldn't stop... anger and grief now the only emotions I had left.

31.

I woke with a start, sitting up in bed, sweating, panting, and my cock so damn hard in my boxers. My hand felt beside me, searching for Mol, but the spot to my left was empty. Oh, yeah. She'd gone, and it was my third night at my uncle's place... alone.

I looked around the unfamiliar room, my eyes catching sight of the clock beside me-three in the morning. Shit. My thoughts were immediately on my girl, knowing she'd already be awake and going about her day in Oxford.

Was she missing me? Wanting to come back home?

Falling back onto the mattress, I groaned and squeezed my eyes shut, but the replay of images from my dream was a slow torture, a temptation-I'd broken from my sleep way too soon. I wanted the memory of making love to my girl to seem real, wanted to feel once again what it was like to be inside her, chest to chest, rocking together, hands intertwined... lost in her... saved by her.

Closing my eyes, my memories slammed into me like a fucking truck, but I embraced them. I wanted to remember...

"Romeo, what are you doing? The party... you've just won the SEC Championship, you should be with the team..." Molly panted into my hair as I held her against the wall of my room. As soon as the door slammed to a close, I began pushing down her panties.

Lifting the skirt of her dress, I wrapped her legs round my waist. "They've had me all day in that fuckin' parade, showboating me through town. The press has heard everything I gotta say. Now it's all about you, and me, and sinking my cock into this sweet little pussy," I said slowly, taking my hand and flicking my finger along her clit.

"Rome!"

Slipping back to reality and groaning with need, I reached down, stroking along my cock, trying to remember everything: how it felt being that close to my girl, how her face looked in the moonlight as I thrust into her against that wall. I was fucking desperate, searching for some connection to a time when things weren't so messed up...

I freed my dick from my jeans and guided it toward Mol's hot center. "You ready, baby? You ready for me?"

"Yes!"

I ran the tip around her warm hole, teasing, feeling her push down in frustration. "Mmm... I might just wait until you need it a bit more."

"Rome! No! Please..."

Smiling as she tilted her hips just right, I breeched her entrance, and with one fast slam, pushed right in to the hilt.

Christ, it felt so good.

Molly gripped the nape of my neck as I pressed kisses along the sides of her neck and the swells of her tits. "Shit, baby, you're so tight."

"Harder, Rome, harder..." she begged.