Page 104 of Juliet's Echo

I hadn’t loved her enough, yet.

Hadn't had enough time.

Juliet's eyes drifted toward me and whatever she saw on my face made her cry harder.

Alonse followed her gaze and laughed. Again he turned to her and asked.

“Who loves you best?”

Then a voice thundered through the house with so much authority that even I felt it in my chest.

"Her father, motherfucker!"

The room immediately erupted in loud, relentless, deafening gunfire. The sound was so violent it had to have swallowed every other noise in the world. Alonse's body jerked backward again and again as bullets tore through him, blood spraying across the room while the look of victory on his face transformed into pure shock.

Then everything dimmed.

Alonse included.

Silence slowly cleared the smoke from the room as I watched my cousin stagger, still trying to remain standing. When his body finally collapsed beside me, I looked into his eyes.

I saw anger become regret.

Regret become sorrow.

And sorrow become death.

A second set of footsteps thundered through the house toward Juliet.

Optimus Grind.

Turning toward the doorway, I found Echo standing there, an assault rifle still hot in his hands.

Epilogue

Juliet (One year later...)

“I’m never calling him Daddy.”

The words floated into the quiet air above me as I stared at the ceiling.

“Nope. Not happening. He better keep rolling with Echo and Choo-Choo.”

The familiar silence smiled, making a smile tug at my lips as well.

“So naturally, because Echo is my biological father, that makes Axel and Olivia my grandparents and Zion and Mylo my uncles. You get it. I get it. We get it.” I rolled my eyes. “But honestly? I’m glad everybody agreed to leave the titles alone. Yeah, it’s weird when I introduce Echo as my father and then Axel as my father,making my mama look like a total jump-off, but that’s their karma that spilled over from all the lies they let cook.”

My fingers toyed with the locket around my neck.

Echo gave it to me with a picture of my Simone inside.

She was beautiful.

And it pained me to know that I was older now than she would ever be. Life stopped—correction, life was taken from her—in that moment.

Forever sixteen.

“Besides,” I continued my rant, “can you imagine me calling Zion and Mylo, Uncle anything? They still act like kids. Mylo found out he was my uncle and immediately decided his authority increased.”