Ina Reads’s Reviews > Rough Trade > Status Update

This novel wraps up well on its own with the current epilogue, but the additional 18 pages on Sidney Bell’s patron which weren’t done in time for publication are much more fitting somehow. Even more closure, and not as bittersweet

After they’d hung up, Duncan said, “What’s this thing with you and Sullivan Tate?”
“He’s just cranky because I sort of stabbed him.” “You STABBED him?”
Ghost’s tone went defensive. “Only a little.”
“What does a little stabbing look like?”
“A misunderstanding,” Ghost said firmly.

Duncan came with him always.
“Hey. You weren’t in there very long,” Duncan said now, straightening, his brow heavy with concern. “Turns out I already have what I need.”
Ghost took Duncan’s hand and the last chaotic edges of the universe settled into place.

😭😍

He’d put half-hearted effort into telling Church & Tobias they didn’t need to take time off to come along but he’d known before he started that it wouldn’t work. It’d ended up being kind of helpful anyway. Church & Tobias made excellent distractions.

Oh my god. I figured Duncan went with him, but Tobias and Church too? I’m so glad 😭 Gah this book, these boys

I was starting to think that Ghost wouldn’t get closure for his childhood — and as much as I would have preferred that the four year time jump in the epilogue brought him nothing but happiness — I’m glad he got to see the man who tormented him behind bars, in a way that didn’t cause him additional trauma and gave him to closure he needed (as well as closure I wanted as a reader)

Duncan laughed. It came out rusty enough to be a little embarrassing, but Ghost smiled back, big and helpless and nervous. “We’ll figure it out.”

“It takes two to make a thing like this work,” Duncan said. “I can’t make all the decisions. Neither can you. We have to discuss things and agree or compromise.”
“Oh.” Ghost fiddled with his coffee mug. “I didn’t know. I might need some help with that.” His expression went thoughtful. “I don’t think I’ve ever compromised before.”

Duncan felt something inside him settle. He could accept that. He could take a chance on that, at least. “How do you see this going?”
Ghost blinked at him. “I—uh. I don’t know. I didn’t—I don’t have a plan for this part. I was gonna let you pick. I thought…you’d want to pick.”
“It takes two to make a thing like this work,” Duncan said.

“If you can trust anything in this world, I think you know you can trust me to do what’s in my best interest. If anything that happens to you happens to me, I can’t let you get hurt because that would hurt me. You being happy so you’ll stay with me is in my best interest. That makes me sound like a selfish dick, I know, but…that’s the honest answer.”