Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 110273 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 551(@200wpm)___ 441(@250wpm)___ 368(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110273 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 551(@200wpm)___ 441(@250wpm)___ 368(@300wpm)
She stopped, her bottom lip trembling before she smoothed it out.
“They were trying to brainwash me. I was supposed to come back, testify to back up everything Payton was supposed to say. Her word. My word. Quinn would’ve gotten off, and I have no idea what they would’ve tried to do to you, but it’s all over. Chase got to me, he helped me.
“After we were found, I had to get to Payton. Every time I cornered her, someone would come into the room or she’d leave. The few times I did get a word with her, she never gave me any indication what she was planning on doing. I was so worried today, but if she had said what she was supposed to say, I would’ve had the district attorney call me as a witness. I would’ve testified that everything she said was a lie, that I was kidnapped, that they tried to brainwash me. I would’ve testified that they should’ve never fucked with a mother.”
She stopped, turning back to the window, and her next words were so soft. “And if anyone had come for my baby, I would’ve killed them.”
Chills went down my spine.
She meant every word.
FIFTY-SIX
Kash
It was four thirty in the morning when the feds finally let me go.
I was now walking inside the Chesapeake, feeling as if it’d been a full month since I was here last, when it had only been a day. I’d gone a few steps before Peter came from the kitchen, his morning coffee already in one hand and the morning paper in the other.
He wasn’t dressed for the office, but he wasn’t dressed for bed.
Peter sipped his coffee. “Want some?”
I shook my head. “I want to try and crash with Bailey for a bit.”
“Then let’s get to it.”
“No.”
He frowned. “No?”
“No. I know what happened in court yesterday and I’m done. Family meeting. Everyone can know then, except Cyclone and Seraphina, but they should know some of it. No more secrets, Peter.”
His lips thinned.
I doubled down. “No more secrets, not about this.”
He sighed. “Fine.”
I did grin. “I hear congratulations are in order. You have a new baby mama.”
He snorted, but I could see a small flush appearing.
He rolled his eyes. “I have my faults, and one of those was women. I am making amends this year, but I won’t apologize for keeping Cyclone’s mother a secret. She was in and out of hospitals almost every other month, and she was bad. She got so bad, Kash. So low. She tried to kill herself eight times. Eight. Times.” He let out a long sigh. “We didn’t keep it a secret to be malicious. We thought we were doing the right thing.”
“You thought,” I corrected him.
“What?”
“Quinn didn’t think. She was setting you up. But you thought you were doing the right thing. It’s a difference that needs to be acknowledged. You were trying to be a good father at that moment,” I said, before another thought hit me. “When are you going to tell Cyclone?”
“As soon as he wakes up. Figured that’s best, so he doesn’t hear it from someone else.” His response was swift. He’d already thought long and hard about it. “Like you said, no more secrets. I do worry what this will do for Seraphina, finding out she’s the only child from Quinn now.”
“I’m worried what Bailey’s feeling, knowing that you chose to keep her out when you brought Cyclone in.”
“That’s not…” But he stopped, his mouth gaping. A groan came from him. “I didn’t even think about that.” A pause. He shook his head. “But it’s different. The circumstances were different.”
“Yeah, and a part of that genius brain of hers will know that. She’ll understand it. But the daughter in her might not feel the same.”
“What do you suggest I do?”
I shrugged, a full yawn working its way out of me. “Just be honest. Truth might hurt, but in the long run it’s always what heals, too.”
He nodded, sipping more of his coffee before nodding at me. “Go, Kash. We can talk about the rest with the family later. Be with your woman, because I know you’re one of those on that same list, too. She’ll be a lot happier once you walk into that room.”
“’Night, old man.” I threw him a quick grin.
He smiled. “’Morning, son.”
FIFTY-SEVEN
Bailey
The next morning, Chrissy took center stage first, sitting on the couch in Peter’s study, surrounded by all of us.
For some reason it felt more intimate, more private. Peter was sitting next to her, holding her hand, and Seraphina was to her left, nestled between her and Marie.
Everyone was silent as Chrissy spoke, focusing her attention on me. “When they took me, I didn’t know what was happening. They told me later what they made you see, but I didn’t really understand it. Not until they showed me a videotape.”