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"Forward me whatever info you have," Declan said.
"Are you sure? Because if you recommend a lawyer, I'd be happy to take this off your hands."
"Fucking hell, Reese." He closed his eyes, looking over his shoulder at Paisley, who just waved her hand. Sometimes we forgot she wasn't an innocent little girl anymore. "No one else will take care of this. I will."
"But you've got a lot going on."
"Reese." This was Gran. She spoke in a low, strange voice. "This is not the time for you to be brave, okay? Let us all help."
"We'll get through this," Tyler said. “As a family, okay?”
My eyes became glassy, and I breathed in deeply through my nose and out my mouth, trying to calm down. God, I loved these people fiercely. There was nothing more important than family, and my cousins proved that time and time again.
"I just feel so guilty for dragging all of you into this."
"Again, don't worry about it, okay?" Lena said. "We've all dealt with a lot over the years."
That was true. A weight lifted off me, as if I'd been carrying it with me for the past few days, and now I could finally put it down. I wasn't expecting the family to do the heavy lifting, but knowing they were behind me made all the difference.
"All right, I think we need to know a few more details," Declan said. "Did you talk to him? When did he contact you?"
I told them about running into him at the charity event, carefully retelling the story so I wouldn't mention Dom. I didn't want to keep him a secret, but I just didn't want to talk about him today.
Once I finished, Lena asked us all to move to the dining room. I was surprised when Declan sat next to me. I showed him the message.
"What do you think?" I asked after he read it.
"If he contacts you again, let me know right away."
I felt sick to my stomach. "You think he's got something?"
"I think Malcolm doesn't know when to back off. I've got it, Reese. Now come on, let’s eat.”
“Yeah. I’m starving.”
***
We stayed at the house until early afternoon. God, it was amazing to run your own business. We could slow down on Fridays if we felt like it. It was four o'clock by the time I left.
Once I was in my car, I texted Dom.
Reese: Hey, lunch lasted a bit longer than I thought.
He didn't reply. I closed my eyes, enjoying the silence in my car. My screen lit up, and then my phone started vibrating. I answered immediately.
"Hey," I said.
"Hi," he replied. I loved that deep, sexy baritone voice. "How was lunch?"
"Absolutely delicious. And it was good catching up with the family."
"Was it a special occasion?"
I hesitated, then decided not to lay all the drama on him. "No, we just like to get together."
"You sound off. Is something wrong?"
I closed my eyes. "I realized something today."
