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“No. I mean, why did she have you give it to me when she could’ve given it herself?”
“Oh. Because she’s not here.”
“I see that.”
“She’s in Montana.” I let the words fly out of my mouth. We were drawing attention from the others, and it was not good.
“What the fuck for?”
Storm burst into the bar with a red face and swollen eyes. He went straight for Raymond, shoved him onto his back and crouched over him. “She’s gone because of you, you motherfucker! My baby left because of you!” He punched Ray in the face, then raised his fist like he was going to hit him again.
I jumped out of my chair but didn’t dare interfere.
“You’re not worth it!” Storm backed up. “I told her she didn’t have to go this morning. That we know who was targeting her, and she was safe now.”
“Who was it?” I asked. This was the first time I’d heard of it.
“The underage chick,” Storm growled. His eyes were wild with rage and locked on Raymond.
“Oh, shit. How’d you find out?” I was doing my best to defuse the situation, but it didn’t seem to be working.
“Your CO showed up shortly after y’all left. He discovered the images on his daughter’s computer and began investigating. He’s handling his daughter. Seems she’s been in and out of a mental facility for years.”
“Christ, I did not know.” I scrubbed the side of my cheek. “And Birdie knew?”
“Yes. That’s why I called her when you were on your way to The Cities.”
I recalled hearing her say, Dad, I just can’t. He’s having a baby with someone else.
“I’m sorry, Storm.” Raymond got off the floor. “I didn’t mean to drive her away.”
“You fucking broke her heart!” He looked like he wanted to go at him again.
“I’ll talk to her. Explain what happened.”
“No! Just stay the fuck away from my daughter. You had your chance and blew it!” Storm left as fast as he’d arrived. A real tornado on legs.
“It’s for the best,” Raymond muttered as he went to the bar. “She’ll be happy in Montana with Saint.”
“She’ll be back. Figure your shit out with Tabitha and you’ll see. If you two are meant to be, you will be.” Of course, I wasn’t sure I believed my own words, but it sounded good.
When Raymond didn’t respond, I left to go pick up my woman. I needed her, and I was confident she needed me, too.
What a fucked-up day…
Epilogue
Dante
Two Months Later
Ember called Birdie, so we could FaceTime. We did this every weekend, but tonight we had some very special news.
“Hey, you two! How are you?” Birdie’s face appeared, and she looked absolutely beautiful. Better than I’d seen her in a long time.
“We are fantastic! How about you?” Em replied. She had the pregnancy test in her hand. “We have something we want to tell you.”
“Really? Me too.”
