Understanding lit up his gaze. “Duke loved his wife. He would’ve done anything to make her happy.”
“And that included hurting me and taking Millie?”
“People do fucked-up shit in the name oflove.” He made a face, almost as if the word tasted like poison on his tongue. “Taelyn wanted a kid, and when he couldn’t give her one biologically, he planted the idea of suing for custody. Knowing how difficult it would’ve been for them to actually win the case, he had a backup plan.”
“Get rid of me so they’re her only remaining relatives.”
Mac nodded. “Exactly.”
“But Taelyn dropped the case.” Tristan tucked me into his side. “So why take Millie?”
“She was miserable.” Mac shrugged. “Duke thought having Millie would make her happy again.”
Something niggled at the back of my mind. I eyed Mac’s hands before meeting his gaze. “You said Duke died before he was arrested. How do you know all this?”
Mac leveled me with a stare so dark and intense, icy tendrils licked down my spine. “I might’ve had a word with him before someone rearranged his face.”
Tristan’s fingers dug into my skin, hard. I got his silent message. No more questions about Duke.
“So it’s over?” I asked instead. “All of it?”
“Yeah,” Mac said. “It’s over. Arthur already told authorities he was ready to accept his punishment without a trial.”
There was nothing left to say. Mac shook Tristan’s hand then disappeared out of our house, and hopefully our lives. I didn’t know enough about the man to have anything against him, I just didn’t want to be in any more situations where we needed him.
“It’s finally over.” Tristan wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into his chest. He held me like that for a few minutes before his breath fluttered over my hair. “I wish Duke was still alive though, I would have loved to kill the fucker myself.” Tracing his way up my spine, he pushed those long fingers into my hair. “I’m sorry I didn’t do a better job at protecting you and our girl.”
My brows dipped into a frown as I tilted my head back to look at him. The expression on his beautiful face mirrored his broken voice.
I shook my head. “This is not your burden to carry. It isn’t mine, either.” Resting my head on his chest, I held him tight. “I won’t let them steal anything else from us.”
We gave ourselves a couple more minutes before we headed inside and got everyone up to speed. Mom and Dad had a hard time processing everything, whereas Izzy and Rafe were ready to commit murder.
Eleanor was quiet.
I suspected it was discomfort rather than her not having an opinion on the matter. I didn’t care much either way. We still had a long way to go.
“There’s a casserole in the fridge.” Everlee slipped in beside me to squeeze my arm. “If you need anything, even if it’s just to not sit in silence alone, call me. I’m here.”
“We both are,” her sister said.
I mustered a smile. “Thank you.”
It wasn’t that I didn’t appreciate everyone being there and helping, I just wanted to be alone with the two people I loved most. And not feel guilty about it.
Since Tristan was so tuned into my thoughts, he knew exactly what I wanted and needed. Without ceremony, he politely told our families it was time to go. They didn’t protest.
One by one, they said their goodbyes and filed out. The last one to leave was Eleanor. She gave me another one of those awkward hugs before she too slipped out of the house.
I didn’t wait for Tristan to shut the door before I hurried back to Millie’s room. She’d fallen asleep while we talked to Mac and was still out cold. My heart twisted inside my chest.
What had this poor kid gone through?
Mac assured me Arthur had taken good care of her. Well, as good as a captor could take care of his captee. But eating well and having a decent place to sleep didn’t mean shit when you were scared out of your mind.
With a fresh batch of tears teetering on my lids, I slipped into bed with my girl and pulled her close to me. Maybe we’d all be a little broken after this, but at least, we had each other.
“I’ve never been as scared as I was these past three days,” Tristan whispered when he too climbed onto the bed. He was on the other side, putting Millie between us.
