Page 104 of Holden’s Resurrection

“How?”

“Every day the anger fades. Every morning when you wake up next to the man you love, it dwindles a little. Every time you see Faith smile, it will retreat. When you see her happy and thriving it goes away more. There will be hundreds of small things, inconsequential things that make the anger and pain diminish. Even after what happened to us, I knew that I’d stop hating Doug. He hurt my kids, he hurt me, he hurt his brother, he killed his father. I hated him and he was dead and I felt cheated that I didn’t get to tell him how much I despised him. But every day, I wake up and remember how blessed I am. I have Rory and Caleb, and Joss and Alec. I have wonderful friends, a nice home, a safe place for my kids. I’m loved, they’re loved, and I think to myself I have it all. And when you are loved so completely, there is no room for hate. Give it time, Charleigh; it fades, and before you know it, it’s gone.”

That sounded like sound advice. It’d give it time and hope Macy was right.

“Thanks.”

Macy smiled and said, “Now tell me, how happy is Holden now that he’s a daddy?”

Now that made me smile.

Holden was a daddy.

“Over the moon comes to mind.”

So did betrayed, sad, and regretful. But we weren’t dwelling on the past so I let those thoughts flee and concentrated on our blessings.

And there were many.

Holden stood in Alec’s backyard. Winter had not left and there was a chill in the air, but that was not why his body trembled.

He was pissed.

Rhode had just finished filling him in on the details Charleigh had left out about her parents’ part in keeping him from his daughter, from Leigh-Leigh.

“I want them to go down,” Holden grounded out through gritted teeth.

“Not sure you can do that without blowback. Edward isn’t stupid. Charleigh may’ve told the asshole off, but he knows his daughter doesn’t have the means to take him on. So he’ll know it was you.”

Holden thought on that a moment, then he decided he didn’t give the first fuck. Actually, he liked that Edward would know it was Holden—a man who Edward had deemed beneath him—was responsible for his fall.

“I don’t want his business touched. When I’m done, I want them to be just as wealthy as they are right now. But I want their reputations dragged through the mud. I want them left with no friends, no country club, no dinner parties to attend, no afternoon tea. I want those two to feel betrayed by the people they thought were their friends. I want them to be the outcasts. The pariahs. I want everyone to know they’re shit parents. I want them to sit in that big-ass house of theirs and know what it’s like to be lonely.”

Rhode jerked his chin in acknowledgment.

“I’ll dig up what I can. But I’m leaving on a job tomorrow.”

“You going out with Takeback?” Alec asked.

“Yeah. We got confirmation this morning from the feds they’re ready to move in. Three girls, twelve, nine, and five.”

Sweet Jesus.

Holden couldn’t let that penetrate or he’d go ballistic.

“They offered to take me on full-time,” Rhode continued. “Which means I’ll be on the road more than I am now.”

“Wilson still there?” Alec inquired.

“Yeah. I don’t know him but he seems solid. He coordinates our jobs with the marshal’s office.”

“He is solid,” Alec confirmed. “I worked with him at DHS.”

“Good to know.”

As much as Holden enjoyed shooting the shit with his friends, he wanted to take Leigh-Leigh and Faith home and spend some time alone with his girls. He was under no illusion they would tell Faith he was her dad tonight—that could wait until the time was right. But he would be having a conversation about changing Faith’s last name. And while they were at it, Charleigh’s as well.

“Did someone think to remove that box from the house?” Holden looked at Rhode.