Page 123 of Road to Redemption

Despite all logic, doubt whispered from the dark corners of my mind with a single, dark promise: in rescuing the kids, I’d put all of us in unspeakable danger.

66

KIERA

The night felt endless. No one was ready for a deep dive conversation, but given the chaos that had unfolded, some preliminary details needed to be discussed. And thanks to that very same chaos, the kids were in no mood to discuss their father.

What little we did manage to get out of Caleb was short and defensive. It was clear that he hated having to ask Spencer for help, and he hated having to admit that he’d been hasty in mentioning Jess.

For her part, Spencer seemed exhausted. Despite her best attempts to keep the calm and ease the kids’ transition into the house, I knew that Spencer was still disappointed in Caleb for his blow up and disappointed in herself for not seeing it coming.

Thank god this mansion is so fucking big — everyone needs a little breathing room tonight.

Spencer and I got the kids set up down a long hallway from my room — close enough that they could reach Spencer without getting lost, but far enough away that they could comfortably get a break from one another until the morning.

Unlike my single, the kids were living lavish in a guest suite with adjoining bedrooms. And even though they had the option to wall off for some privacy, I got a feeling from the way that Abi was clinging to Caleb that the separate rooms would be open concept for the night.

Poor girl. She puts on such a brave face, but she’s so scared. At least she has Caleb to comfort her.

Despite all of his prickliness with Spencer, Caleb was still a sweet boy at his core, and a great big brother to Abi.

“Rest up,” Spencer hugged each of them long and hard. “We can talk more about the plan in the morning. But no matter what happened tonight, I want you to remember that I love you. Got it?”

“Got it,” Abi smirked, offering me a shy hug. “We love you too Aunt Spencer. Good night, Kiera!”

“Good night Abi.”

“Love you,” Caleb muttered into Spencer’s shoulder before reaching for the door. “Good night, Kiera.”

“Good night Caleb,” I smiled. “See you in the morning.”

“Bright and early,” Spencer teased as Caleb shut the door between us.

And the second she was out of the kids’ sight, Spencer’s cheerful act dropped. “God, I don’t know if I’ve ever been this tired.”

“I doubt that’s true,” I teased. “You were a sorority girl. I’m sure you got up to all sorts of crazy partying in your youth.”

“My youth?” Spencer laughed. “Oh, I’ll fuck you up, you disrespectful little shit.”

“Watch your mouth,” I shoved her shoulder before heading downstairs to the kitchen. “What if the kids hear you?”

“Keep up your bratty little attitude, and they’ll hear a lot more than just cursing,” Spencer teased. And though I knew from the bags under her eyes that it was an empty threat, it was at least nice to see her smile for a moment on this terrible, endless night.

As we got downstairs and rounded the corner into the kitchen, Dom and Leo were already waiting for us in the kitchen.

“How’d it go?” Leo mumbled through a mouthful of frosted flakes.

“Alright.” Spencer shrugged, “I can tell Caleb’s still pissed at me, but at least he said good night.”

“Why’s he pissed at you?” Dom grumbled, leaning back against the counter. “You helped him out.”

“I remind him that he fucked up. Even when I don’t say it, he knows what he promised me. He can tell I’m not happy about it. And teenagers hate being wrong almost as much as you do.”

“Ha-ha,” Dom mocked, grabbing herself a protein shake from the fridge.

But it was clear to me from the way that they milled about the kitchen that my lovers were avoiding real conversation, which meant it was going to be up to me to broach the elephant in the room.

With a sigh, I pulled out a stool and folded my hands on the counter. “So… where do we go from here?”