Page 118 of The Woman with the Handcuffs

I liked that idea.

I liked it enough that I chickened out of even seeing my father again. I sent Gav in to talk to him, to tell him that I wasn’t feeling well and needed to go home, and that I would be in touch with him in the morning.

“How’d he take it?”

“He understood. He told me to take care of you.”

That was the dad I knew.

The one who thought of me.

Who wanted me to be okay.

“Let’s go home,” he said, reaching for me.

Home.

I liked how he said that.

Like it was where we both belonged.

And as he led me through the doors and pulled me with him into the bedroom, to pull me into his arms, I had a feeling that was exactly right.

I belonged.

There.

With him.

“What now?” I asked sometime later.

“Leftover Italian?” he asked, giving me a knowing smile.

“You know the way to a girl’s heart.”

The look he shot me then was soft.

“I hope so.”

Gavino - 1 day

Caitlin slept long and deep. It was likely due in part the stress of the day before and partly from the pain meds I convinced her to take before she went to sleep.

So when Leo and Zaro showed up the next morning, she was oblivious to their presence.

“She okay?” Leo asked.

“She’s really confused and upset about her father.”

“Yeah, no wonder. She could have died several times over because he didn’t warn her that she was in danger,” Leo said.

“What happened with him after we left?” I asked Zaro.

He huffed and shook his head. “You won’t believe this shit. He asked where Mona was. Then I’m assuming he went to find her.”

“Christ.”

“Love makes people do some fucked up shit,” Zaro said, shaking his head.