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“Then, here we are.” His shoulders bounce. “Anyway, I just wanted to say all that and make sure you know that if anything goes wrong with her, it won’t be because of me and my stupid scam. I’m not some time bomb you have to keep in the back of your mind because you’re scared I’ll suddenly go off one day and destroy your life. That’s not me. All right?”
I study his stupid, handsome face. Emotion bleeds from honest eyes, but how much of that can I really trust, given what I know this guy is? Does any of that really matter, given what he’s saying is absolutely true?
My daughter is still the same perfect girl she was yesterday and she’ll be the same perfect girl tomorrow. That would be true whether I knew about this or not.
I exhale and nod. “All right.”
“I won’t take more of your time,” he says, turning away. He clears his throat. “Bye, Detective.”
“Bye,” I murmur.
He steps onto the lawn, partially disappearing into the shadows. My gut tugs at me, forcing me to say something that I second guess a half-dozen times before it spills out.
“Milo.”
He pauses. “Yeah?”
I shift on my toes. “Would you like to meet her?” I ask.
He inhales quickly, his eyes moving to the door behind me. “No,” he finally says. “No offense to the kid or anything.”
“None taken.” I wave a hand.
“My life is complicated enough right now as it is,” he adds.
I nod. “I get it.”
“Thanks, though.” He continues onto the sidewalk. “Oh—” He turns back around and points to his left. “Your neighbor in the blue house over there sells counterfeit iPods out of his truck to junior high kids. Just FYI. Since you’re raising a child here and whatnot. Good neighborhood otherwise. Brookline’s pretty nice.”
“Oh.” I glance down the street. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
Milo walks out of reach of the porch lights and disappears onto the sidewalk with the rest of the shadows.
I walk back inside and close the door behind me. I lean against it, taking a long, smooth breath as I hold my head in my hand.
“Mommy?”
I look down at Charlotte in the hallway. My little girl. My perfect little girl. I exhale away every second thought and doubt that’s plagued me over the last few hours.
Charlotte might be part Milo’s. But she’s all mine.
“Hey, honey,” I say, kneeling to discreetly slide my gun back into its holster. “You finished?”
She holds up her drawing. I smile at the blend of colors on the leaves. Not quite staying in the lines just yet, but I don’t care. She’s still perfect.
“It looks so good, Charlotte.”
She grins, showing off her little teeth, along with the ever-so-tiny gap between the front two. I don’t have that. Milo doesn’t either — but did he before?
Just how much of him does she have?
CHAPTER 14
MILO
Ihave a daughter.
