AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’m afraid it has to be today. Right now, in fact. Time is not only critical for you, but…Raine, Liam, and Hammer are about to face their most difficult hurdle yet. Your expertise and support are imperative. Give your family that excuse if you must, but grab a bag and meet us at LaGuardia when our flight from Dublin lands at two. I’ve already arranged a plane ticket out west for you. It’s at the counter. And while you’re waiting for us, you might want to replay the last conversation you had with your wee angel.”
He didn’t need to replay it; it was hardwired into his brain.
“And when you see her, this time find out how she feels about you,” Bryn suggested.
Seth froze. Damn, the woman had a point; he’d never asked.
“She needs you, more than you know,” Bryn went on. “The sooner you look deep enough, the sooner you’ll understand.”
“So you’re saying…I’ll end up with Heavenly?”
“Nothing is preordained. The future is always fluid. What I see are paths. If you stay in New York… Well, that would be a shame. Such misery. On the West Coast, you stand a chance of being happier than you’ve ever imagined. But it’s up to you. I have to go now. Our flight to New York is boarding. I hope we’ll see you at the airport.”
“Wait! I—”
But Liam’s mom had already hung up.
Despite her stunning bombshell, Seth saw light at the end of this dark, miserable tunnel. Screw how Heavenly felt about Beck.
Looking around the office he’d been content to work from for the last two years, he realized it was nothing but a skeleton of a room cluttered with a large desk, chairs, a pair of filing cabinets, and an aging copier—none of which he gave a shit about. This had been a place to pass time while he sought direction. Now it seemed cold and dingy, like the gray day outside. After snagging his keys off his desk, Seth locked the door, then hauled ass to his apartment, rambling absently on the phone to a florist along the way.
Ten minutes later, he’d packed his bags, squarely focused on the future. He couldn’t wait to see Heavenly. To fill his nose with her scent, to finally fucking kiss her—and let her know he was in her life for good.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Thursday, February 14
Valentine’s Day
Seth had been back in LA for less than twenty-four hours and he was already mired in a giant clusterfuck. Bryn hadn’t been wrong about Hammer, Raine, and Liam needing his help ASAP. Raine’s long-lost dipshit of a brother, River, had sworn to the police that Hammer committed statutory rape with an underage Raine years ago and had been pimping her out ever since. The lies would be comical if the possible prison time wasn’t so horrific.
Hammer had been taken in for questioning, as had Liam and Raine. Their situation didn’t look promising. Almost immediately, Seth had begun using his police and PI skills to keep Hammer out of the slammer—making phone calls about River, digging through the police’s evidence, and piecing together their mounting case…but so far he hadn’t been able to unearth anything useful.
The other part of this clusterfuck? He hadn’t seen Heavenly. He didn’t want to call her in case she refused to see him because she was dating Beck. Seth intended to surprise her, look her in the eyes…see for himself exactly what she felt for him.
Unfortunately, he’d been forced to spend most of the day with Beck. For a good cause, yeah. They’d escorted Raine to confront her brother. The face-to-face had served a couple of purposes. First, they had made damn sure Raine had protection while she set her brother straight about her relationship with Hammer. Second, Seth had gotten a read on this guy…and he had a feeling River was mistaken, not malicious.
Afterward, they’d brought River back to officially meet Hammer and Liam. The peace summit had nearly ended in war. He and Beck had been forced to bodyguard River in order to prevent bloodshed on Raine’s pale beige carpet. Thankfully, River had seen the error of his idiocy, so Seth hoped all would end well now.
And he could get back to finding Heavenly.
“You good here, princess?” Beck asked Raine.
She hugged the sadist and sent him a dry smile. “I think we’ll be okay. I don’t know what the world is coming to when I’m the coolest head in the room, but we’ll make do.”
Smiling, Seth pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Go get ’em once more, tiger. You can do it. We’ll check in with you soon.”
“Go take Heavenly to dinner.” She gestured to them both.
He glanced at his watch. Late afternoon. By the time he fought traffic and headed to the hospital, Heavenly would probably be gone. Hell, she might even have left early. It was Valentine’s Day, after all. And who would she be planning to spend the evening with except the guy she was—gag—dating?
