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Gunner shook his head.
“Thank you.”
Gunner pulled his phone out of his pocket and pressed his thumb against the button to unlock it. “Here. Call Shiv.”
Raketa didn’t take the phone from him.
“Do you want me to do it?”
She rested her head against his chest and nodded.
“Before I do, I want to tell you about Doc and Quinn.”
She remembered that the man he referred to as Doc, Kade Butler, and his daughter, Quinn, hadn’t known whether he was her father. Ultimately, they found out he was, but the circumstances were so different than Raketa’s. Granted, if Kade hadn’t been confirmed as Quinn’s father, it would’ve meant that her mother’s rapist was.
For Raketa, the proof would simply tell her that she was the spawn of a man she considered the devil, or of a man who’d abandoned her mother once he knew she was pregnant. What good would knowing do her?
“I already know about them,” she told him when she realized he was waiting for her to say something.
“It’s your decision.”
Raketa took the phone from his hand and set it on the table. “It doesn’t matter.”
She looked back at the box longingly, wanting to know more about the life she could hardly remember.
Gunner must’ve sensed what she was feeling, and shifted her off of his lap.
“I’ll give you your privacy back,” he said, turning to leave the kitchen.
Raketa rested her hand on his arm. “I’d like it if you stayed.”
He nodded, and she could swear she caught a glimpse of a grin.
—:—
Gunner watched as the expressions on her face morphed from happiness to sadness and back again. A feeling he could only describe as pride settled in his chest. Shiv had found the box, but he had brought it to her. It was the greatest gift he’d ever given anyone.
When she put the last of the letters back in its envelope, she turned to him.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
“You were right to tell me not to say I hated you again until after I saw all of this.”
“I’m generous that way. I didn’t want you to feel guilty.”
—:—
She smiled. The man sitting beside her was everything she’d dreamed he’d be. Gunner Godet was honorable. He didn’t betray her trust; he’d honestly believed he was keeping her safe. What they had to discuss was how the next step would play out. Would he insist she stay on the island while he and his team tried to find Petrov, or would he willingly let her participate in the search? She’d only accept the latter no matter what he wanted.
“Doc and Eighty-eight met with Shiv. As soon as they have any kind of lead, we’ll join them.”
“We’ll join them?”
“Yes, Rocket Girl. Both of us.”
“Why the change of heart?”
