AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“He’ll be fine. He’s just trying to deal.” Conner nods at James, not that it really needed pointing out. While Conner seems to have transitioned fairly well from discovering his uncle is actually his dad, Cole is struggling to get his head around it all.
Eventually Cole’s footsteps get louder as he makes his way toward us.
“Good morning,” James and Sarah both sing once again when he appears around the door, looking seriously worse for wear. There’s a fakeness to their voices which has me on edge. Something big is about to happen, but I’ve no idea if it's a good or bad thing.
Cole stumbles toward the table and pulls out a chair. Everyone is silent as they wait to see if he’s going to get his ass on it or fall to the ground before he has the chance.
“Okay, so, now everyone’s here. We need to tell you something.”
Tension crackles in the air around us. Remi must feel it because she reaches for my hand under the table.
“I received a call this morning.” James pauses. I’m about to bark at him to hurry the fuck up when he opens his mouth again. “Charlie’s body was found. I went in this morning to identify it. He’s gone, for good this time.” Remi gasps, tensing in shock beside me.
“H-How?” she stutters.
“They’re not one-hundred percent yet, but my contact thinks he took his own life.”
“Good,” I state, relief flooding me that he’s not going to come after any of us again.
Conner’s eyes fly to mine, clearly not quite as happy about the news. But then why should he be? He doesn't know the whole story. He has no idea what that cunt did to my girl.
“Okay.” James looks between the three of us, gauging our reactions and probably wondering if one of us is going to kick off. When no one says anything more, he continues. “We’ve also made a pretty big decision, but it affects us all, so we need to run it past you all before it’s confirmed.”
Cole blows out a frustrated breath, and Remi squeezes my hand in support.
“We’ve decided that even though the threat is gone, it would be safer if Sarah and Remi moved in.”
“For
real?” Remi asks, disbelief filling her voice.
“Yeah. Now, we’re going to need to discuss some ground rules.” Sarah’s eyes flit between her daughter and me. “But we think it makes the most sense going forward.”
“Is that all?” Cole barks before getting up and disappearing from the room. Conner quickly races after him.
“We don’t need ground rules. We’re adults and can make our own decisions,” Remi states, squaring her shoulders.
“We’re not going to attempt to set you up in a bedroom upstairs. We both agreed, and I’m sure you two will think that it’s a waste of all our time. But, you two will be sensible.” He levels us with a hard look. “There will be no grandchildren in this house for a good few years yet. Do I make myself clear?” James says, staring between the two of us.
“No problem there,” Remi says. “We can barely look after ourselves, let alone anyone else.”
“I’m glad we’re all on the same page.”
“No harm in getting plenty of practice though, right?” I wink at Remi. She blushes profusely as both James and Sarah groan, probably already wondering if they’ve just made a massive mistake.
Keeping my eyes on Remi, I wait for her to look at me. “Me and you, Princess. Me and you.” She beams at me and curls into my side.
Maybe the bad boy from the Heights and the rich prep school princess weren’t such a recipe for disaster, after all.
“I love you, Ace,” she whispers against my chest.
“Love you too, Remi, baby.”
Always.
Hadley
… the night before
