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They’re both laughing at my expense, but I don’t care. I’ve never heard a more beautiful sound in the world than my daughter’s laugh. And Raven looks so fucking happy; I’ll do this a million times over.
But it’s not the ice cream or even that Ava is laughing at me. It’s that she likes me. And I like her. She’s so open and sweet. I thought she might be shy, but she seems to have taken it all in her stride.
When we finally walk back to their apartment, the sun is starting to set.
“Is Noah staying for dinner?” Ava asks Raven.
“Do you think we should invite him?”
Ava nods. “He’s new here. He doesn’t have friends yet. I think he should eat with us.”
“Okay,” Raven says, nodding, trying to hide a smile.
Ava turns to me. “Do you want to have dinner with us?”
I nod. “That sounds great.”
She grins at me. “Good.”
She heads into the building first. I take the opportunity to plant a quick kiss on Raven’s lips.
“Thank you,” I say. “She’s everything.”
“She is,” Raven beams at me.
We follow Ava into the building and up the stairs, and when I look at the two girls in front of me, I know I’ve found my family.
Chapter 31
Raven
I stop in front of the old house and look up. I haven’t been here in a while, and my stomach twists in a knot of nerves. I have to do this. It needs to stop.
When my phone beeps, it’s Noah.
I’m taking Ava to the park if you get back and the house is empty. Love you.
I smile and reply.
Won’t be long; I’m almost done here. Love you more.
I tuck my phone into my handbag and glance up at the building again. I have to get this over and done with. I need him to understand he has no say in my life anymore. He keeps looking for trouble, and I’m putting my foot down.
When I walk to the front door, I take a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to settle my nerves. Noah doesn’t know I’m here. I didn’t want to tell him I was coming to see Jean-Pierre one last time. In the past three weeks, he’s been making a nuisance of himself. He’s challenged Noah twice in public. Both times, Noah was the bigger man, and Jean-Pierre backed down, but it was embarrassing and not good for Ava.
Once, he went to her school and tried to pick her up and take her home with him.
I’d let the school know he wasn’t allowed to see her anymore, when I changed the forms so that he wasn’t an emergency contact anymore, and they stopped him.
But the fact that he tried scared me.
He follows me, too. I get the sense I’m being watched, sometimes, and although I don’t see him, I know it’s him.
It’s time to put an end to this. And Noah can’t be the one to do it, no matter how much he wants to get involved. He’s a hero, and he wants to protect us. But that will only cause more fights. Jean-Pierre won’t let it go as long as they can measure dicks. He’s full of himself that way.
I knock on the door, and a moment later, an older woman with graying hair and glasses on her nose opens.
“Raven!” she cries out, saying my name with a French accent. “It’s so good to see you.”
