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“I will.”
She smiles, but her eyes are still tinged with sadness.
CHAPTERSIXTEEN
Felix
I stand on the porch as the cars drive up the lane.
There are two in total, off-roaders, bulletproof and reinforced. From the rear car, two men climb out, their hands at the ready as they scan the forest. The driver climbs out, walks around to the passenger seat, and opens the door.
Felicia springs from the car with all the gusto of a three-year-old. She runs past Kenny and the other men climbing from the first car and up the stairs toward me.
“Uncle Felix!” she beams, almost tripping on the steps.
I walk down quickly, sweeping her into my arms, feeling an extra pang of emotion as she wraps her arms around me and plants a big kiss on my cheek.
She makes me think of giving her cousins to play with, cousins with Freya’s brown hair and smile, and hell, hereverything.
“Does that mean you missed me?” I grin, holding her up as she smiles down at me.
“Yeah. I missed you this much.” She spreads her hands. “Andmore.”
I smile, placing her down as Kenny and Yasmin walk up the steps together. The rest of the men are already fanning around the property, taking up positions Kenny must’ve arranged with them before arriving.
Kenny is just a little bit shorter than me, with black hair turning silver at the edges. He’s wearing a plain shirt and jeans, but his earpiece and the concealed gun at his hip – the outline just about visible – makes him look like he’s in business mode.
Yasmin walks over to me. She’s got dyed black hair tied up in a bun, her cheeks sharp, emphasizing her frown.
We hug, and then she scoops Felicia up, giving me a look.
I get it. Don’t talk business in front of her.
“Are you excited about your holiday?” Yasmin asks a second later, bobbing Felicia up and down.
Felicia beams, letting out a noise that might beyesor might be an impression of an opera singer.
Kenny steps forward, lowering his voice. “We need to talk.”
I nod, waving a hand at him and Yasmin. “Come on. I’ll introduce you to everybody.”
* * *
We sit in the living room.
Me, Julie, Kenny, Yasmin, and Freya.
Annabelle is taking care of Felicia in the children’s room. It was heartbreakingly sweet to see how keen she was to take care of the child, making me think of the day she becomes a grandmother and how lucky mine and Freya’s children are going to be.
It’s difficult to focus on the task at hand with Freya sitting across from me.
She’s showered and changed into the fresh clothes Kenny bought and other supplies – and now I find myself wanting to get her sweaty again.
I ended up sleeping until the early evening yesterday, and then it was my turn to take the night shift.
Julie was with Freya all night, meaning we had no time alone.
In fact, the last alone time we had was in the security room.
