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“Hoppy. I got this for you.” He extended his hand and the little vase with flowers in it.
She was open eyes and arms as Dane moved to put the kid on the bed next to her and took the flowers to place on the stand. Rip hugged her, and she hugged him tightly and cried as she said, “I’m so sorry.”
Rip squeezed her harder and said, “I didn’t want to leave you.”
I looked at his father, who shrugged and then moved in to sit on that side of the bed with Rip. Tituss arrived a moment later with drinks and said, “You’re awake!”
Rip had moved back into Dane’s arms, and he got up so Tituss could move in and hug her once he put the drinks down. Tituss said, “I got you a milkshake.”
“You did?” she asked.
He nodded. “Chocolate cherry, of course.”
Tituss knew shit like that, and Dane and I would eventually learn it. He wiped her tears and asked, “You ready to go home?”
She nodded. Home was temporarily Sophomore House. Tituss’s room since Rip was with Dane in his. Her room and mine in Junior House were on the top floor for a reason. I was sure the nurse thought Harper had some crazy ass family because we were all there for her discharge directions and walked with her as she was wheeled to the front of the hospital. Harpy had questions, and that was why I was taking her home, and they were in the car behind us.
“What happened?” she asked.
“I took care of it.” I shrugged. “She’s gone. My uncle on that side had a small operation. I think he learned his lesson. He has two more daughters, and both are married and live in other states, so…I think it was just him using her to get into this side of things. She knew who they were, what they had, what they represented. When she met Kipper…he was a good ballplayer before becoming a stoner, then…I think she fucked him up when she did that with Ripley. Fucked Ripley up so much he started going by Dane.”
“She’s gone, and he’s…” She looked out the window then back at me.
“He’s different. He was sent to an exclusive rehabilitation facility…in Mexico. Probably be there a long time.” I rolled a shoulder. “Manchester’s know how to write a contract.”
“Or he’d be gone too.” She nodded. Gulped. “And I know all this happened for real, so…where does it land me?”
I came to a stop and looked over at her, I could feel the predatory nature of my own damn smile, but it was true, “In my debt.”
“Great.” She puffed out a breath. “I should have run to the ladies' room.”
“Ouch.” I started driving again. “Is it that bad to be tied to me?”
“Oh, I think I could have a lot of fun being tied to you, but—”
“Ah, same thing.” I had to come clean with this woman. “I took full responsibility for you, Harper. That means if things go wrong, I pay for it too. In my family, that’s a marriage only separated by death.”
“So, you really are going to murder me.” The tone was so flat I couldn’t tell if she was teasing.
“Damn, woman. You want my fucking soul?” I shouted as we came to a stop in front of the house.
She looked at me and said, “I am the devil, right?”
Before I could respond, her knight in shining armor, Tituss, showed up to carry her into the house. Fuck. She did. It was like nothing I did was enough to show her my commitment and I took a blood fucking oath of responsibility for her.
Chapter Fifty-Five
Dane
No one fully knew what happened at that store. Things went missing. Evidence and eyewitness accounts were lost, and then they couldn’t remember what they said. It was a true testament to what Apollo had said in that room. What he was trying to tell us, but we didn’t want to hear. Now, with this. His family doing what they do, which included cleaning up messes our families made from time to time, I was in his debt. My brother was in another country, the mother of my son…missing, though we all knew she might be found at some point. Just not breathing.
Harpy was right. Rip was mine. The DNA test confirmed what I had known the moment I had him in my arms.
I was still afraid to put him down. As a four-year-old, he was recovering from this way faster than me. He wanted to get on with his life, and I just wanted to hold him in my arms forever and know that he was okay.
“Win-son!” He pointed at the guy who had helped her save him. The guy who coined her Momma nickname.
Winston came up and said, “I hooked up the game console in the family room.”
