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He yanks me into a hard hug and mutters, “I thought you’d die.”
I don’t mock his sentiment. Apex is in a rough spot. He wanted those Texas assholes dead but couldn’t ride down to do it himself. Putting Luca and me at risk—plus our club brothers and sisters—left him feeling like a piece of shit. Even after he frees me from his embrace, he wears a hangdog expression.
“It went easy,” I explain.
Apex looks back at where Giselle walks over to our house. She’s wearing Anna in one of those carrier things. Amelia shuffles along the sidewalk, gripping her mom’s hand. I can see how Giselle is barely keeping her shit together. Sniffling, she struggles against tears.
“Are they okay?” Giselle asks as Amelia sucks harder at her tiny thumb.
Apex kneels down and asks if his daughter wants him to hold her. She looks at Giselle and then shakes her head.
“You can see Mommy better from up here,” he explains.
Amelia glances at Giselle again and then smiles at her father. Reluctantly freeing her mom’s hand, she reaches up for Apex.
Luca appears at the door and notices all the tension. “We couldn’t save two of them,” she blurts out to Giselle. “They were too bitchy and would have ruined things here. But the other seven are okay and getting checked out. Come on in and we’ll talk about it.”
As Giselle follows after Luca, Apex wants to stay put and talk to me. Of course, he can’t speak freely in front of Amelia.
“Luca is tall, too,” he announces and hands Amelia to my woman.
The kid isn’t so sure about her new situation. Amelia eyeballs Luca who gets her bright-eyed “baby fever” expression.
“Let’s sit on the couch so we’re all together,” Luca says, always a problem solver.
I watch the women settle on the couch with Amelia resting on Luca’s lap while staring at Giselle.
“I have pictures if you want to see,” Luca tells Giselle who wipes her wet eyes.
“Are they angry with me?”
“Of course not. Well, those two bitchy ones probably would hate you for ruining the weird shit they were programmed to love. But the ones we saved are relieved.”
Giselle calms down under Luca’s steely confidence. Amelia stops sucking so hard at her thumb. Anna just sleeps since infants are lumps of flesh with no personality.
“What are you hiding?” Apex asks as we remain near the front door.
“One of them is Giselle’s sister.”
Apex’s expression mimics how I feel.The sister is going to ruin everything.
“She offered not to meet Giselle,” I say, knowing I’m the only one who thinks that’s a good idea.
Apex’s dark eyes are filled with dread when he mutters, “Seeing those Dolls is going to trigger Giselle’s memories.”
“Maybe not,” I say and then sigh. “Maybe it’s better if the memories come back now when we’re all ready for them. If they come back suddenly years from now on, it might be worse.”
“Is this chick worth it?”
“It’s not just Celine. Any of the Dolls or staff could trigger Giselle’s memories.”
Apex gets a panicked expression on his scowling face. “I don’t want her to know what they did to her.”
“But you said she already has nightmares like she knows.”
“It’s still better than her remembering.”
I glance at Luca. Her gaze finds me. My earlier freakout feels like a bad dream. They don’t last as long as they used to before Luca. I got lucky with my woman, and I know what she’d tell Apex.
