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He has a motorcycle?“I’ve never done that. Seems a little bit scary.”
As he ate, he watched me sip my own coffee. “Sometimes scary can be fun, particularly when you’re with me, since you know I’ll never let anything happen to you. So, come out on my motorcycle.”
Could I do that? Just go out on his motorcycle. The doorbell rang and Michael jumped up to greet Stephen and Tito. Despite my nerves, which might have me scrubbing the floor next for something to do, I had to smile. Last night, I’d had such fun with these men. Plus, seeing them reminded me of how hot it had been to have Michael inside of me that whole time without anyone knowing it.
My cheeks heated up.
“Okay.” Michael walked toward me but stopped when he saw my expression. Did he know what I was remembering? Probably not. But he knew I was off in some daydream I hadn’t shared with the room because he tilted his head slightly like he wanted to make me out. Then he wrapped his arms around me, tightly. “I’ll be back in a few hours when this is over. Don’t give this any thought today. Work. These two will stay here with you, and they’ll probably annoy you out of working at some point. Before you know it, I’ll be back. The Russians will be done.”
I loved that idea. “Be safe.”
“Count on it.”
Had a door closing ever sounded as loud as when Michael closed the door to his garage? It sure seemed awfully glaring and final to me. I never investigated his garage, so I didn’t even know how many cars he owned, not to mention the fact he apparently kept a motorcycle somewhere in there.
I didn’t care enough to check it out right then. Instead, I looked at Stephen and Tito. “You two. I know you have a way to watch what is going on at his other house. There’s simply no way he would have left you without a feed, so you’d know if something went wrong and we had to run or something.”
They looked at one another and Tito rocked back on his heels. “And if we do?”
“Great. We’ll all watch that together.” I smiled at them. “Don’t argue. I’ll win, trust me on that. I’m going to work and when there is something to see, you’re going to let me know, end of story. Thanks.”
I walked past them into the bedroom I never used. I’d do busy work—take a look at the market, answer emails, and then I’d drink some more coffee or something.
But that was the plan.
Time did crawl sometimes. When Michael was in the hospital. When Layla was kidnapped. When Hope was shot. When Layla was giving birth. When Hope was giving birth. I spent a lot of time waiting for the people in my life to go through things.
The thought inspired me, so I curled up on the bed. My phone had erupted, with lots of new message notifications flashing. My very busy sisters didn’t like that I hadn’t been in touch in so long, apparently.
I chewed my lip. Which one of them would be better to tell the other one what was going on in my life? I decided on Layla because, truthfully, I was still mad at Hope for talking to Michael about me and never telling me.Shit. I needed to get over that. It was earlier where Layla was, but if she wanted to talk to me, she could wake up. Was I being not-nice right then? Sure, but I didn’t mind being a pest to my siblings. I opened up the app on my phone and clicked to start a video call with them at the same time. Probably, they wouldn’t answer, and then they couldn’t say that I didn’t try to reach out.
I loved them like no other people in my life, always would, but boy was it complicated trying to be their sister. It was some small comfort knowing that if I found them confusing, they must find me absolutely nuts.
They both answered, surprisingly. Almost at the same time.
“Bridget” and “Are you okay?” erupted at once.
Hope was the one who asked if I was okay.
I smiled at them, realizing how much I missed their faces. “Well, yes, I am okay. Michael got shot, but he’s rather remarkably fine. He’s totally not tricking the Russians into coming after him so he can get rid of them as we speak. So, yeah, I’m fine. How are you? Oh, and we’re sleeping together. Also he says he loves me. Aside from relationship stuff, though, I have a lot to tell you, because I’m actually responsible for a lot of the things that went badly in your lives.” I smiled again, if wobbly. “So, how are you guys?”
A baby cried in Hope’s background, and she rose to shut her door. Still, neither of my sisters uttered a word. Finally, Layla said, “I’m so happy you two found your way to one another.”
Hope agreed. “It’s really about time. He’s taunting the Russians?”
I smiled. I always forgot how much I loved them and our bond. When it was the three of us, the Radford sisters.
“Okay. I’ll start over.”
And then I told them all of it, from start to finish, without leaving anything out. It seemed far more fair to let them know everything I’d done before I could ask for their forgiveness. Plus, I wanted Hope to really understand how she had hurt me by talking to Michael about me.
Finally, I swallowed. “Please forgive me.”
The silence hit me again. I sighed. I really hated it when they didn’t say anything.
“You can’t possibly think you’re responsible for what Dad did or for what happened afterward. Youcan’t. I mean, I don’t blame you for any of it.” Tears rushed down Layla’s face. “You were trying to save everyone and stop him from being evil. I wish you had said something earlier. I mean, why have you been carrying that around?”
Hope nodded. “Bridget, you are not allowed to take on the world’s pain and say that it’s your fault. You’re not.”
