AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Sean slid his arm around her shoulders. “She spent a long time in recovery, but now she’s as good as new. Don’t worry about Amalie’s safety. I have two brothers on the Jubilee police force, a cousin nearby who’s retired from special forces, his wife, who’s an ex-undercover agent for the FBI, and a mountain full of Popes who know how to protect their own.”
Wolf shook his head. “I will be indebted, but after finding out Fiona has been trolling my personal mail, I am announcing my resurrection tomorrow. It should sideline my wife from setting her sights on you. Fiona is a beautiful blond and a charmer, but you can’t trust her. I did, and I believe it got one of my best friends killed.”
Sean heard the wordsbeautiful blond, and his gut knotted.
“With regards to blonds…today was open house at Amalie’s new office. It was a huge success, but the only person who came that we didn’t know was a pretty blond, probably in her late thirties, maybe early forties. I got some weird vibes from her, didn’t like the way she was looking at Amalie, and took a couple of pictures so I could ask Amalie about her later.”
“Show me!” Wolf demanded.
Sean pulled the photos up from the gallery on his phone, then enlarged one for a clearer view of her face before turning it to the screen.
“This is her. She said her name was Mary Ingalls.”
Wolf cursed. “It’s her! Damn her! It’s her! Don’t leave Amalie alone. I am sending bodyguards tonight! I will not have your family put in danger because of me.”
“You are welcome in my home,” Amalie said. “But Sean is my partner for life. We take care of each other, and that’s how it works.”
Wolf backed off. “I’m sorry. Of course. I have no right to take over your life, but I’ve lost so much time with you because of lies. I want to grow old knowing you are happy and alive in this world. The bodyguards will be there. You won’t see them. But they will see you. I’ll get there as soon as I can, but I need to clear it with the feds to make sure I don’t blow their case. Just know that I am alive, and I am overjoyed to know you exist.”
“Do you know your people?” Amalie asked.
“I knew who they were, but they have long since passed,” he said.
“What about my mother and her family?” Amalie asked.
“She died the day after you were born, and her parents are the ones who gave you away. I am so sorry.”
Amalie paled. “My grandparents gave me away?”
He nodded.
Her voice was shaking. “Do you know why?”
“Because you were mine and they hated me. I was working in the Saudi oil patch when Shandy, your mother,went into labor. By the time I got stateside and back to New Orleans, you’d already been born, and your mother was in a coma from a brain bleed. They told me you were born dead and disfigured and that they’d already given the body to a crematorium. Your mother died in my arms. The day after her funeral, they disposed of me.”
Amalie was crying now. They’d thrown her away like trash.
“Thank you for telling me my mother’s name. I always wondered who you both were, and how I came to the life I was given. I’m sorry I won’t get to meet her.”
“Her given name was Cassandra. Look in the mirror, child. You wear her face.” Then he looked at Sean. “Keep her safe for the both of us.”
“Count on it,” Sean said.
The screen went dark. Wolf Outen was gone.
Amalie closed her laptop and took a deep breath. “What in the world am I going to do?”
“Open for business on Monday. I’m commandeering one of your desks, and I’ll work from there until somebody is behind bars and we know that you’re safe.”
Her expression fell. “But your mom—”
“Is a grown-ass woman who reminds me daily she does not need babysitters. She’ll be fine. And just for the record, this isn’t the first time she’ll be inheriting a daughter-in-law in need of shelter,” he said.
“Daughter-in-law?”
Sean leaned forward until their foreheads were touching.
“Obviously, you have not thought through this relationship as thoroughly as I have, or you would not have that stunned look on your face.”
