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And I understand that.
He doesn’t say anything as he approaches. Just takes a seat next to me.
Joey spots him, lets out another little scream, and starts rushing over, her arms up high as she runs for her uncle. He chuckles, ready to catch her as she jumps into his arms. “Uncle James, you’re here. You’re here!”
“I’m here, little muffin, and I see you have your customary seaweed wrap.”
She giggles, sliding it around his neck like a scarf. “They’re so pretty.”
“Stunning, JoJo. Now you wanna go find me the best shell on the beach?”
Her eyes widen as she jumps up, excited for the challenge. “I’m gonna do it!”
Rodberg chuckles. “Oh, I know you will. We’ll make a detective out of you, muffin. Go, go, go!”
She takes off, and I exhale while staring at him. “I feel like there’s a point to your visit?”
He sits back, grabs my drink, and takes a sip. “Fucking mocktail? Boring! Anyway, how’s life going on the straight and narrow?”
Makaylie sits up higher like she is interested to see where the fuck this is going too, and I clear my throat. “Are you insinuating that I’m not on the straight and narrow? Because I assure you, I’m spending every fucking day here doing sweet fuck all with my wife and kid.”
Rodberg chuckles. “I know, I’ve been watching you. You’re getting increasingly irritated, paranoid, and overprotective, am I right?”
Makaylie lets out a long exhale. “Fuck, yes! So right. Thank God it’s not just me.”
“You are just going to ignore the fact he has been watching us, little dove?”
Makaylie shrugs. “Not even surprised, to be honest.”
“Anyway, I have a point to all this,” Rodberg states.
“Then get the fuck to it,” I grumble.
Rodberg tilts his head. “I have a proposition for you. You were a damn good informant for the Feds. No one knows the underworld of Baton Rouge like you do… so we’re offering you a deal. Come work for us. Go into basic training, become an officer, and go undercover in the underworld. Continue to help us bring down the scum of the city.”
My stomach turns in knots, but not the bad kind—the excited kind. My previous life was full of excitement and adrenaline. I have loved being with my family for the past six years, but it’s missing something.
I just didn’t know what it was.
I turn to Makaylie, and she weakly smiles. “I know you’ve missed the action. You were never meant for life on a beach, baby. Plus, you’d look great in a uniform.”
Rodberg smirks, winking at Makaylie. “You know you wanna team up with me again. Get the A-team back together. What d’ya say?”
I look out at Joey, my daughter. I want to be the best father I can for her and my son on the way. If I stay here, I will resent the move to the beach. I glance at Makaylie and exhale. “Would you be okay moving back?”
She brings her hand up, caressing my cheek. “My home is wherever you are. And we can always keep this house as a holiday home.”
A smile lights my face as a newfound excitement builds inside me.
I have the woman.
I have the family.
And now I have found my purpose again.
“Well then, I guess after everything that happened, I thought I would be burning forever in the pits of hell. I can say goodbye to the Bachelors and do something meaningful and good with my life. I can be the man you deserve, Makaylie. It feels like I’m rising from the ashes.”
She places her hand on my cheek tenderly with a warm smile. “You never needed to rise from the ashes, Cain. You may have felt like you were in hell, but you needed to go through that to get to where you are now. I could haveneversurvived any of this without you. You will be taking on this new adventure, and I will be right by your side because we’re a team. Always.”
