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“And you think that could be relevant?”
She nods. “I didn’t tell you this before, but one of the last things she ever said to me was that she hated me. That giving birth to me ruined her life.”
My gut instantly ignites with rage. A thousand fire ants sting at my stomach. I’m up off the bed a second later. “Fucking cruel. No child should hear that.”
“I did. It can’t be taken back. But that’s not what’s important. I just have this feeling that maybe this birthmark has something to do with her hate for me.”
She hops off the bed and strides to the window. “Everything with my parents is such a disastrous blackhole in my memory.”
Flexing my hands, I fight the urge to go to her, but she’s bristling with energy that says ‘don’t’. “I can see why.”
She draws a finger down the cold glass pane of the window. “Their relationship was horrible. That’s all I remember.”
“Why do you think she’d say giving birth to you ruined her life?”
She shakes her head. “I can’t figure it out, exactly.”
I step up to her side, pushing my hands in my pockets. “You know postpartum depression changes some people. Permanently. And relationships aren’t the same once a child is in the picture.”
She sighs. “I know. Maybe it’s why they both hated me.”
I can’t hold back any longer. I pull her into my arms with so much force she cries out. “I want to take it all away. I’d do it if I could.”
She shakes her head against my chest. “No. It made me who I am.”
My heart thuds and twists as I listen to her breathing. She’s so fucking strong. I can’t imagine what she’s gone through. It’s no wonder she’s so defensive.
No wonder she was repulsed at my flirtation when she came into the clinic that night. Now I know. Trust comes really fucking hard for her.
And we’re nowhere near done with the bastard who’s hunting her.
“We’ll get to the bottom of this.”
“I need to go to Czech in a few days.”
I turn her to me so I can see her eyes. “Just tell me when. I’m going too.”
With a little eye roll, she says. “I figured as much. You’re kind of hard to shake.”
CHAPTER THIRTY
Snow covers the rolling hills and tall evergreens for miles around the tiny village. Scotch pulls the car into the lot next to the café on the edge of town. I can’t help but admire the broad cut of his shoulders beneath the wool pea coat he has on as he walks around the car to open my door.
It’s a pleasant momentary distraction from the nerves I’ve got in my belly.
Andre steps out of his own rented car and shrugs on a heavy leather coat. He doesn’t make eye contact as he turns and walks away toward the café that Scotch and I are going to as well.
An electronic chime sounds when we walk in. A young woman greets us in Czech, “Dobrý den, vítejte”
“We’re meeting that gentleman,” I reply in my native tongue as I motion toward Josef in the back corner of the restaurant. I’m so excited I want to run past her. It’s been too long since I’ve seen my father figure.
Taking her time, the hostess escorts us through the narrow cafe to the back. Scotch walks close, his hand on my back the entire time.
Josef rises from his seat. The affection in his face makes tears sting my throat as he folds me in a hug. His voice is warm and just like it always has been as he says, “Ah, it’s so good to see you.”
I’m all chokey when I speak. “You too. It’s been too long.”
When he lets me go, I step back and give him a good look. “You look good.”
