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“I didn’t mean to imply she’s anything but great, but remember when you came to me after you found out about Raven and Declan? You were worried, skeptical, and against them dating. Knowing what we’ve gone through with their situation, do you really want to be constantly on edge?”
“On edge of what? That she may have a bad day and need to cry on my shoulder? Or that she’ll continue to trust me enough to share her past terror?” My chest is heaving at this point.
“No need to get so defensive. It’s my job to watch out for you.”
“You can be assured I’m fine. This woman beats down the darkness when I close my eyes. She thinks my scars are beautiful. Hell, she even nicknamed Finn ‘Hero’. If I can give her half the peace she has given me, it’s still not enough.”
His eyes grow wide at my admission, and he looks away, rubbing his hands down his face. We sit in silence for a minute before he looks at me with a small grin.
“You going to marry this girl?”
“If I’m lucky.”
“Jesus, I can’t believe we’re talking about this.”
“You brought it up.”
“Now, I want to know everything you know, including the fact that Finn and you had Shake working on a special project.”
“Damn, is there anything that stays confidential?”
“Told yo
u before, I’m good at my job. And after you meet Thad Walker next week, I’m going to make sure that girl in my kitchen doesn’t suffer anymore.”
I quickly push away the lump that forms in my throat and then proceed to tell him everything we uncovered. He looks at me with a sense of pure pride before leaving the room to make a call. What is he going to do?
Chapter 25
Jail Bird
Ember
When the doors open and my dad walks through, I fly into his arms. He hugs me tight and kisses my head repeatedly. His solid body holds me close as I breathe in the scent of just him. It may be only my imagination, but the years in here haven’t taken that away.
We hold onto each other for a few seconds more before Robbie clears his throat behind us and I step back. My dad’s eyes meet mine and glimmer before he positions me to his side and reaches out a hand.
“Thad Walker.”
“Robbie Hayes.”
“Jesus, Little Star, you brought a man to meet me. Did we bypass the whole boy thing?”
“Daddy!” I slap his chest and bury my head again, hiding my blush.
“Old man’s got to embarrass his little girl, right, Robbie?”
“Oh yeah, I think it’s a man’s right.”
I try to say something, but both men burst out laughing, making my heart melt. My dad leads us to the seating area, and I choose to sit next to him, holding his hand. He looks at me with a hard stare, but I shake my head. I’m not moving.
“So tell me what’s new. I think you have some pictures to show me.”
I pull out some snapshots I had printed and show him the last few months of my life. When I get to the picture of Jonas holding me as we took the picture in front of Clyde’s, his body goes still.
“Baby, who is the tall black man holding you?”
“He’s a basketball player at Vanderbilt. He called me a shrimp.”
