Chapter 30 #2
Ralph and Sally had brought a veritable feast with them, providing plenty of food to go around.
I spent the whole evening in a daze, unable to fully process everything going on around me, but thanks to my girls, I didn’t have to.
They took care of everything, from drinks to paper plates to plastic cutlery.
And when things finally began to wind down and people started filtering out, they immediately jumped on cleaning duty.
A knock came on the front door, and Trick moved from my side for the first time since we got home to answer it.
The moment he pulled it open, Hannah and Shawn came barreling in, shooting right past their dad in order to get to Blythe and Tristan.
My heart swelled at the sight of that. My feet started moving in their direction, but when I turned back to look at Trick, I pulled to an abrupt stop and my lungs seized.
Emma stepped into my foyer, her nervous gaze skidding around until it landed on me.
And what she did next shocked the holy hell out of me.
A tentative smile pulled at her lips, and she raised one hand in a shy wave.
My feet came unglued, and I started moving again, this time to where Trick and Emma were standing. The moment I reached his side, Trick claimed me with an arm around my waist.
I didn’t miss the way her eyes drifted to his hold on me, but to her credit, she quickly lifted them away.
“Um, hi,” she offered. “I’m sorry if we’re intruding.
I tried explaining to Hannah and Shawn that they needed to give you guys some time, but they wouldn’t hear of it.
They needed to see for themselves that everyone was all right. ”
My lips tugged into a friendly grin. “You’re not intruding at all. Actually, I really appreciate you bringing them by. Tris and Blythe could use the distraction.”
She looked toward her kids, and her face softened in a way I’d never seen before.
“Well good, I’m glad they can provide that.
” She turned back to me, and her expression grew very serious as she whispered, “I’m so very sorry for what you went through today.
I can’t imagine… I just… I’m very, very sorry. ”
Trick’s arm spasmed, squeezing so hard I thought I heard my bones scrape together.
“Thank you.”
She looked around hesitantly, taking in the people who were still milling about. “If you’ll, um… tell the kids that whenever they’re ready, I’ll be outside in the car.”
I wasn’t sure what it was that came over me in that moment, but when she turned to go, I found myself reaching out and grabbing her hand.
“Stay,” I invited, the word coming out spontaneously.
“Oh, no. I don’t want to be in the way—”
I gave her hand a squeeze. “No, really. We have all this food, and the kids are hanging out. There’s no need for you to sit in your car. You’re more than welcome here.”
She paused for a beat, but then the hesitance washed away, and she graced me with the first sincere smile she’d ever directed at me.
“Well, okay then. I haven’t had dinner yet, and I’m a little hungry.”
“Then let’s get you a plate.” I moved from Trick’s hold and guided Emma into the dining room where everything was set up.
While in there, I introduced her to all my friends, communicating silently with them that this was all good.
And with that knowledge, they were just as awesome with her as I knew they’d be.
That had been hours ago. With everyone gone now, and the house shut down for the night, I was feeling restless.
I stood at the big picture window in my living room, staring out at the dark, silent street, watching for any and all dangers lurking in the shadows that could possibly come to hurt my kids.
I was so engrossed in my task that I didn’t hear Trick come up behind me, and I let out a startled yelp when his arms circled my waist.
“Sorry, beautiful. Didn’t mean to scare you.”
“It’s okay,” I said on an exhale as my heart rate regulated. “I’m just feeling a little jumpy.”
“Figured you would be. Probably gonna take a while for that feeling to wear off.”
My chest rose on a deep inhale, and as I let it out, I turned from the window to snuggle into his embrace.
“Probably. But I think I’ll be okay as long as you’re around,” I told him, speaking the god’s honest truth.
We stood in silence for a while before I quietly requested, “Tell me what happens now.”
“The hospital gave him the all-clear so Chris is being processed as we speak, and he’ll be held until his arraignment.”
“The hospital?” I asked, looking up at Trick in bewilderment. “Why was he at the hospital?”
He didn’t answer right away, but I caught his eyes flashing like lightning just before he spoke. “Linc’s guys got to him first. Let’s just say they’ve got some... creative ways of making a man talk.”
“No,” I said on a gasp. “They’re not gonna get in trouble, are they?”
Trick shook his head, and I felt myself relax. “Doctor’s report states it clear as day. Christian Fanning fell down a flight of stairs trying to evade police while on the run from the man holding his children hostage. Linc and his guys are in the clear.”
I blew out a heavy sigh. “Well thank god for that.”
“But, baby, you need to prepare the kids, because that man isn’t getting out any time soon.”
I couldn’t find it in me to feel bad about that. “Define any time soon.”
“Odds are, they’ll both be out of college.
” Then he proceeded to lay it all on me.
The bad guy who’d kidnapped my children—and ended up dead because of it—had brought Chris into an operation I wanted to know as little about as humanly possible.
Chris would deal for Bad Guy, take his cut, and then the rest would go to the big boss, whoever that was. Again, I didn’t want to know.
Anyway, it turned out that Chris was even stupider than I could’ve imagined and, during a bender, had run his mouth to a buddy of his about all the cash he was making selling meth to bored, spoiled kids.
That so-called buddy proved to be just as big a scumbag as my ex and proceeded to rob Chris blind when he eventually fell into a drunken stupor.
He stole half the cash and drugs, leaving Chris to scramble for a way to pay Bad Guy for the missing product, hence his asking me for money and eventually—yes, he confessed to it—breaking into my salon in order to rob Peter to pay Paul.
Trick hadn’t been exaggerating when he said Chris was going away for a long time, and there was a part of me that settled into the knowledge that he would never be able to cause my kids harm ever again.
“Wow,” I breathed once Trick finished recounting all the ugly, twisted, gory details. “That’s just… wow.”
“Yeah, that about sums it up.”
I lifted my cheek from his chest and looked into those deep gray depths. “What do you think I should tell Blythe and Tris?”
He gave that some thought before answering, “As much of the truth as you think they can handle.” I pulled my bottom lip between my teeth and bit down.
Reading the hesitation on my face, he placed his palm on the side of my neck and brushed his thumb along my jaw.
“This isn’t something you can keep from them, beautiful.
With everything that went down today, they’re gonna find out one way or another.
It’ll be better if they hear it from you. ”
“It’ll break their hearts.”
“It will,” he agreed. “For a while. But they have you, and now they have me, and between the two of us, I think we’ll be able to guide them through.”
I was at risk of bursting into tears again, so I face-planted in his chest and mumbled, “God, I love you.”
“Good,” he said against the crown of my head. “’Cause I love you too. Now, beautiful, you think you’ll be able to sleep?”
I exhaled heavily and lifted my head. “I’ll give it another shot. But even if I can’t, at least I’ll be in your arms, so no matter what, I’ll be fine.”