Chapter 15
Cooper caught Kendall’s hand, stopping her. “Go where?”
“To get Livie. What if he followed us? What if he’s here? He could be watching her right now.”
“He’s not.” He tugged her back down to her seat. “Unless he had a plane ready to take off when we did, he didn’t follow us. He doesn’t know where you and Livie are. He doesn’t know about me or The Phoenix Three. You’re safe. Livie’s safe, and that’s the way it’s going to stay.”
She blew out a breath. “Right, we flew.”
Grayson pushed his phone across the table. “Here, Kendall. Talk to Harlow. Let her tell you that Livie’s safe, then talk to Livie.”
“Thank you.” She took the phone, glanced at Cooper, then put it on speaker. “So you can hear.”
He could kiss her for that, for knowing he’d want to talk to his daughter, too.
She held the phone between them. “Hi, Harlow. Sorry to bother you. Is Livie behaving?”
“You’re not bothering me. She sure is, and she’s a sweetheart. At the moment, she and Tyler are sitting on the floor, teaching Ruby to roll over. They’ve been having a great time.”
He smiled at hearing the kids laughing in the background. “Can we talk to Livie a moment?” Hearing their daughter’s voice would ease Kendall’s mind.
“Sure. Livie, come here a minute and talk to your mom and Cooper.”
“Mommy, me and Tyler teached Ruby a trick.”
“Did you? You’ll have to show us when Cooper and I get there.”
“Cooper’s coming, too?”
He loved that she sounded excited to see him. “Hi, Princess. Yes, your mommy and I will see you in a little while.” He didn’t want to be Cooper to her. He wanted her to call him Daddy. He’d ask Kendall tonight when they could tell her.
“Tyler told me a joke. Wanna hear?”
“I sure do.”
“Okay. Why did the banana go to the doctor?”
“I don’t know.” He was the king of riddles and dad jokes—most of which he’d taught Tyler—and knew the answer, but he wasn’t going to steal his little girl’s fun.
“’Cause he wasn’t peeling well.” She giggled.
He and Kendall both laughed. “That was a good one, Princess.”
“I know. I got more.”
“And I want to hear them, but why don’t you save them for when I see you. Okay?”
She loudly sighed. “What if I forget them? Can you come now, so I still member?”
He shared a smile with Kendall. Their daughter was the cutest thing. Across the table from him, his brothers chuckled.
“We’ll be there soon,” Kendall said. “You have fun with Tyler and be good for Harlow, okay?”
“Okay, Mommy. Bye.”
“She’s adorable,” Harlow said, coming back on the conversation. “I was where you are not that long ago, worried about my son. To set your minds at ease, all the doors and windows are locked, and the alarm is on. Grayson’s phone is set to get a notification if something should happen, but it won’t.”
“Thank you,” Kendall said.
She handed Grayson his phone, the panic in her eyes gone. “Sorry, I just freaked out after realizing he knows my real name.”
“Understandable.” That disturbed him, too. How long had the man been stalking her, because that was what was happening here. They needed to find this man before he made good on his threat that he’d see Kendall soon. “Do you save the emails you get from your listeners?”
“Yes. Do you think he’s written others to me?”
“I do.”
“As do I,” Grayson said.
She stared at her hands resting on the table.
“I can’t tell you how much that creeps me out.
I do the podcast because I hope to give some families closure.
This man, whoever he is, is playing some kind of sick game.
He’s tainting what I do. Not to mention the more I’m learning about him, the more he scares me. ”
Cooper put his hand over hers. “We’ll find him, but to do that, we’re going to have to do a deep dive in your emails and your podcasts. We need to read the emails.”
“They’re all in a file in my laptop. I can send the folder to each of you when I get back to Cooper’s.”
“Let’s do that, then we’ll get back together and share our thoughts after reading them,” Liam said. “I’ll be involved on this along with Gray and Coop, but my fiancée’s due to have our baby in three weeks, so I’ll mostly be working from home.”
“Oh, congratulations. First child?”
Liam nodded. “Yeah, and I’m driving her crazy apparently.” He grinned. “She says she’s pregnant, not helpless.”
“Do you know what you’re having?” Kendall asked.
“A girl. Erin Fiona O’Rourke.”
From the moment Liam and Quinn had found out they were having a baby, they’d been excited, and Liam had shared the experience.
He’d showed them her first sonogram when they’d found out it was a girl, their excitement when the baby started kicking, his middle-of-the-night trips to the store to get Quinn’s weird cravings.
Not for the first time, Cooper wished he’d known Kendall was pregnant, wished he’d been there from the beginning for his daughter…
and for Kendall. What foods had she craved?
Had she had morning sickness? She’d gone through her pregnancy alone, no one to take care of her, no one to go out in the middle of the night to get her pickles or whatever she was craving.
“Let’s collect our daughter, go home and laugh at Livie’s jokes.” Other than sending the file to them, Kendall needed an afternoon of not thinking about any of this. Tomorrow, after they’d read the emails, they would get down to business and plan how to catch this bastard.
“That sounds wonderful,” she said.
“What do you call a bear with no teeth?” Livie said.
“I give up.” Another one he’d taught Tyler.
He was sitting on the couch, and Livie was leaning on his leg.
Kendall was on the opposite end of the couch with her feet tucked up under her and smiling at both of them.
Ruby was next to Livie, staring at Livie as if hanging on her every word.
It was a perfect family afternoon. He wanted it to be real.
“A gummy bear.” She scrunched her brows together. “What’s a gummy?”
Cooper opened his mouth and tapped his finger against his gums. “Those are gums, so if the bear doesn’t have teeth, all he has are gums, so he’s gummy.”
“Why doesn’t the bear have teeth?”
“I’m not sure. Maybe he ate too much candy, and they all fell out.”
She pondered that for a moment, then, “Why did he eat too much candy?”
Kendall laughed. “Welcome to the world of four- and five-year-olds where their favorite word is why.”
He winked before turning his attention back to Livie. “Maybe while his mommy was asleep, the bear was a bad boy and ate all the candy that he was supposed to share with his brothers and sisters.”
“That’s silly.”
He tapped her nose. “You’re silly.”
She giggled. “I’m not silly, you are.”
“Both of you are,” Kendall said. “Come up here. Cooper and I want to talk to you about something.”
His gaze shot to hers, and when she nodded, his heart pounded. They were going to tell Livie he was her father. What if she didn’t want him to be her father?
Kendall took both Livie’s hands in hers. “Do you remember when you asked where your daddy was, and why he didn’t come to see you?”
Livie nodded. “My daddy lives far away.”
“That’s right, he did. But what if I told you your daddy is here now.”
Livie’s eyes grew big. “He is?”
“Yes, in fact, he’s sitting right next to you. Honey, Cooper’s your daddy.”
His heart was going to pound itself right out of his chest as he waited to see Livie’s reaction.
She turned those big eyes toward him. “You’re my daddy?”
“Yes, Princess, and I’ve been wanting to meet you for a long time.” If he’d known about her, that would be true. “Are you happy?”
She threw her arms out wide. “So happy!” She jumped up and wrapped her little arms around his neck. “My daddy.”
After hugging him, she smacked him on the cheek, then got off him. “Daddy, watch.” She made a circle with her hand and Ruby immediately rolled over.
Daddy. That was the sweetest word he’d ever heard. “That’s awesome.”
His eyes locked on Kendall’s. There were tears in hers…and damn it, his, too. His heart swelled with a love he never thought possible. For this little girl, and for her mother who’d raised their beautiful daughter alone for almost five years. “Thank you,” he mouthed.
Kendall swiped at the tears on her cheeks, and he reached out his hand.
She put hers in his, and he gently squeezed it in gratitude that she’d found him, had accepted him as Livie’s father and that she was letting him into their lives.
Where they went from here had a question mark, but he had hopes for a future with them.
Was he in love with his daughter’s mother?
He thought he was, but if not, he was headed that way.
Everything he’d learned about her since they’d reunited he liked.
She was both kind and beautiful. Although it was restrained on both their parts because of having to deal with an evil man who was intent on harming Kendall, there was crazy chemistry between them.
The night he’d spent with her had been one of the most amazing nights he’d spent with a woman, and when she was in his bed again—because that was going to happen—he didn’t for one minute doubt they’d light the sheets on fire.
He wanted to know everything about her. Her hopes and fears, her dreams and all the little quirks that made her who she was. Yes, he wanted her in his bed, but the feelings growing inside him went far beyond the sexual side of their relationship.
She had been through so much and had done it alone. He was in awe of her. She deserved a special night, and he wanted to be the one to give it to her.
“What’s your idea of a perfect evening?” he asked.