Chapter 36 Beckett
BECKETT
My mind is overwhelmed with so many things all at once that I’m not even sure how to process all the information that I’ve been given over the last few days.
Sloane is at the front of my mind all the time. I’m in a constant state of worry for her and her well-being.
I’m fucking angry. Angry mostly at myself for not seeing it earlier. But if she says that she’s safe to be alone, then I have to trust her.
I’m mad at Briar, at Monica, at the whole fucking world for failing her.
But I’m selfish enough that I’m glad it all happened, because if it hadn’t, then I don’t think that she’d ever have crossed my path.
While there are often times over the last few days, I find myself driving to the law firm in which Briar owns and just parking outside, because I know that if I go in there, I’ll probably end up behind bars for attempted manslaughter.
How could they do this to her?
I have no idea why he would be petty enough to not only take another man’s child, but to be selfish enough to not love her as one of his own. I’m angry at Monica for never standing up and defending her. I’m angry at everyone who ever thought it was ok to hurt her.
I look at her, and I see my entire world. I don’t understand how everyone else doesn’t feel the same way.
She seems to be doing better, and while I haven’t exactly been honest with her about the Gideon case, she seems to have shifted her focus to finding any information that she can about her biological father.
“Ok, can you find anything about him? I hate to use your resources, but please…” she says, pouting her lip out at me as we sit in my office at the house. She gives me puppy dog eyes, and I have no idea how I’m supposed to tell her no.
“Of course, baby,” I say. Her face lights up in a bright smile as we get to work on looking for whatever she is searching for.
The night she told me about Martin, we came home and we looked through the envelope he’d left in his will to her. She hadn’t opened it because she was scared, but we did it together.
There were several things inside the envelope, one being his entire confession of who he was. The story lined up almost identically to Monica’s, so we figured that she wasn’t lying.
The next paper was a letter to her expressing how sorry he was for never trying to fight harder for her. He simply was a guy on the wrong side of the tracks, with no money or means to fight against a man with the power that Briar had.
The last paper was his will; it wasn’t much, but everything is to be liquidated and given to her as a lump sum for her to do whatever it is she wants.
There was a small necklace with a little heart pendant inside the envelope as well, which she put around her neck and hasn’t removed since. A small card attached to the necklace said it was his mother’s, and that there was no one else in the world who deserved to have it outside of his only child.
She cried a lot. Then we reread all the letters, and she cried some more. Then, in order to fill her mind with something else to obsess over, she went into research mode and for the last three days has been digging into Martin and everything the internet has about his life.
We sit at my computer while she’s in my lap. Every little thing that she asks me, I look up, and we dig into seeing what we can find.
After a few hours, I manage to drag her away from the screen, and we make food together.
I make love to her on the couch, kissing every inch of her skin, and making her whimper my name.
When she falls apart on my cock, I just hold her tight, unwilling to let her go.
I force her to stay in my arms because I’ve missed her so fucking much that it hurts.
I love this girl. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for her. If the last few days have taught me anything, it’s that I need her, and I want to be with her, at least for as long as she’ll have me.
When I tuck us into bed and kiss her head, I’m overcome with this feeling of peace and happiness. As I hold her in my arms, I feel like I’m home.
Something that I’ve never felt before, and one that I am unwilling to give away. If they want my girl, they are going to have to come pry her out of my cold, dead hands.
“Kaden! What are you doing here!?” Sloane yells, jumping off the couch and throwing herself at her brother. He catches her, and they hold each other tight.
“I came to visit,” he says, making eye contact with me over her shoulder.
I didn’t want her to know just how worried I was about her, and while she’ll be pissed if she finds out, I called him, told him I needed him to come and stay for a few days.
Of course, no one worries about Sloane more than him right now, so he hopped on the first flight to get here as soon as possible.
“Mocha!” Kaden exclaims as he and his sister separate, hugging the ball of fur who demands his attention.
Kaden lifts Mocha into his arms and holds him tight. Mocha wiggles and whines in Kaden’s arms, just happy to see him again after over a month.
Kaden doesn’t put Mocha down until they are sitting on the couch, Sloane taking a seat next to them.
“I’ll be in my office if you guys need anything,” I say, excusing myself. The two of them need to talk, and it will be easier for that to happen if I’m not in the room.
I stay in my office working on the Gideon case, and while I did hand it over to Arnold to be the lead, I’m trying to use every spare minute that I can. Because, for whatever reason, the last few days, people seem to be going missing like it’s no one’s business.
Which is also part of the reason that I had Kaden come stay. I have a feeling inside my gut that I’m going to have to be away, and I don’t want her to have to be by herself in this house.
When I join the two of them, they stand over the stove, Sloane teaching Kaden how to cook, and he not really listening, just feeding Mocha scraps when she isn’t looking.
I sit down at the counter, and Kaden excuses himself to come and sit next to me. He leans over, and what he whispers has my heart dropping out of my chest.
“I know.”
That’s all he says, then he straightens up, smiling at Sloane as she looks over at us.
I sit there for several minutes waiting to see if he’s going to elaborate or if he’s just going to sit there.
When he doesn’t, I stand up and grab Kaden by his bicep, dragging him up to where he’s standing.
“We’ll be right back.”
Sloane nods, not looking away from her phone, and I drag him outside.
“What exactly do you think you know?”
“Everything, and I have since the Fourth of July.” He tips his head to the side innocently, and for a moment, I see a flash of Briar’s personality in him. He looks just like his dad, and looking at him right now, it’s hard not to think back at the past.
Kaden is a good kid, though, and if he’d wanted to do something malicious with the whatever information he has, he would have done it by now.
“Ok?”
He nods. “It’s weird, but you make her happy, so that’s all that matters, because God knows how much she deserves that.
” Kaden lets out a shaky breath before his face turns serious.
“If you hurt her, I will bury you in an unmarked grave, and Briar will be next to you. I’m fucking tired of people thinking they can walk all over her and that nothing will happen because of it.
Just know that I look really fucking good in orange, and I’m willing to face life in prison for her, and there will be a fucking smile on my face in my mugshot. Thanks for calling me, Uncle B.”
Kaden turns and heads back into the house without another word. I’m not sure if I should be happy or upset.
I’m happy, though, because she deserves someone like that in her corner. Someone who can be her friend without a romantic relationship attached to it.
I feel slightly rattled by the revelation that someone else knows about us, but it’s not bad, it’s almost…freeing.
I take a deep breath and collect myself before heading back inside to where Kaden has Mocha in his arms, and he’s laughing at something that Sloane says.
I watch them in the doorway for a few minutes before smiling to myself. I would never hurt her; she’s everything to me, and it’s about time that everyone fucking knows it.