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“On?”
“Is it for real or a part of the cover for my family? Because it’s obvious to me there are some feelings there, at least on her part, and I can’t let you hurt her, man.”
This was feeling oddly déjà vu. “I just had this talk with your dad. It’s very real, and I’m here to protect her, not hurt her.”
He did not seem impressed. “Doesn’t mean you won’t.”
“Not intentionally. And not like that douchebag in Italy.”
Nothing in his body language changed but I could sense a shift. Maybe I wasn’t going to get tossed out on my ass. “What do my parents know?”
“Everything. Olivia decided she didn’t want to keep any more secrets.”
He nodded.
“And I think she’s going to tell the rest of the family today too. She’s done hiding.”
“What do you think about that?”
“I think it’s her choice.”
There was a roar of laughter from the other room, reminding me of how much this family loved each other. How much of a family I didn’t have. I suddenly felt like such an outsider.
I cleared my throat. “I also wanted a minute alone to let you know Kade ran down your letter writer.”
His face paled. “And?”
“Female inmate. Off her rocker but harmless and not capable of doing this to your sister. The authorities will be taking it from here.”
“I’m not sure if I should be relieved or not.”
“Well, it’s one lead we can cross off the list and not waste time and energy on, so that’s good.”
“What’s next?”
“We’ve cleared her employees and the cleaning crew. I’ve pretty much cleared the leasing company, but I’ve got Kade doing a more thorough check on one office manager who has one misdemeanor in his background just to be sure, though he doesn’t ring any bells for me. That leaves me with the ex of one of her workers who also babysits and, the most obvious, the sperm donor.”
“You think it’s him? After all this time?”
“He makes the most sense. And in my experience, time means nothing if you’ve got an ax to grind.”
“Well, if it is him, and you catch him, I’d love five minutes alone with that motherfucker for what he did to my sister.”
“Get in line, man.”
We caught up on the case for a few more minutes, then as we turned to head back to the living room, he stopped me.
“She’s never brought a man home before. This is a big deal.” Just like their father, the way he stared at me begged me to protect more than just her body, but to protect her heart.
Funny, nobody seemed to realize she also held the power to shatter mine.
I wasn’t used to family togetherness, but the day was actually fun. Inundated with more Creeds than I could’ve ever imagined—and apparently, there were about a million more—but they were all amazing. I settled back in my porch chair with a glass of Judy’s sweeter than sweet tea and watched the interplay between all of them. It struck a chord deep in me that I never knew existed until that moment, all that I’d missed, all that my family wasn’t. They laughed and shared inside jokes, and nothing felt forced. Their shared smiles told of a thousand more shared memories, and for a moment I actually found myself a bit jealous.
“You okay?” Olivia asked, joining me after she’d put Elizabeth down for a nap inside.
“Perfect.”
She smiled so sweet it put the tea to shame. “You kind of are.”