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I put my fingers under her chin to lift it, forcing her eyes to mine. “You did nothing wrong. Even if you had, I’d forgive you, but you didn’t.”

“How can you say that?” She narrows her eyes, tears glinting on her long lashes.

“Because it’s true. There’s a video. It was old and manipulated but I had it analyzed professionally. The phone call when you walked in was about that. It was always odd the security cameras malfunctioned in the garage that night. Or so I thought even though I was told it was front the heat of the fire. There was part of the video missing. The part that tells the true story.”

She shakes her head. “I don’t understand.”

I draw a deep breath. “Lennie, the fire wasn’t an accident. It was deliberate. It was set by Ryan’s father.”

“What? Why?” She shakes her head, lips pressed tight.

“Because he’s your father. Your biological father. And, he’s Ryan’s stepfather, actually, but that’s not something anyone outside my business's super inner circles knows. You know who Ryan’s father is, right?”

“He’s… some sort of producer, I think.”

I nod. “Yeah. He’s an asshole. He was obsessed with your mother in New York and wouldn’t take no for an answer. You were the result, and your mom would not have had it any other way. Lilith loved you with all her heart, no matter who your father might have been. He thought the baby was his way tobind her to him but your mom told him to go fuck himself. But, his obsession with her was always there in the shadows. He married thinking it would somehow bring her around. Jealousy would bring her back, but of course, it didn’t so he was stuck in a shit marriage to an evil woman and together, they raised a little monster. Ryan.”

“This is like a movie. A not very good one.” She brushes the tears from her own cheeks, setting her jaw. “But, so after so long, why then? I mean, why set the fire after sixteen years?”

“I married your mother and that set him off. He left me a few ranting voicemails after we went public with it. He pulled Ryan into his twisted little plan to ruin us at the urging of his wife, Meredith Burns. She’s horrible, I repped her for a minute back in the day but after a month, told her to fuck off. She hates me for that, thinks I hurt her career so she’s in the background pulling strings, encouraging this bullshit I’m sure. I was the one that should have dug deeper. I should have told you the truth about your father and Ryan and Meredith. They were bound to surface somewhere and letting you be blindsided was my fucking fail, baby. I’m sorry, you would have known not to trust anything that came out of his Ryan’s mouth.”

She’s shaking her head. “I can’t believe it. His father set the fire? But, then, who saved the video footage?”

“Ryan, or more than likely, Meredith, his wife. She’s the master manipulator. She loves to have one up on anyone she can, even her own family. She was at the party as well, I figured they got an invitation by mistake and didn’t want to fuck up the evening kicking them out. In hindsight, that was the wrong fucking decision.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Whatweare going to do is honor your mom’s wishes. I’m going to make sure that you’re happy, for the rest of your life, and I’m never going to let any of this harm you. Lennie, I loveyou. We’ll weather the storm together, and Ryan’s father will get his day in court.”

I kiss her head as I hear my phone ding with an email notification.

The proof is there.

But all I need is right here. Tomorrow, I set everything straight, but tonight, Lennie and I start over with a clean slate.

“Hugs and kisses go together.” She gives me a wink, her arms looping around my waist.

“They sure do.” I cinch her against me, growling into the top of her head. “Daddy’s going to show you something new. I’ll be kissing you, and you’ll be kissing me. Ever heard of sixty-nine, baby?”

“Uhhh,yeah, but you know, I suck at anything involving numbers.”

“Well, I don’t give a shit about that because you’re great at sucking my cock, and that’s what matters.” I turn her around, land a hard slap on her ass and point toward the bedroom. “Get in there. Get naked and don’t forget, you need to be quiet.”

She giggles as she skips down the hall. “SeemsI’mnot the one that needs to keep it down. Maybe if your mouth is busy, you won’t wake the dead this time.”

“Seems it’s your mouth that needs to get busy. Smart ass little girl’s gonna have a mouth full of cock and a red bottom.”

“Promises, promises.” She whispers as I kiss her into the bedroom and close the door pulling out my phone and making a quick note on my to do list.

Buy mom noise cancelling headphones.

Life is fucking weird how it unfolds, but I’m happy it rolled out like it did. Lennie may never be an agent, but she’s mine and that’s a position she’ll have with me forever.

Untitled

Epilogue 1

Cade