Page 79 of After All The Wreckage

“I have my own nose for lies and secrets, Rory.”

“He told you.”

“He texted me.”

“You’ve been talking behind my back this whole time?” God, did it hurt.

She shook her head. “No. Just since you went to see him on Friday.”

Tears pricked my eyes but I fought them back. “I really don’t have time for this, Nan. But trusting Dad and believing he knows what’s best is the last thing either of us shouldeverdo.”

When I could see she didn’t entirely believe me anymore, when I realized Dad had somehow used those Bishop charms on her, I broke and told her the one thing I knew would push her back into my lane. “Did you know her car’s computer was messed with? That it wasn’t an accident?”

Nan’s face paled, and she grabbed hold of the back of the kitchen chair to stabilize herself. “What?”

“Dad knew! He knew! And didn’t tell me! He had Detective Muloney withhold that information from us. Someone tried to kill her…” My throat closed, and I had to fight to breathe. “So do notevertell me Sutton Bishop knows what’s best for me or this family.”

I wheeled around and headed for my bedroom.

After a quick shower, I pulled my hair up in a ponytail and made my way toward the front door. Nan met me, wrapping her arms around me before I could protest. I held myself stiff for all of two seconds, but then I hugged her back.

Life was too short. I’d had my walls up too high for too long. Mom had been there and then gone in a flash. I couldn’t leave Nan without letting her know I loved her as much as she loved me. I let the warmth of her affection bleed into me.

She stepped back and put a wrinkled hand on my cheek. “I just want you to be happy. That’s what she’d want too.”

I swallowed hard. “I know, Nan.”

I wanted to tell her that sometimes happy wasn’t in the cards for everyone.

Except last night and this morning, I had felt happy. Being with Gage and his siblings had felt… right. The love floating between them had been contagious. A virus you wanted to catch rather than push away.

I loved Nan. I loved being with her, but both times I’d moved in with her, it had been because of traumatic things happening in my life. The cottage was tainted with those reminders. Reminders of how I’d failed both Dad and now Mom.

Looking back at those few months before Mom’s crash, I could see she’d been worried. Harried even in a way my cool and collected Mom had never been. Even when she and Dad were fighting as they had been for months before I’d messed up at the senator’s house, they’d always fought with an impressive control. Raised voices happened, but rarely. The words they used were more powerful than the volume.

But now, I wondered if the calm they’d exhibited even in the middle of arguments was because they’d never loved each other enough to truly fight. After mere hours with Gage, I was struggling to imagine leaving. If we spent weeks, or hell, years together, and he tried to walk out, I didn’t think I’d be anywhere near calm. I didn’t think I could let him pack up in silence without fighting for him to stay the way my dad had let my mom.

I squeezed Nan’s hand and forced every single bit of meaning into the words as I said, “I love you.”

“I love you too,” she said, glancing toward the window and Gage. “Please stay safe out there.”

I nodded, a lump in my throat preventing me from saying anything more. But by the time I’d closed the passenger door of the Pathfinder, I’d pulled myself together. Letting my emotions out with Nan was fine, but they needed to stay carefully locked away while I worked this case.

“Dunn will be at Margetto’s for lunch at eleven o’clock,” I told Gage. “If we get there ahead of him, we might be able to talk to him before he goes inside.”

“A hangry congressman, great,” he said. “How did you get his schedule?”

“I told you, my dad works for him. In addition to internet security, Dad’s team does physical security for Dunn whenever he’s outside the Capitol.”

“You hacked your dad’s system?”

I glanced over at him, and I could tell he was fighting a smile. I shrugged.

After Dad had caught me looking into Dunn’s files, I’d closed the backdoor again so he couldn’t have Chanel backtrack it. And this time, I’d been sure I hadn’t left any windows open. I’d locked everything down tight with a set of trip alarms I’d designed that hadn’t gone off. Not yet anyway.

“You’re MacandVeronica rolled into one,” Gage said, losing the battle and allowing a grin to spread across his face. I didn’t know if it was his stunning smile or the fact that he knew about Mac as well as Veronica that had my heart flipping over. Whatever the reason, it shot pure pleasure through my veins and straight to my core.

“Don’t try to butter me up with your Veronica knowledge.”