Page 116 of Danger Close

I put my arm on the back of her chair, and pulled her seat towards me until she was pressed to my side.

“When do you leave, exactly?” I asked Trinity, pretending that all of this was normal. That the biggest wave of relief had notjust swept through me. That I hadn’t been on the verge of falling apart if shehadn’tsat down.

“Tomorrow night.” Trinity wasn’t as good at hiding her emotions.

Her eyes visibly softened as she looked between me and Teri, a radiant, joyous smile on her lips.

Charlotte made a cup of tea. She patted Teri’s shoulder, and said to Trinity, “I hope you have a wonderful time.”

I took the tea, testing the heat on the ceramic. I reached across the table to the sugar, and put Teresa’s desired amount in, and stirred. Then I blew across the top to help cool the liquid.

“Your Ma and I love Paris.” I smirked. “In fact, I still remember the exact apartment your mom lived in. I can give you the address if you like.”

“Yeah?” Trinity smiled, thinking this would be a great part of her own family history.

I wasn’t sure if she could handle holding the cup, or if I’d need to help her. I’d need to follow her lead.

“Yup. That’s where you were conceived,” I deadpanned.

“Ew!” Trinity exclaimed.

Charlotte laughed.

Teresa swatted me with the uninjured back of her hand, and I pretended to rub the spot, while mouthing, “Ouch.”

With just the tips of her fingers Teri was able to drink it with both hands. Until she had two working palms again, I noted that I’d probably have to cut up her food so she didn’t put pressure on the skin grafts underneath.

She could hold a fork, but putting pressure on a knife to cut food was out of the question.

“You should visit the Champs-Élysées at night,” Teri said, her voice like a melody I didn’t know I’d missed. “We used to spend a lot of time there, when we first met.”

The look of relief in Charlotte and Trinity’s eyes filled me with so much joy that I couldn’t help the smile on my lips.

This was my life now. Teri. Trinity. A close group of friends.

My heart was full. My life was perfect.

“That’s true,” I said with a somber nod. “Which is also why you might have been conceived on an alcove at the side of the hotel at La Place de Concorde.”

“Dad!” Trinity exclaimed at the same time Teri reprimanded, “Joe!”

“Okay, okay,” I put my hands up in surrender. I looked Trinity dead in the eyes, and amended, “you might have been conceived by a tree near the Theatre du Rond-Pont.”

The series continues inOverkill, Vedder and Melody.

Epilogue

Cobra

One Year Later

I wish I could say that we never had problems after that. I wish I could pretend that she sat down beside me, and it was all smooth sailing from then on. But it wasn’t. She tried to run. She tried to fight it.

She cried in my arms, pulled away, broke down in the middle of the night, waking up in a cold sweat.

She wanted her independence one minute, then crawled into my lap the next, begging me to not leave her alone because she was scared of what she might do to herself.

But through each one, I was there. Staring at the woman I adored as she clawed her way back to sanity–her way back to me.