Page 148 of Tethered

“James is allowed to stay for four weeks, not two.Hisparents trust him enough to come back without them.”

I look to Marlowe, who stares pointedly back at me, as she jumps in. “James’ father didn’t abduct him.”

“Cursed stars!” Vee throws his hands up. “You’re the one who said if we went to see the baby, it meant we were moving past that.”

“That was before I knew you wanted me to leave you alone with Dominik for two weeks!”

After maintaining no contact with Dominik, Marlowe had finally allowed him to reach out with news. He’d had a baby with his partner, Jaq, and they wanted to know if reconciliation was possible. Vee was over the moon about having a sibling and they’d agreed, all those years ago, that if he ever wanted to speak to Dominik again, it was his choice. So, when he said he wanted to visit his half-sister, Marlowe couldn’t refuse.

“Can you get the extra time off?” I ask, taking hold of her hand.

“No. Not this last minute.”

“I don’t need you to babysit me. Dad’s not going to try and kidnap me again.” Vee rolls his eyes. “He has a new family, and James will be there!”

Marlowe goes to answer, and she’s furious, and I know it’ll only make things worse. Ever since she found out about the baby, she’s been more irritable when Dominik comes up. I pull her away before she can speak, knowing she’ll only regret shouting at Vee later.

“Tee!” She protests.

“We’ll finish this discussion later,” I say over my shoulder, continuing to tow Marlowe behind me.

Vee makes a noise of disgust and flings himself into my captain’s chair, pulling his console out. That’ll keep him occupied for a while, and hopefully the air will be settled enough that we can have a conversation like people who actually love each other.

“You undermined me in there,” Marlowe cries when I shut our cabin door behind us.

I turn to her, cup her heated face, and wait. Her jaw relaxes first, then her forehead, followed by her body. She closes her eyes and presses her hands over mine. “Fuck. I messed up,” she whispers.

“No, you got overwhelmed. What’s this about? You’re really worried that Vee’s not safe with Dominik?”

Marlowe throws herself into me, resting her forehead against my chest. She smells like pomegranates, and her wild curls ambush me, but I hold her tight and press my face into them.

Though Dominik made an effort to do better, I know she still carries trauma from everything that happened. She feels he only had this child as a way to lure his family back. If so, it worked; his brother talks to him now and will also be staying at the compound over the summer. Vee’s dying to meet the baby, and though we’ll be staying with my family, Marlowe will haveto show her face. She suspects he’s up to something, and I know she still thinks about how easily Dominik dropped everything that day.

“What if Vee wants to stay for good?” she mumbles.

That surprises me, and there’s a beat while I gather my thoughts. “He won’t. He’s excited to have a little sister and spend time with his cousin in a city he barely got to see last time.”

“What if hedoes?”

“Remember when you had that conversation with him, and you told him that you weren’t going to—”

She interrupts me. “Don’t bring that up!”

“And you told him that you weren’t going to make decisions about his life without consulting him anymore?”

Marlowe pulls away just enough so I can see her glaring at me. “That has nothing to do with this.”

“Remember?”

“He’s 15! I’m not going to let him—”

“Valeja, that’s not what I’m saying. You agreed to consult him going forward, but you also agreed to hear him out when he came to you wanting something. You agreed to be fair.”

“I don’t have to be fair, I’m his mother,” she grumbles.

But Marlowe casts me a look that tells me she’s joking—parroting something her parents used to say, I imagine. I wait her out, having learned how to accommodate Marlowe’s process, even when she’s spitting mad.

“What am I supposed to do? We can’t take more time off work. Dominik wouldn’t keep an eye on them even if he didn’t have a baby to think about. What if Vee does something stupid and we’re on completely different planets?”