Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 92782 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 464(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92782 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 464(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
“Thanks for this, Dad,” she said. “Fawn is keeping Eli for me. She’d happily keep them both, but Cree said he needed some Papa time.”
When he spotted Ozzy walking this way, he wiggled to get free, and I kissed his head and let him down. Those two were tight.
“No need to thank me. I need some Cree time myself, and you know Ozzy enjoys his attention. Where is Blaise taking you?”
She blushed, and it amazed me that after six years and two kids, those two still acted as if they’d just fallen in love. It wasn’t something you saw often, and knowing my daughter was worshipped by her husband made it easier to accept he was also the boss of the Southern Mafia. That had been a hard pill to swallow at first. But the man would kill an entire town before he allowed anything to hurt her or their boys. A father couldn’t ask for more than that.
“He won’t tell me. Just that he wants me to himself. He loves our boys, but he can be selfish with me at times. I don’t mind though,” she said, smiling. “Fawn is going to come pick him up tomorrow afternoon,” she said.
Fawn was Blaise’s stepmother. Once his father had married Fawn, he had stepped down as boss and handed the title and responsibility that came with it to Blaise.
“No rush. I cleared my schedule the moment you called,” I told her.
She narrowed her eyes. “How are things with the doctor?” she asked, then grinned.
I shrugged. Didn’t want to talk about that. I sure as hell couldn’t tell Madeline what I’d done. I wanted her to be proud of me.
“It’s good.”
“I want to meet her. Maybe I can have the both of you over for dinner one-night next week,” she said with a hopeful look in her eyes.
I nodded.
If we were still dating then, I’d do that. I wasn’t ready for that step, but I guessed I could go ahead and take it if Madeline wanted to meet her. I might start seeing things differently once I saw how well Selena fit into my life.
“I looked her up online. She’s gorgeous,” Madeline told me.
“Yeah, she is. She’s a good person too.”
Madeline closed the space between us and hugged me. “I want that for you.”
I wrapped my arms around her and felt my chest tighten. When she stepped back, she glanced over at Cree running around the yard with Ozzy, who was as tall as he was.
“Come give me a big kiss!” she called out to him.
He paused, then spun around and came barreling back this way.
When he flung himself into her arms, I watched them, wishing I’d been there when she was that little. That I’d raised her. She’d had a rough life, growing up, and I hated to think about it. I felt like I’d failed her by not finding her. Even though I had exhausted every lead I got.
I had so much to make up for, and I feared I never would.
6
Liberty
Darkness was dancing at the corners of my peripheral vision. I blinked several times and took a deep breath. I had worked a double today, and the walk from the bus stop to the house was proving to be more difficult than normal. My head felt light, and I walked over to a lamppost and held on to it while I tried to wait out the spinning. I had to find a way to make this stop. This was the second night in a row I’d felt faint on my walk back to Sissy’s. Tonight was much worse.
The rumble of a bike barely registered in my head as I gripped the post tighter. The darkness was creeping in. I could not black out on the sidewalk at eleven at night. Maybe if I sat down. The loud engine got closer, and I decided to wait until it passed before I sat. It would look odd to whoever was passing by.
The bright light from the bike slowed, and I felt a sudden flutter of panic. Were they stopping for me? I had to go. I had to walk. It was late, and this was dangerous. The engine cut off behind me, and I forced my feet to move and focused hard on the ground in front of me. I could do this. I was going to be fine.
“Liberty.” A deep voice barked my name, and I froze.
I recognized it. In fact, since he had walked out of Sissy’s bedroom a week ago, I’d had a difficult time not thinking about him. Seeing him while I was fighting to stay conscious was not ideal.
“What the fuck are you doing?” he asked, sounding angry or annoyed.
He wasn’t going to leave me alone. I turned around to look at him, and I wished I hadn’t.