by Lexi Ryan
I follow him into the bedroom, where he has my jewelry box open. “It should be hanging on the left side.”
He frowns and shakes his head. “I don’t see it.”
I join him. The hook where I keep my sapphire is empty, but everything else is hanging in its place. “Maybe I misplaced it.” I pull open the other drawers and then search my bathroom. I’m never careless with that necklace, but I can’t find it anywhere. Keegan looks panicked, and I squeeze his arm. “Don’t worry. It’ll show up.” I hope I’m right, but if there was any magic in that necklace, it did its job by bringing me to Keegan.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Emma
Keegan doesn’t speak on the drive home, and by the time he pulls his SUV into the garage, I’m convinced he regrets what we did at the bar.
I follow him silently into the house, and when he turns to close the door behind me, he doesn’t move from his spot, blocking my path through the hallway.
“Do you regret it?” he asks softly. It’s dark, but the light from his porch comes in the window and lets me see that his gaze is locked on my mouth.
“Regret what?” I regret so much.
He steps forward and lifts his hand but drops it before he touches my face. “Tonight. Letting me touch you.”
I shake my head. “Only if it’s going to make you pull away from me.”
His neck moves as he swallows. “Do I look like I’m pulling away?”
I don’t have a chance to reply because he kisses me. As his mouth slants over mine, he slides one of those big hands into my hair, and I’m reminded how small he makes me feel. Not in the bad way, not small and powerless. His big hands, sweet touches, and tenderness paired with the way he’s always been in awe of me. His hot eyes on my body and his groans of encouragement as he touches me. He can somehow make me feel small and powerful at the same time.
Someone clears her throat, and the sound pulls my attention down the hall where Olivia is standing with her arms crossed. She hits the wall, and the hallway floods with light. “Welcome home, lovebirds.”
A man steps up behind her, and I hear his low, rich chuckle before I see his face. “Well, would you look at that.”
Keegan’s slower to turn, but when he does, the blood drains from his face. “Dad? When did you get here?”
* * *
Keegan
I instinctively step in front of Emma, as if she’s naked and I need to shield her from their eyes. But the truth is, the damage has been done. My dad knows she’s here.
“Olivia told me your actress friend was visiting,” Dad says. “Honestly, I didn’t believe it. I thought she dumped you for that old man years ago.”
Behind me, Emma gasps, and I can practically hear her flinch. That’s my dad for you, casually throwing someone’s biggest secret into casual conversation at the first possible moment.
“Dad, why don’t you grab a beer and go to the patio. I’ll meet you out there in a minute.”
My father smirks and nods to Emma before leaving the hallway. A few seconds later, I hear the patio door slide open then closed again.
Olivia shifts her gaze in the direction of the back door and me. “Should I not have said anything?”
“I told you I don’t want him in my house.” My jaw is tight. I turn to Emma. This day hasn’t gone as I planned. Everything’s been a mess. I fully intended to come home and finish what we started at the bar. I want so much more, but I have a house that’s too fucking full, and I can’t take her to my bed like I planned. It’s time for triage. I squeeze her hand, barely keeping myself from pulling her whole body against mine. “Are you okay?”
“I’m…” She drags her bottom lip between her teeth and then grins at me. “All things considered, it wasn’t a terrible night.”
Jesus Christ. “It certainly had its high points.” I cup her face and skim my thumb along her jaw. “You get some sleep, and we’ll talk tomorrow.”
She nods. “Okay. Goodnight.”
I wait for her to retreat to her bedroom before I grab a beer for myself and follow my dad out onto the patio. He’s sitting in one of the Adirondack chairs around the fire pit, gazing up at the stars.
“And here I thought you’d never talk to her again,” he says. “I guess I’m the only one you hold grudges against, huh?”
“Dad, you can’t tell anyone she’s here. She…” What can I say? Not the truth, obviously. He can’t have that. The information is too valuable, and I don’t trust him with it.
“She’s obviously not rescheduling like they’re saying online.” He arches a brow. “Unless she is and you were just kissing some other man’s fiancé back there.”
“What do you want from me?”
“A relationship,” he says. “A chance.”
“A chance for what?”
“I’m old. I’m lonely. I’m not running cons anymore, and life is a fucking bore. I want to spend time with my son and get to know my granddaughter. I’m not a bad man.”
You kind of are, Dad. You’re kind of the definition of a bad man. “Prove it. You handle this situation like someone who’s not looking for easy money, you prove that you’re out of the game, that you’re living clean now, and you can be part of my life.”
“Trips to Disney with my granddaughter?” he asks. “Sunday dinners? All that?”
“Sundays are a little rough for me, Dad.”
“Oh, right. Because you’re an NFL hotshot now.” There’s no bitterness in his words this time, and he smiles. “Goddamn, I still can’t believe you lucked out on that one.”
“That makes two of us.”
He draws in a long breath. “Okay. I can prove it. I don’t have anything against that girl, except for how she hurt you.”
“We both know I wasn’t innocent.” I hold his gaze for a long beat. “Got a place to stay while you’re in town?”
“Well, I was gonna stay here, but it looks like you’re all full up. I can get a room.”
“Do you have money?”
“Enough. I’ll take care of it, and I’ll prove to you I’m a changed man.”
I want to believe him. I want to believe I won’t be seeing pictures of me and Emma in the papers tomorrow morning or reading a story about how she’s run to her old lover. I’m not sure I should believe him, but I want to, because other than hope, there’s not much I can do about the fact that my dad saw Emma in my arms tonight. Not much other than say a little prayer of thanks that he doesn’t know even more than he does.
* * *
Keegan
Five years ago…
I storm into my apartment and yank the door open to my father’s bedroom. He’s sitting in a chair watching TV. When he sees me, he flashes a dopey grin.
“Give it back,” I say.
“Give what back?”
“You fucking know what I’m talking about. Her necklace. Give it back. What the fuck, Dad? When did we become common criminals? I thought the point of what we do is that they gladly give us the money. We never take what they don’t want to give. Isn’t that what you told me?”
“She would’ve gladly given you the money.” He shifts his gaze back to the TV as if he’s grown bored with our conversation. “You just didn’t take what you were owed.”
“She doesn’t owe me shit.”
“Not now, she doesn’t.”
“Jesus Christ. How did you do it, anyway? I get that I was an idiot to believe you gave me your only key, but how did you bypass the security system? There’s no fucking way you know the code.”
He smirks and wags a finger at me. “See? Your problem is that you only see the most obvious solutions. Need into a house with a security system? You have to have the code. That’s pretty basic thinking, but someone using the brain God gave them would get into the condo when the alarm wasn’t activated.”
“We always set the alarm when we leave. Always.”
He arches a brow, and I feel like I’ve been punched in the gut. Because we always set the alarm w
hen we leave, but we don’t always set it when we get home, especially when we’re anxious to get in the door. Last night we came in from the beach, hands all over each other. We were both desperate to get inside, and I kicked the door shut behind me and we went straight to the shower. Anyone who had a key to the complex and was keeping tabs on us could have easily used that opportunity to walk straight into the condo, walk into the bedroom, and take whatever they wanted.
“You’re a fucking bottom-feeding, simple thief,” I spit. “After all that bullshit you’ve fed me all these years, this just proves you don’t even buy your own lies.”
“The only thing it proves is that I know how to finish a job.”
“Where is it?” I’m gonna be sick. It’s gone. He’s taken it and it’s gone, and it’s all my fault. But this panic isn’t just about the necklace. It’s the sick reminder that I’m never going to be able to escape him. My father will always lurk in the background, waiting for his chance for a payday. If I refuse to be part of his schemes, he’ll find a way to prove he’s smarter, more conniving, and that he’ll always win in the end.
“I already sold it,” he mutters, flipping through a stack of mail. He takes an envelope from the middle, balls it up, and tosses it into the trash can. “Does this mean we can leave now? I’m so fucking over this town.”
“Yeah. Leave anytime you want. What are you waiting for?”
He arches a brow. “Come on, then, pack your bags.”
“I’m not going with you. Never again.”
He leans his head back and stares at the ceiling in exasperation. “You sound like the little boy who wouldn’t go with me because he still believed his mom was coming back.”
I flinch, abs flexing as if his blow to the gut was physical. “I’m done. I’m out. I’m not playing your games anymore. I want to be better than that.”
“Better than me, you mean. You think you’re better than a guy who took a little boy in out of the kindness of his own heart? You think you’re better than the man who raised you? The man who gave you food and shelter when your mom would’ve gladly turned you over to the foster system? You’re better than the man who stayed in that stupid little town for three years just so you could play ball?” He pushes out of his chair and steps toward me, his eyes angrier than I’ve ever seen them. “But I’m a piece of trash, right? That what you’re saying?”
I feel like I’m being torn in half. He did all that for me. He did more for me than my own damn mother and he didn’t have to do shit. But I can’t be the man he wants me to be and also be with Emma. “You do what you need to do. You get your money and lead your life how you want. But I’m out. I’m done.”
He shakes his head. “You really think she’s not playing you? I really hate to see it happen. You stand there and spit on me, but I still hate to see your heart break.”
“She’s not gonna hurt me.” My voice breaks on the words, but I’m so fucking pissed at him, and I don’t know what to do with all of this rage brewing inside me. Do I take it out on the only adult who ever bothered stepping up to be my parent?
“Okay. Just wait. Maybe you’ll prove me wrong.” But his smile is so big, I can tell he believes I’m the one who’s wrong.
Turning away from the man who raised me, I rush out the door. My hands shaking with helpless anger, I text Emma to let her know something’s come up and I won’t be over tonight. Then I go to the maps function on my phone and pull up every pawn shop in a fifty-mile radius. Tonight, I’ll be looking for a blue sapphire necklace that I can’t afford but am determined to return to Emma.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Emma
I take my time getting ready for bed. I brush my teeth, wash my face, and moisturize my arms and legs with the faintly scented lotion I picked up at the store. Back in my room, I hear Olivia get ready for bed then hear Keegan showing his dad to the front door. I wait for him to come to me, but I don’t know if I’m waiting for him to say something about what happened earlier or hoping he’ll pick up where he left off.
But he doesn’t come, and I’m left alone in his guest bedroom, my body buzzing and my mind analyzing the events of the night from every angle. Did he not want to come in here because of Olivia, or did he change his mind? Is he still angry with me, and if he is, why is he bringing me to the wedding rehearsal as his date? Or did his dad say something to him about our arrangement?
I close my eyes and say a little prayer it isn’t the last. I doubt I’ll be able to sleep anytime soon, so I scroll through social media on my phone and jump in surprise when it rings.
I sigh in exasperation when I see my mom’s number on the display. With a quick swipe on the screen, I hold the phone to my ear. “Mom, I’m sorry, but I told you I just need some time. I’m not ready to talk about it yet.”
She doesn’t reply.
“Hello?”
There’s breathing on the other end of the line, and the hair stands up on the back of my neck. “Harry? Is that you?”
“I’m just worried about my girl,” he says, his words curling in so hard on each other that I can practically smell the whiskey on his breath.
I climb out of bed as if movement could keep my skin from crawling. For five years, I’ve tried to stay off Harry’s radar, and if I’ve been unsuccessful there, I’ve at least managed to keep him out of my life. I’ve changed my number a couple of times and avoided nights at my mom’s at all costs. I’ve done what was necessary.
I squeeze my eyes shut, willing this to be a bad dream. “There’s nothing to worry about. Don’t call me again.”
“Don’t hang up. Let me hear your voice.” His breathing sounds funny. A familiar funny from my nightmares that leaves me feeling thirteen again and makes bile surge from my belly.
I hang up my phone and throw it across the room. I back up until I hit a wall, then I sink to the floor, where I wrap my arms around my legs. I’m shivering.
I think Zachary knew that no matter how long it had been since Harry touched me, part of the reason I wanted to get married was because I thought it would keep Harry that much further away.
As much as I’ve wanted to believe my fears were irrational, every time my life collided with Harry’s, he’d do something to remind me that diligence isn’t a choice. A man crazy enough to marry a woman to be closer to her daughter is a man crazy enough to break through any barrier to get what he wants.
Zachary always believed me. I think Keegan would have too. If I’d told him.
* * *
Keegan
I sit up straight at the sound of my bedroom door opening and see Emma’s wild curls silhouetted against the hallway light. “Emma? Is everything okay?”
She steps into the room. “I’m sorry.” The words come out too small, and if there was any part of me that thought she might be coming in here to finish what we started at the bar, the thought scatters the second I hear her voice.
“Come in here.”
She closes the door behind her, shutting out the little light I had to see her by.
“Is everything okay?” I click on a lamp, and her eyes dart to the corners of the room as if she’s waiting for the boogeyman to jump out and grab her.
When her eyes come to rest on me, her shoulders sag. “I don’t want to sleep alone.”
“So don’t.” I pull back the covers and pat the bed, and she slides in next to me and reaches to turn off the light. Only, once the room goes dark, she shivers so hard the whole bed shakes.
I roll to my side and wrap an arm around her, pulling her back against my front. Her hair tickles my nose, and her scent fills my head. I kiss her bare shoulder. “What can I do?”
“This,” she says. I both hear and feel her fill her lungs and then feel her belly flatten as she presses the air out. “Just hold me.”
I wish I could see her face. More than that, I wish I could get her to say something. Anything would be better than relying on this sense of doom that’s too familiar. I remember getting this vibe from her five
years ago, and the next day she left me a note full of apologies telling me she loved me enough to let me go. Is she leaving me again? Maybe, but I have to remember, this time she was never mine.
* * *
Keegan
Five years ago…
I found the necklace. I had to put down everything I saved from our last three cons to make the guy promise to hold it for me. This afternoon I’m going to the bank about taking out a small signature loan, but I found it and soon I’ll be able to give it back to her, and in a couple weeks we’ll head to Indiana. Maybe we can go sooner than planned. Maybe we’ll head out after her mom’s wedding. We’ll leave this place as soon as we can and start over.
Normally, the idea of emptying my bank account would panic me—that’s the way it works when you’ve been responsible for the bills since you were twelve—but I just know everything is going to fall into place as long as we’re together.
“What are you daydreaming about?” Dad asks.
I’m sitting at the kitchen table with my laptop, trying to get everything in order to attend Blackhawk Hills University in the fall. I still haven’t registered for classes or figured out where Em and I are going to live.
I bite back a smile at the idea of sharing an apartment with her. “Nothing,” I say, shutting my computer. “What’s up?”
He shakes his head and stares at me. I know he’s been pissed at me since he learned I have no intention of taking money from Emma, but I never would have guessed him to be a common thief.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” I ask.
“I’m trying to decide if I should let you live in ignorance and have your heart broken later, or if I should go ahead and break your heart now.”
