Jacked (Trent Brothers #1)(164)

Steve sighed and nodded at me.

“And one day, once all of this is settled, I plan on asking you and Christine for your blessing. Until then, I’m going to guard your daughter with my life and find out who the hell stole from you. You good with that?”

It was relieving to see him smile. He reached out and shook my hand. “I’m good with that.”

“Good. Now maybe you can tell me how to break all of this to your daughter.”

Steven laughed. “You’re on your own there.”

“Leaving my ass hanging in the wind already?”

His grin widened. “Yep. And if you don’t get going soon, you’ll have more than this to contend with. At least I won’t make you deal with her mother on top of it.”

Now was as good of a time as any. “While we’re being real, I want you to know that I know what happened to her when she was sixteen.”

Steven paled. “She… she told you?”

“Reluctantly, but yeah. I got it out of her.”

Steven glanced around his office, muttering. “She had no knowledge of what that woman was doing, Adam. No one did.”

I nodded. “I know. I read the court transcripts and reviewed the case file. There are no records of her being detained as a suspect.”

“Good. That’s good. Then you know she was alone with that little girl when she died.” He sat behind his desk. “I guess I don’t need to tell you how traumatized she was. She, well, she withdrew on us, hiding in her room, refused to see her friends—what ones she had left. We had to put her in counseling. We changed her school.” He choked up, trying to hold back his tears. “She had nightmares for years. Would wake up in the middle of the night crying. Her mother and I felt helpless.”

I knew she’d left some details out—things she’d feel embarrassed about. “She thinks she’s going to turn into the same if she gets pregnant.”

Steven let out a small scoff. “That’s ridiculous. Erin’s always been the caretaker in the family. Even after it happened, she didn’t want her mother or me to worry. She would downplay it, make up excuses.”

“I pointed that out to her, but it’s going to take some work convincing her. I could use your support here, knowing that I know what went down. Need to know you and I are on the same team.”

“Yeah, of course.” Stephen stood, joining me near his office door. He reached out, wanting to shake my hand. He pulled me into a hug and gave me a few firm pats on the back. “When that time comes and you’re ready, there’s no need to ask.”

There were no other words necessary.

I was still smiling when I climbed back into our rig and texted Erin to tell her I was running late. Fortunately for me, Marcus liked to drive fast.





I WAITED UNTIL Erin and I were home to break the news to her about the robbery at her dad’s business. I had thought about dropping her off and going to the gym for a few hours to burn off the hostility, but that seemed like a move a coward would make.

Having her hear about it from someone else while I evaded and avoided would only create another disaster and prove her point that we shouldn’t have jumped into this so quickly.

After all, it was my doing that she was here, living with me now. Most of her stuff was boxed up and locked in a storage unit; her clothes and personal items were stacked in boxes and garbage bags in the spare room upstairs. And from the looks of it, she was walking around on eggshells, trying not to disrupt my life or my routine.

I knew for a fact she was reading my mood, asking where she could stow her dirty clothes as though it was a precursory step to defusing a bomb.

It wasn’t lost on me that I was the one ticking.

“Are you going to tell me what has you tangled in knots or do I have to go and get your bag of rope?” She opened one of my drawers and pulled out a T-shirt. “And yes, I’m wearing your clothes. It’s a girl thing. Helps me feel like I belong to you and that you actually want me here.”

“I don’t care if you wear my clothes.” Seeing her in nothing but a pair of cute panties, pulling one of my shirts over her head did stuff to my chest. “It’s hot, actually.”

Her chin rose. “Good. If there’s nothing else, I’ll be down in the kitchen looking for something to eat. I used my dinner break to work on a man who lost a battle with a jammed nail gun and I’m starving. I’ll try not to eat too much of your stuff. I’ll grocery shop later so I have my own food.”

“Erin…”

“This was your idea, Adam, not mine. I do not want a relationship with someone who forces me to spill my demons and then clams up conveniently because he’s in charge of making the rules. You asked me to live with you but here we are, day two and you’re already avoiding me.”

“I’m not avoiding you.”

“Yeah. Okay.”

“I’m not.”

“You barely said ten words to me the whole way here. And now…” The hurt in her eyes was killing me. “Did you change your mind? Just tell me. Do you want me to go?”

Why was she even thinking that? “No. I don’t want you to go.”

“If you don’t want to live with me or whatever please just say so.” She pulled a pair of jeans out of a suitcase and started to put them on. Her stuff was here but she was far from settled in. I didn’t even want to think about how easy it would be for her to just carry her belongings back out of my house.