Love Restored (Gallagher Brothers #1)(46)

Graham pulled into his driveway and shut off the car. “They aren’t getting Rowan.” His voice was low, a little gravely.

“I don’t know how I can fight them. They have so much money and power, and I’m a piercer at a tattoo shop. My baby is such a smart little girl, and so freaking amazing, but if they get their hands on her, they’ll shut off the light that makes her my Rowan.”

Graham turned in his seat and cupped her face. “I’m not letting you lose your child, Blake. We’ll figure it out.”

Tears filled her eyes again, but she blinked them back. “I didn’t think you wanted any part of this.”

Graham ran a thumb under her eye. “I don’t know what I want or what will hurt less, but I can’t walk away when you need me.”

Before Blake could say anything to that, another car pulled up, and she stiffened, only to scramble out as Murphy got out of the passenger seat. He opened the back door, and Rowan piled out, her little legs running full steam to Blake, who had her arms open.

“Mom! What’s going on?” Rowan asked, her body shaking. “Are we running again?”

Her daughter had always known to be careful, and that things could change, but she’d done her best to shield her daughter from a past that would hurt. When Rowan was older, she’d tell her everything.

“Let’s talk inside,” Graham said as he made his way to Blake’s side. “Hi, Rowan, I’m Graham.”

Rowan’s eyes widened as she looked up, all the way up at Graham. “Hi. Your beard is really long.”

And despite the brevity of the situation and the fact that Blake had no idea what she was doing, she laughed.

Maybe, just maybe, they’d figure this out.

At least, she hoped.





12


Graham had slept for shit, and he had a feeling he wouldn’t be sleeping well until things were sorted. While he’d been shaking inside like a leaf for the entire evening, he’d done his best not to scare a little girl who had done nothing wrong except being the same age that his daughter should have been.

After Blake had finished the introductions for everyone, she explained some of the situation to his brothers and Mrs. Gonzales with Rowan in the room; though he figured she kept some details vague for her daughter’s sake. Owen and Mrs. Gonzales had scrounged in his kitchen and had ended up making them all dinner. They ate while discussing an uncomfortable set of conversations that didn’t go too deep.

Afterward, Blake had told him she needed to make sure Rowan slept in her own bed that night. For that, he was grateful. Even though he would have let Rowan sleep over, he wasn’t sure he was ready to have another little girl sleep under his roof. Yeah, he was a selfish jerk, but he was working on fixing that. They’d all decided that things should be safe since it had been a formal petition and not something shady, but Blake would be locking the doors tightly.

He honestly had no idea what he was doing, but he was doing it anyway. When a guy from the shop had called him, freaking out because Blake looked like she was having a panic attack over something some guy in a suit had given her, he’d dropped everything. His brothers had done the same when Maya had called, saying she needed their help, as well.

At that moment, it hadn’t mattered that he hadn’t seen or heard from Blake in four days. It hadn’t mattered that he’d kicked her out of his home and still hadn’t finished dealing with the thoughts running through his head at her revelation. She’d needed him, and he’d done his best to be there for her. He supposed that simple fact spoke more of his intentions than the idea that he needed time to think did.

He’d overreacted when he’d found out about Rowan, and though Blake had apologized, he hadn’t given her time to explain. Now that he’d heard about why she’d kept her secrets, he understood. It might have hurt at first, but if he’d been in a similar situation, he’d have done the same damn thing. At least, he hoped he would have because the sheer force of will and sacrifice that was Blake was something to be awed by.

Blake was going to have a fight on her hands when it came to the legal aspects of keeping her daughter, and Graham had a feeling he would be right by her side. There was something between them, he knew it. Now he just needed to figure out what it was…and what he was going to do about it.

“Fuck!”

Graham turned on his heel at the sound of someone cursing and something falling. He couldn’t tell if it was a wall or a ladder or something in between, but whatever it was, it wasn’t good. Workplace accidents weren’t uncommon on jobsites as they were working with thousands of moving parts and many of those parts were heavy as hell, but the Gallaghers had a low accident rate because they were very, very careful.

He came to a stop as he caught a glimpse of the scene. Gary, one of his subcontractors, was on the ground, bleeding slightly from scrapes and what looked like road rash, while a stack of drywall they hadn’t put up yet lay on top of one of his legs. If his leg wasn’t crushed, it had to be at least broken.

“Shit,” he grumbled as he pushed his way through the guys to kneel at Gary’s side. “What hurts? Has someone called an ambulance?”

“Already did!” a guy called out.

“Construction’s halted,” Owen said as he made his way through. “No one leaves, but no one even picks up a hammer. Got me?”