The Long Way Home (Corps Security #6)(21)

“Liv,” he breathes.

“It’s okay, Drew. I miss her every day, but I have Riley. She gives me a purpose.”

“Riley mentioned her dad, too. What’s she know about him?”

“Ray?”

“If that’s the guy, then yeah.”

“Nothing. I told her he died before she was born and that’s all.”

“You know she thinks he was a good man?”

I nod.

“You do?”

“Yeah.” I sigh, looking away and down at my hands. “She lost her mom, someone who loved her with all her being, because of him. She was too young to know, and I didn’t think she needed to have that kind of pain. So I told her that her mom was in an accident, and her dad was gone before she was born.”

“She’s romanticized the idea of him.”

“What did she say?”

He swallows, holding my gaze, and I know I won’t like it.

“That she wishes her dad was here. She said it was nice to have me here because she knew her auntie felt safe. She said you never sleep like that. You only sleep when she’s asleep.”

“Shit,” I mutter. My beautiful yet way too smart niece.

“What happened to him? Her dad.”

My exhale is loud. Fills the room with the sound and the heaviness of the memories of that asshole.

“Emma was five years younger than me. We were thick as thieves our whole lives. She didn’t see the world like I did, but she also accepted that we both saw things differently and didn’t try to change me to fit her views. She just wanted to be loved, while I was content with just loving myself. When she met Ray, he said all the right things, showered her with gifts, and made her think she’d hit the jackpot. He got her pregnant a month after meeting her, but Emma didn’t care. She just wanted the family we never had. And she thought Ray was the saint that could give that to her.” I glance up at Drew, seeing his expression getting softer as he lets me finish. “I didn’t realize what type of man he was until it was too late. He always rubbed me the wrong way, but I thought it was just because he had a tendency to say inappropriate things.”

“You don’t have to tell me more. Not if it’s hard.”

“It’s not that, I’m just trying to remember what it was that clued me in on how bad he was. I think it was when Riley was around one and I saw him talking to a man who is well known for being tied up in a lot of bad stuff. He didn’t see me, but I saw enough to know he knew this man well. I mentioned it to Emma. I didn’t hear from her for a week, and when I did, it was to ask me to watch Riley. The day she came to get Riley, I saw the bruises. I begged her to let me help her, but she wouldn’t hear of it and didn’t talk to me for close to six months.”

“Fuck,” he mutters, pulling me closer.

“Things were strained after that, but when she called me the night he killed her, she told me she was getting out. He was out of town, and she would go get her stuff out. She brought Riley to me, and we made plans to get her out of town. That was the last time I saw her.”

He doesn’t speak, but he doesn’t need to. His arms come out and pull me into his warm body a second later. My cheek hits his chest, and I feel the rapid beating of his heart against it. His breathing is calm, but his heart is giving him away. This man isn’t as unaffected by life as he pretends to be. Or maybe he just can’t fool me. For whatever reason, I have a feeling the connection I’ve felt toward him from the first time I made eye contact is much more than sexual.

“What happened to him? Riley’s father?”

“Died. Car accident.”

Drew goes solid, and I lift off his chest to look up at his face. But, as normal, there is nothing to be read on his features.

“What is it?”

“When did this happen?”

I ignore his question. “What was that reaction about?”

He looks down, and I gasp when I see the heat in his eyes. Anger.

“When did he die?”

“The night he killed her. He was on the way to a small airport outside of the city. I only know that his plane never left, and his car was burned to bits. There was nothing left but a few teeth to identify him with.”

“There’s a lot of skeletons in my closet, Liv,” he oddly says, his voice deeper with his anger very present.

“Okay,” I hedge, not understanding where he’s coming from.

“You just gave me all of your sister, but I can’t give you all of those skeletons. I’m not sure I can ever give them all to you. There’s going to come a day that you might find out something about me that will make you wish you didn’t let me in.”

I feel my brow furrow and look at him, studying the intensity in his face.

“But I can promise you that there will never be a moment to fear me for as long as I’m in your life. Men like Ray, they’re the reason that I gave my life up for this career. As long as I’m here, you two won’t ever have to worry.”

“I don’t fear you.” I didn’t expect him to react so strongly, but it’s true. I don’t fear him.

He grunts. “Maybe you should, but I swear I won’t hurt you or Riley.”

“I know that.”

He goes silent and I rest my head against his chest, content despite the heaviness of what I just shared.