Love My Pain (Cape Falls Book 6)(31)

“That’s good.” He reached across the table to shake his friends hand.

“What about Ryan? Has he gone?”

“Not yet. It’s weird. I know he’s packed a bag and put his shit in the car, but he has yet to drive over the lines. You know. I think he drives out to the edge of Cape Falls, stays there for a while, and then comes back.”

“The Cape Falls curse.”

“You believe in it?” Edward asked.

“Most of the time. Look how many people have stayed. The only ones who don’t are the ones that only visit the club, or are literally passing through.”

Edward agreed. “Looking at this file, do you think there’s any chance of them coming back here?”

“Her parents?”

“Yeah. I need to be prepared in case something bad happens.” He couldn’t believe he had stopped her from hurting herself. To him, it was still a small victory, but he had seen a small change inside Isabel. It was small but it was there, and for him, he had to accept that. He had to be able to believe that she could be trusted without him.

It had been three months since that tree incident, three months of him proving his love. He still saw the pain and the hell she lived with every day. Many times he had found her with her eyes closed, muttering something underneath her breath.

He believed their time in his playroom helped. Every single night he took her to the playroom. Sometimes they played with his toys, and he’d do a little punishment play with her. Most times he had her on the bed making love to her or fucking her until she forgot her own name. Never his. He was never tired of hearing his name from her lips.

The sound turned him on even more.

“I can’t say. There is always a chance of someone turning up, you should know this,” Gabriel said.

“Sure. Thanks for this. I mean it. If you ever need to talk, give me a call.”

“Will do. Stay out of trouble.”

“You’ll never catch me even if I’m in trouble.” Edward winked at his friend and left the Sheriff’s office. Stepping out into the bright sunshine, he ignored the hustle and bustle of the market. For a bunch of locals that didn’t like to be invaded, they sure did like their market days, their artisanal crap.

He left the office and made his way toward his car.

Isabel was at Control with a bunch of the girls. They were having a little ladies’ lunch there. William didn’t like for Daisy to go anywhere else, and the rest of the guys, Gabriel included, preferred for them to do their gathering somewhere they wouldn’t be judged.

Pulling out his cell phone, he dialed Sophie’s number.

“Hello, my new favorite person in the entire world,” Sophie said, laughing.

He and Isabel had told Sophie together that they were a couple. Of course, she had to phone him up to let him know that she had been expecting it.

“I better remain that way.”

“Of course. Is my favorite sister there?”

“I’m afraid not. She’s doing lunch with a couple of women.”

“Yay, you’re getting her out, aren’t you? I knew the moment I saw you you’d be a good guy. I love you, Edward. Not in that way obviously. I mean as a brother.”

“I know what you mean.”

“I just get so excited thinking of you and Is together. You two are going to have the cutest babies, and I’m going to babysit. Hell yeah, I am. Speaking of our little family, what’s happening at Christmas?”

“Christmas is months away.”

“Do you know how quickly time flies? It will be here before you know it. I will be coming home, and I want us to all have a huge family Christmas. How does that sound? Well, it would only be the three of us.”

He had forgotten how talkative Sophie could be. Poor Isabel. She probably never got a word in edgeways growing up.

“Can we stay on track here?” he asked. “We’ll deal with Christmas a little closer to the time. Right now, I’m thinking of other things.”

“Okey-dokey. What do you need, brother?”

He rolled his eyes. “It’s about your parents.”

“What about them?”

“When was the last time you saw them?” he asked.

“It would have to be a couple of days after Is turned eighteen. I was twelve. They told us that they would be back in a couple of days. They told Is that they had put some money away for her. Next thing I know, it’s just Is and me. She’s working to keep us both, and I’m going to school. She helped me get the grades I have now. Did you also know that she’s quit the course she was doing?” Sophie asked.

“No, I didn’t know.” Edward rubbed at his temples. “Don’t take this personally, but Is was only a kid herself. Why didn’t anyone take you away?”