Georgia exhales loudly. “Because it was time. Even though I didn’t have facts, I always suspected that her father and uncle were involved in matters pertaining to stolen vehicles. I never questioned him on it, but I always had my suspicions throughout the years. When Carly’s car came up stolen, I knew it was time to come clean. Even if her car had nothing to do with Roman’s other business, I couldn’t keep the truth from her any longer. The truth was haunting me. She was raising my granddaughter without the child’s father and Carly knew first hand how difficult that was on a child. Then you came into the picture. I guess I just felt like it was time she knew he was alive and looking out for her, even if from afar. I don’t want to hurt her, but I don’t want her to not know the truth either. She has you. Natalia has you. I know you will protect them if the need should ever arise again.”
Georgia gathers up Natalia’s bags as we head out the front door. I strap her inside the car seat that Carly had installed into my Camaro before she left this morning. As soon as I have her secured, I turn to Carly’s mom.
“Take care of my daughter, Blake. I’m counting on you to keep her safe now. It might not be from the same threats that haunted us while she was growing up, but that doesn’t mean anything. She needs someone who has her best interests at heart. For her and my granddaughter.” Her words strike right to my heart like a dagger. Can I put Carly above my job? I’m torn between doing the right thing for the job and doing the right thing for a potential future with Carly.
“I’ll do everything I can,” I tell her honestly.
I drive quickly back to Carly’s apartment with Natalia happily cooing and babbling gibberish that I don’t understand in the backseat. As I step off the elevator on the top floor, the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I feel a presence similar to that feeling I had at my own apartment a little over a week ago. Searching the hallway, I don’t see anything immediately. I make my way towards the apartment door, wishing I had my gun on me. I feel completely vulnerable right now, exposed with no real way of protecting my daughter. The feeling leaves me unsettled.
“So this is my niece,” I hear quietly behind me as I slide the key into the lock. I turn around and come face to face with my smiling brother.
“Yeah, this is her,” I tell him, pissed off that I let my brother get the drop on me. Luke never gets the best of me. “What are you doing here?” I ask quietly, searching the hallway for any other sign of a threat.
“I was out on the street when you left this morning. I decided to hang around and wait for you to come back. Getting into this building was a bitch, but nothing stops me from getting what I want,” he says with that cocky smile.
I throw my head towards the open door, inviting him inside. After scanning the empty floor one last time, I finally enter the apartment and lock the door. “Awfully brave of you to show up here, don’t you think?” I ask, not really liking that Luke was here, potentially compromising the entire operation, and risking Carly and Natalia’s safety.
“I had been watching for a while. If you guys are going to walk around naked after a shower, you really should leave your blinds shut,” he says with a huge wolfish grin. Instantly. Pissed.
I set Natalia down, removing her jacket as she races towards her basket of toys. “Don’t fucking start with me,” I seethe through gritted teeth.
“Chill, dude. You know I couldn’t see anything. I was just messing with you,” he says, throwing his hands in the air as if in surrender. It takes me several moments to calm down from the immediate pissed off feeling I got from the thought of Luke seeing Carly naked.
I turn and watch my daughter chew on a stuffed cow before throwing it as far as she can across the room. All with a cute little smile on her face.
“She does look like Carly,” Luke says, his features softening, the hint of a smile across his lips while he watches her play.
“She’s gorgeous,” I say absently while watching Luke go over and squat in front of her.
“Mom and Dad are going to fall in love with her at first sight,” he says as he offers her another toy. Natalia takes it and throws it across the room, laughing while Luke goes over and retrieves it. I can’t help the huge smile that crosses my face. Luke has no idea the game he’s unknowingly playing with his niece. Of course, I only recently learned of this game of fetch when I was played by the toddler.
“I know,” I tell him, plopping down on the floor beside her while stroking her soft, black hair. “How much longer do you think before I get my life back, Luke?” The ever-present burning question.