Chapter 27 Iwas telling my friends all about special agent Vincent Vega, otherwise known as Leonard Morris, which also isn't his real name. There's a black spot surrounding him that I haven't been able to infiltrate. I've planted crumbles and set out cheese, but short of aggressively taking over, I need them to nibble. When Liora finds out I've been subtly digging into her father, she's going to be pissed. But what choice do I have? He knows things about me he shouldn't, and that simple fact puts me-and her-at risk. But why? Why is she at risk, and why is he interested in me enough to dig into my past and send a fake FBI agent my way? That's what doesn't make sense. I know her father. He never liked me, fine. But Cass and I were close from the time we were in preschool together, and I'd spent some time at their house over the years as a result. They always seemed like the picture of happiness and love whenever I was there, but then I think back on the few things Cass said here and there. How Liora was adamant about keeping us a secret from them. Nothing has been adding up, and Liora isn't talking. She's holding on to something dark. Something that has estranged her from her parents. And she's cut me off. I'm pushing toward her, and she's pushing back away from me. Why? Stone suggested I go up to Maine without announcing it to anyone and see what happens. See if suddenly they're on me. Then I'd know how closely they're watching. It's a good plan, but my mind was swirling with the implications of everything, and I stepped out onto the balcony for a quiet minute. That's when I saw her. It wasn't possible. I'll admit that. The building is far away from the playground, but I still saw her. Across the park, a siren with angel-white-blonde hair fighting the gloomy sky caught my eye, and I saw her. She'd been avoiding me all week and stuck to her rule about no more sex. It's not even the sex I miss, though I do fucking miss it. It's her. And with that, I'm done. I'm just fucking done fighting and lying it away. I've spent the last ten years of my life pretending she wasn't the only girl for me. No one else has come close. Hell, I've hardly tried to find anyone else. I told myself it's because of what I do that I couldn't date, and that's part of it. But they weren't my girl. They weren't my angel. It wasn't even conscious, and over the years, she had faded into the background. A distant memory I never allowed myself to dwell on. But now she's everywhere, and I don't know how to pretend that it hasn't always been her. Moreover, I don't know how to go back to the man I was without her in my life. I don't want to. That man was unfulfilled and unsatisfied. He was hollow, always missing a piece of himself. I just didn't know she was my missing piece until I saw her again. With all of this in my head, I woke up before dawn and left. The drive to Lavender Lake, Maine, is fast and quiet at this hour. There's still plenty of snow on the ground up here, and the storefronts on Main Street are the same as they've been, including my dad's tattoo parlor and my mom's women's health clinic. I don't come up here often and never into town. Most of the time if I want a new tattoo, I either do it myself with the tattoo machine I have-since my father taught me everything, and I'm a decent artist-or my dad comes to me with all of his equipment. I don't like being here. And even on this sleepy Saturday morning, I feel unsettled here. The coffee shop is open, and I park out front, needing a boost and to test my theory. I texted my parents late last night, and they'll meet me for lunch. And with all of this, I'll see if someone comes out to meet me. The bell chimes overhead as I enter, the smell of freshly ground beans and bacon along with the bright multicolored tables and chairs hitting me with a profound nostalgia. I spent a lot of time in here as a teenager, drinking coffee and dicking around on my laptop. It was also where I'd kill time on Saturday mornings when Liora would work at my mom's clinic. No one knew we were together, but on Saturdays, Cass always had some travel sports thing his parents would take him to, and I'd get to steal some daylight time with Liora. It was my favorite day of the week. "Good morn-" She stops short. "Oh. Vander. Hi." "Hello, Mrs. Heather. How are you?" She blinks at me. "Shocked. That's how I am. It's good to see you. Wow, you look just like your dad. How long has it been?" "Ten years or so." More blinking. "Right. Cassian's funeral." She frowns deeply. "Does your mom⁠-" "Yes. I'm meeting them for lunch later." "Great. What can I get you?" I place my order, and she refuses to allow me to pay except in answers to her questions. I give her all the basic details about work and life without going into any specifics. Finally she gives up and allows me to sit at my usual table with my laptop. I start to work but find myself staring out the window, lost in thought. Until something occurs to me. "Mrs. Heather?" "Yes, hon?" "Do you ever see Cassian's parents?" Hell, she brought him up. Her face beams with pride. "Of course. Mr. James comes in twice a week at least." "Wonderful. I'm so glad to hear they're doing well." "Yes. Well, of course Mrs. James doesn't go out much. In fact, I can't remember the last time I saw her." Her face falls. "I think losing both her children was just so hard on her." That pulls me up short. "I'm sorry. Both her children?" "Well, yes. You might not know. Liora left before graduation. It's not really talked about, and I don't think a lot of people know about it, but Corbin let it slip a while back that they hadn't seen or talked to Liora since she up and left in the middle of the night without a trace. He said for all they know, she's dead too." My heart stutters to a stop. "Did he say why she left?" I manage, my voice not my own. She shakes her head. "No. Just that they were devastated over it." "Right. I can only imagine." Except Corbin James knows exactly where his daughter is. So why is he telling people they don't and that they suspect she's dead? And that's a different story from what they told my mother when Liora left. They told her she was visiting family. Not that she up and left in the middle of the night without a trace. And why is Mrs. James hardly ever seen? She used to be everywhere. She was the PTO mom and the social busybody in town. I sit for a little while longer so it doesn't seem strange, but then I get back in my car and drive out to the site where Cassian died. It's an apartment complex now in a town two over from ours. I park in one of the spots and stare at the space where he fell. By the time I got there to meet him, two police officers were already on the scene, and they wouldn't let me in. It was late at night, and it was dark and raining. Light snow starts to fall as I glance up at the building through my windshield. Four stories he fell. I couldn't see much as they had him pretty well covered, but I did catch a glimpse of his face. Of his lifeless eyes that were open and fixed. I was losing it. Yelling and screaming for him until one of the officers shoved me in the back of a car and drove me into town and left me in front of my dad's shop. No one really knew where our house was since it was tucked away in the middle of the woods. The cop just left me there. They didn't even threaten to arrest me when I went after them. I scrub my hands up and down my face, my memories a blur, stained with the panic and devastation I was suffocating in. Cass asked me to meet him there, which I found a bit weird. I thought he had figured out I was with Liora and was going to confront me. And likely kick my ass. I was welcoming it, actually. I wanted him to know and was tired of hiding it. He had been working for his father that summer on the construction site. I was with Liora, and we lost track of time as I had tried to talk her into letting me tell him. She was against it. Adamantly so. By the time I got there, only thirty minutes late, he was dead. I close my eyes, trying to remember specifics of that night when something hits me. How did the cops get there so fast? Who on earth would have called them? No one else was there. No witnesses. And that building was in the middle of nowhere. There wasn't anything else around at the time. Mr. James was building up the area, but everything, including this apartment complex, was under construction. None of this is adding up. None of this makes sense. I've been holding back and going slower than I'd like. Partially out of an abundance of caution and partially because of Liora. I overstepped with her when I got her fired and hacked her personal life, but now I think the time for prudence is over. I'm going to infiltrate her father's system completely. It's a tricky, slippery slope since he knows who I am and what I do. But fuck it. Something is very off, and I need to know what and how Liora and I enter into it. As for more of Liora's information... I won't do that to her. Not unless I have no other choice. I text my parents to let them know I'll see them another time. I want to get home to Liora. And to my main computer. I don't hack on the one I have with me. But right now, I just want to get home to my girls. The drive home feels like it takes forever. It's hours spent with nothing but my turbulent thoughts to keep me company. That is until I walk into the house and a smile like I've never had curls up my lips. Liora and Hazel are dancing around the kitchen and singing at the top of their lungs to Taylor Swift. But that's not even the best part. They're both dressed up in crazy outfits with wild hair and complete face paint. Hazel is a purple unicorn wearing a purple tutu and a purple T-shirt that says, "In my defense, I was left unsupervised," and Liora is a tiger with orange booty shorts, black tights, and a hideous furry orange sweater. Both have matching high pigtails on top of their heads with multicolored scrunchy things. They're so involved in what they're doing, they didn't even hear me come in, and man, did I need this. I snap a few pictures because I'm going to want this visual for life. Liora can't hit a note to save her life, and she's getting half of the words wrong as she sings them. Good thing she can dance like no one is watching and somehow manages to be sexy doing it, even looking like that. The song comes to an end, and I clap, startling Liora so badly that she jumps and shrieks. She's jumpy and startles easily. "What are you doing here?" she cries, rushing to turn down the volume on the music blasting from her phone. "I live here," I deadpan. "You scared the bejesus out of me." Then she realizes how she's dressed and that her face looks like a tiger. If it were possible for her to blush through the paint, she would. "You said in your text you weren't going to be home until very late tonight." I shrug and push away from the doorway. "My plans changed." She folds her arms, trying for indignant. "And you didn't think to tell me?" "And miss all of this?" She huffs an annoyed breath. "It's great. Made my whole day." That's not a lie either. "I'm a unicorn!" Hazel shouts and jumps up and down. "I can see that. You look perfect. And Mommy is a pretty furry tiger." Liora rolls her eyes. "You don't have to tease." "Who said I am? I mean it. It's hot. I might have you wear all of this later so I can live out an unrealized fantasy of mine." She snorts a laugh. "You'll have to live out that fantasy in your head alone." "Now that's a shame when I have the live-action version living here with me. And you did such great singing, Hazel," I continue, turning back to her. Hazel spins around to show off her tutu. "Mommy did too." "You know, you're right." I hold up my phone for her to see. "Here, I can show you the video before I post it." "You took a video?!" Liora rushes me, half-teasing, half-serious, and unfortunately, Hazel does too, getting in on the game. But because I'm trying to block Liora's assault-my kitten has some serious claws-I miss the bigger threat. Hazel runs into me at full speed, and the top of her head nails me right in the nuts. "Ugh," I groan and drop to my knees, my elbows and forehead hitting the floor next as I try not to cry or vomit. Searing pain shoots from my balls up to my stomach. "Oh!" Liora covers her small laugh with a cough. "That's an unexpected surprise. That has to hurt. Are you okay? Do you want ice or something?" I hold up a hand, unable to speak yet. "What happened?" sweet, innocent, little Hazel asks as if she didn't just take me down to the floor. "Are you okay?" I blow out a long, slow breath. "I'm fine." Maybe. That's a solid maybe right now. "Do you have a bad boo-boo? Do you need a Band-Aid?" Hazel climbs on my back to check me out, which isn't helping anything. "Hazel, honey, climb off him. He's okay." "Only if you don't want more children," I deadpan and slowly sit back because Hazel sounds upset. "Har, har. See. He's fine. Why don't you go to the playroom, and I'll be right there so we can wash off our faces?" Hazel gives me a look, her eyes a little wobbly, and I hold out my arms to her. "I'm okay, kiddo. Promise." She gives me a hug, and I don't even care if she gets purple shit all over my shirt. I really needed this hug after the morning I've had. Hazel runs off, and Liora is right in front of me, a glass of cold water in her hand that I gratefully accept. "She nailed you good." Her lips twitch. "Direct hit." "I'd say you deserve it for scaring me like that, but I think that'd be overkill." "Does she take dance lessons?" "Huh?" "You did. Growing up, you did." Liora squats so our faces are close. "Don't." Sᴇaʀ*ᴄh the Find_Nøvel.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "I'm just asking a question." "She's only two and a half, Vander. When I'm done with school and we're⁠-" "Still living here with me." She scoffs dismissively, but I'm serious. I'm so fucking serious. I want this with her. I want it with Hazel too. I want to come home and find them dressed up and dancing and singing. I want Liora in my bed beside me so I know nothing and no one will ever hurt her again. I want her secrets because she wants to tell me everything there is to know about her. I want her heart. And her soul. And her children. I want her future to be with me. "She'll do whatever her heart wants." I nod in agreement because I'll make sure of it. "You're a very sexy tiger." She puffs a breath and laughs lightly. "Obviously. If you're a good boy, I'll do your face too." I choke on a laugh. "That's worth being a good boy for." She smiles. "Where were you today that you came home so early?" "Maine." She tenses, her smile falling faster than Niagara. "Oh. To see your parents?" "Yes. Only it didn't work out." She nods and stands, shutting me down, and what the fuck are you hiding, Liora? Why won't you just tell me? I stand too now that my balls don't feel like they're about to shrivel up and fall off me. "Do you want to go out for dinner?" "Dinner?" "You're repeating me again. Yes. You know. Food. It's a Saturday night. We should go out to eat. I won't even object if you go looking like a cast member from Cats." "You're cute." "I know. So are you, and I'm not even teasing you." I wrap my arms around her. "Be with me tonight. Don't say no. Go out to dinner with me and think about what else we could do later and tomorrow and next week and next year. Because, Liora? I don't just want you. I hurt with how much I need you."