a big boy. I can handle her if she shows up on my doorstep. I’m more concerned with her having the need to. Maybe this isn’t for her and I shouldn’t have talked her into it. I had no idea she had no memory. We don’t know who she is. I don’t like it.”
He glares at me for a moment. “That’s a concern of mine as well. Hell, the last thing I want to do is send her on a mission and she runs into her past,” he says and frowns.
“Exactly.”
“Still, that has nothing to do with what you’ve done. I don’t like the idea of you giving her so much free reign. Fact is, we don’t know who she is and that’s dangerous for a lot of reasons.”
“Any solutions?”
“Yes, I’m placing her into mandatary therapy sessions, for starters. I want to see if anything comes up. By the way, thanks for finding all this out. We thought she was guarded because she didn’t trust us yet. This is a new ball game.”
“No problem. I’ll do anything I can to help. I’m not trying to make this harder on you guys. If you like, I’ll take sole responsibility for her.”
He sits back in his chair. “I can’t ask you to do that. We’ve taken this all on. We’ll handle it.”
“You’re not asking. I’m offering.”
“Why?”
This time I narrow my eyes at him. The fact of the matter is, I don’t want to admit to him or myself why. Last night I almost said fuck it and entered that room with her. However, when she told me she was a virgin, I knew I needed to walk away.
I’m not for her. My tastes, my lifestyle—I wouldn’t corrupt her innocence with it after what she’s gone through. Then there’s the fact that I’ve never been in love and I wouldn’t want to drag her into my failure to connect with women in that way.
But you’ve already connected with her.
“I want to help her. Did you see how badly she was beaten or how they starved her? Now on top of that to know she doesn’t remember her life before all of that. I want to help, simple as that,” I reply.
He tilts his head as he examines me more closely. “But you only found out about her memory last night. You gave her the money and accounts before that.”
“When I see something that needs fixing, I fix it.”
He narrows his eyes. “Friend to friend, Black. I’m going to warn you to be careful with Roni. This could blow up in your face. Are you sure you want to take this on?”
“I’ll take full responsibility for her. If she doesn’t take to the program, I’ll be the one to figure out something else for her.”
He releases a whistle before sighing. My phone interrupts whatever he’s about to say next. When I pull it from my pocket, I see it’s my dad.
“Hey, Dad, what’s up?” I answer.
“Wyatt needs you in Seattle.”
I sit up straighter. “What’s going on?”
“It’s Nora. She’s not doing well. Wyatt doesn’t think she has much time left. He wants to marry Nellie before… he’s been planning the wedding for a week or so. I wanted to wait until he had things locked down before I bothered you. It’s time, he’s asking us to be there for him.”
“Say no more. Does he need anything? What else can I do?”
“I think he needs his family more than anything. This isn’t going to be easy for either of them. Your brother loves that lass with everything he is. Her hurt is his hurt and she’s going to be devastated. I talked to Steve before calling you.
“Nellie had no idea the cancer returned. This was all a shock to her when she and Wyatt arrived. She’s had, what? Three weeks to digest that she’s losing her mother,” Dad chokes out.
“Damn,” I say, and hang my head.
Mrs. Nora had always been so nice to us when we were younger. I was happy to see her and Steve marry. I almost missed the wedding because of school, but I remember that day like it was yesterday. I’d never seen Steve look so happy in my life.
“I’ll see ye soon, aye,” my father says, pulling me from my racing thoughts.
“Yeah, I’m on my way.”
“I love ye, John,” he says the words with such emotion, his accent so thick, I know this is tearing him to pieces.