has a problem with me. And no bullshit, Jasper, I wish you had it in you to see past a reputation I earned when I was unattached, had no commitments, and made no promises. But you don’t, you don’t. That’s on you, and it will not stop me from giving your daughter everything she needs and deserves.”
“I think we should end this conversation here.”
“Sure,” I agreed. “Anytime you wanna talk, you know where to find me. Now that that’s outta the way, I have a favor. I need information on Jake Belview. Dylan’s looking into him but we both know he’s not gonna find dick, because there’ll be nothing but bullshit in Belview’s service records. You have contacts none of us do—I’d appreciate it if you can make some calls.”
“You don’t have to ask that shit,” Jasper grunted.
“Sorry, but I feel like I do have to ask. Jason’s made it clear he’s not taking this seriously. I cannot stress this enough; I’ve faced down my fair share of soulless men. Never once did I flinch. Jake Belview gave me a shiver. Here’s the thing that worries me—you know him, he dated your daughter and lived to tell about it, which means he’s changed. You confirming he was SF means he didn’t change, something inside him broke. He was looking at Addy like he wanted to tear her head off and he had no problem doing that right there at the table, then sitting back down and finishing his meal. I want to know why that motherfucker is in Georgia and what he was doing at the VA. I also think it’s important to find out if his superiors know there’s something seriously fucking wrong with this guy before he’s sent back out.”
This time Jasper didn’t try to hide his anger. He leaned forward, narrowed his eyes, and spat fire before he stood.
“You better fucking have this, Durum.”
I didn’t get a chance to answer before he was gone.
Fucking shit.
I held open the door to my truck and waited for Addy to get in. When she didn’t move, I stopped scanning the parking lot and looked at her.
“You’re quiet,” she said. It wasn’t lost on me that eight hours ago, I’d been the one to note her silence. “Everything go okay with my dad?” she inquired
I felt my brows pull together and asked, “You didn’t talk to him?”
“No. I saw him walk past the gym but he didn’t stop in.”
Interesting. I figured after Jasper left my office, Addy would be his next stop.
“We’ll talk when we get home.”
Addy dropped her chin and looked at the tarmac when she muttered, “It went bad.”
“Baby, look at me.” When her gaze lifted, my heart constricted painfully. “I told you he wouldn’t be happy. I also told you I didn’t give a fuck. Thinking on that, without meaning to, I lied. I do care, because obviously, you care. I know your dad, it’s gonna take a while before he’s ready to give me a chance. There’s nothing I can do about that. But I promise you, I’ll put the work in. In the meantime, nothing changes for me.”
“Okay.”
“You gonna be able to wait that out with me?”
“Yes.”
Thank fuck. Some of the pain in my chest started to recede.
“We haven’t had a chance to talk since it went down, but you okay after that scene with your brother?”
“We’ll talk when we get home,” she repeated my earlier response.
“Okay, baby, hop in.”
“Trey?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you,” she whispered, and rolled up on her toes.
Her soft lips brushed mine and I was lost. So fucking lost I was oblivious to my surroundings.
Which was unfortunate.
Jasper Walker watched, feeling no remorse for intruding on his daughter’s privacy.
He knew what was coming but forced himself to watch.
Trey brushed Addy’s hair off her shoulder, craned his neck forward, and kissed the side of her neck before his hands framed her face. He said something that made her smile—that was his Addy, always smiling to hide her pain.
Jasper’s gut tightened as it always did when he thought about his girl keeping a secret—one that meant she was suffering alone, keeping things that troubled her bottled up. It had been years and he expended no small amount of effort to draw that secret out, to no avail. Whatever was eating away at her, she wasn’t talking. Not to anyone.
He continued to watch as Trey dropped another kiss, this one on her forehead, then straightened. As he did, Trey shifted his weight to his good leg, hiding his pain.