need to be at the library until ten.
Last night Brady kissed me, which had led to a full-on make-out session, one he ended before groping could commence. Which also led to him tucking me into bed, something that I would’ve found a little condescending if it hadn’t included more lip touches and him skimming his hand down my cheek, staring into my eyes as he told me he couldn’t wait for our date.
A date with Brady Hewitt.
Hell, yes.
Being as I was Hadley Walker—impatient, impulsive, and prone to hatching a scheme if it got me what I wanted—last night I’d laid in bed and thought about everything Brady had said to me.
A lot of it was really great. But a lot of it was bad.
His dad had been incarcerated for twenty years. Obviously, he’d been convicted of a heinous crime, one Brady hadn’t shared. His mother was dead and he wasn’t torn up over the finality of that. He’d been emotionless in a way I couldn’t read. Either he seriously despised the woman like he said he did and had made peace with his mom being gone or he was burying something big. That was bad, and I’d do my part to dig into the mystery and help him deal if he needed to. The worst was the nightmares, and only because those would keep him from me. I couldn’t help him get to the bottom of his feelings about his family if he kept himself locked away.
On that thought, I went in search of my cell. There were some people, young and old alike, who had their phones in hand or nearby twenty-four-seven. I was not one of those people. I wished against all hope that the cell phone towers in Georgia would mysteriously go down, cutting off service so I wouldn’t have to hear my family bitch when they texted and called and I missed those attempts at communication because half of the time I didn’t know where my phone was and the other half I was busy and didn’t want to be interrupted.
Ten minutes later, I found my phone under a stack of empty flooring boxes and sent a text to my Uncle Clark asking him if I could stop by his house to talk before he went into work. Unsurprisingly, I received a response immediately telling me to come by.
I rushed through my morning routine and hightailed it to my aunt and uncle’s house. I knew he didn’t mind but I didn’t want to take advantage and make him late.
My uncles and dad were in the process of retiring and turning Triple Canopy over to my brother, sister, and cousins. I figured this would take years before they completely stepped back, but now that my brother Jason had left the DEA, meaning Triple Canopy was now fully staffed, all of my uncles were spending less time there.
All except Uncle Levi. He wasn’t going anywhere until the person who set my cousin Liberty up to get captured was caught. I knew this not because I was told outright, but I overheard enough at family get-togethers to know. Everyone was on board and looking. But as of the last time we were all together a few weeks ago for my niece Emma’s first birthday, they hadn’t found anything.
I knew this worried the guys and it set Drake on edge knowing his woman was still going out on deployments. I was proud of my cousin; she was as badass and tough as they came. She’d overcome being a POW, she’d beaten back her nightmares, and she’d landed a great guy who fully supported her serving even if it scared him out of his mind.
I pulled into my Uncle Clark’s driveway and scratched ‘talk to Liberty when she’s home’ onto my mental to-do list. My keys weren’t even out of the ignition when I saw my uncle on his porch. God had given me many blessings. One of them was an awesome family—full of men who were overprotective because they cared deeply and showed it. And women who were strong, supportive, and never short on wisdom.
My childhood had been full of love, understanding, loyalty, and family.
By the sound of it, Brady’s was not.
The mere thought of him not having all that I had hurt my heart. It also made my adoration and respect for him grow. He didn’t have love, loyalty, and family yet he was still the man he was.
I was at the bottom of the steps when I greeted