Dark Secret - Avelyn Paige Page 0,51
her nothing about me, but it seems my smart little girl knows more than she should.
My brow arches. “How do you know about my club?”
“Grandma Lorna,” she admits with a flush of embarrassment on her face. “Grandpa wouldn’t allow anyone to talk about you, but after he passed away, Grandma Lorna mentioned you once. She and Mom were arguing after the funeral at our house. They didn’t know that I’d snuck into the kitchen to get some ice cream. She said your club’s name, and I might have looked it up.”
“Of course you did,” I tease, smiling.
“It’s true, then?”
“We protect people who can’t protect themselves, like you.”
“And Mom?” The mention of her mother sinks like a lead pellet in my belly. Protecting Shelby was all that I was trying to do, and in the end, I’d failed.
“Yes, like your mom.”
She slumps back against the headboard in silent contemplation. Her brown eyes well up, but she swipes away the stray tear that dares to break through the dam she’s actively trying to build up against it.
“Why didn’t Mom tell me about you?”
“Your mom is a complicated woman, Hayden.” She almost cracks a smile. Complicated didn’t even begin to describe Shelby. She’s been like the earth to my moon, in constant orbit around each other with a magnetic pull radiating between us.
“But you’re my dad,” she argues. “I needed a dad.”
“She had her reasons, kiddo. But what matters is that I’m here now, and I always will be.” I give her hand a slight squeeze for reassurance. “There’s no going back now.”
Her emotional dam breaks as she reaches out toward me, wrapping her thin arms around my neck, squeezing me tight. Her wet tears soak into my T-shirt, but I don’t care. She needs me. She sobs against me for several minutes before pulling back.
“I never knew I needed a daughter until I met you. I know we’ve got a lot to learn about each other, but we’ve got plenty of time to do all that. What’s important is that you’re here, and you’re safe.”
Her head hangs low. “I was so stupid. I should’ve never gone to meet him,” she laments. “We were friends. He was the first person I felt really understood me and my love for programming. None of my friends at school like computers the way I do, but on Blox World, I could be myself. I didn’t have to hide.”
A sentiment I too had felt around her age. None of my foster families saw me for my potential. I was just the son of a druggie who didn’t fit into the cookie cutter mold of what a kid should be like. I was friendless, but when I was on a computer, an entire world of possibilities came to life for me. I bet Hayden felt the same way too. Yes, she’d made a huge mistake, one that nearly cost her her life, but I’m not going to keep her away from programming. It changed my life once, and it might just do the same for her. In a more stringent and controlled setting, of course.
“You didn’t know what was on the other side of that screen. What happened isn’t your fault, Hayden.”
“I wish I’d never started playing that stupid game,” she berates herself. “None of this would have happened if I hadn't bought it.”
“Things like this happen more than you know. There are evil people in this world, pretending to be someone else online. No one your age could have realized what Kevin’s uncle was making him do.”
“I know.”
“It might take a while, but when you’re ready, and only if you’re ready, maybe the two of us can play Blox World together.”
She beams, looking back up to me. “Really?”
“I’d love to play it with you. You’ve got some tricks I’d like to learn.”
Hayden reaches out for me again. She’d made a mistake, and I’d made dozens of them at her age. But, once this was all behind us, we could heal together in the safety of my oversight, and the trackers I’ll be putting in every single electronic she owns until the day I die. Maybe even her car.
“Is Kevin okay?”
“He’s a little beaten up, but he’ll be okay.” She sighs in relief. This kid may have started it all, but we both owe him a life debt. Without his help, none of this would’ve been possible.
“What will happen to him now?”
“Once he’s back on his feet, we’ll make sure he and his sister are well looked after.