how happy is Holden now that he’s a daddy?”
Now that made me smile.
Holden was a daddy.
“Over the moon comes to mind.”
So did betrayed, sad, and regretful. But we weren’t dwelling on the past so I let those thoughts flee and concentrated on our blessings.
And there were many.
Holden stood in Alec’s backyard. Winter had not left and there was a chill in the air, but that was not why his body trembled.
He was pissed.
Rhode had just finished filling him in on the details Charleigh had left out about her parents’ part in keeping him from his daughter, from Leigh-Leigh.
“I want them to go down,” Holden grounded out through gritted teeth.
“Not sure you can do that without blowback. Edward isn’t stupid. Charleigh may’ve told the asshole off, but he knows his daughter doesn’t have the means to take him on. So he’ll know it was you.”
Holden thought on that a moment, then he decided he didn’t give the first fuck. Actually, he liked that Edward would know it was Holden—a man who Edward had deemed beneath him—was responsible for his fall.
“I don’t want his business touched. When I’m done, I want them to be just as wealthy as they are right now. But I want their reputations dragged through the mud. I want them left with no friends, no country club, no dinner parties to attend, no afternoon tea. I want those two to feel betrayed by the people they thought were their friends. I want them to be the outcasts. The pariahs. I want everyone to know they’re shit parents. I want them to sit in that big-ass house of theirs and know what it’s like to be lonely.”
Rhode jerked his chin in acknowledgment.
“I’ll dig up what I can. But I’m leaving on a job tomorrow.”
“You going out with Takeback?” Alec asked.
“Yeah. We got confirmation this morning from the feds they’re ready to move in. Three girls, twelve, nine, and five.”
Sweet Jesus.
Holden couldn’t let that penetrate or he’d go ballistic.
“They offered to take me on full-time,” Rhode continued. “Which means I’ll be on the road more than I am now.”
“Wilson still there?” Alec inquired.
“Yeah. I don’t know him but he seems solid. He coordinates our jobs with the marshal’s office.”
“He is solid,” Alec confirmed. “I worked with him at DHS.”
“Good to know.”
As much as Holden enjoyed shooting the shit with his friends, he wanted to take Leigh-Leigh and Faith home and spend some time alone with his girls. He was under no illusion they would tell Faith he was her dad tonight—that could wait until the time was right. But he would be having a conversation about changing Faith’s last name. And while they were at it, Charleigh’s as well.
“Did someone think to remove that box from the house?” Holden looked at Rhode.
“Yeah, Jameson took it.”
Soon there would be no reminders of Paul Towler. None. That man had no place in their lives and he would go to great pains to make sure every memory was wiped clean.
“Appreciate everything you both did for us,” he told his friends. “I’m gonna grab my girls and go home.”
“Bet you are.” Alec smiled.
“Good after all these years to see you happy,” Rhode added.
Holden’s eyes sliced to Rhode and the truth hit him, and when it did, it rocked him.
“I was happy before I knew the truth. Faith was going to be mine. I had Leigh-Leigh back and we were building a future. What you found was icing. It doesn’t change the way I feel but it might help my daughter. I’m not saying I’m not forever grateful, because I am. But I’ve loved Charleigh all these years thinking she slept with Paul and together they made something precious. I was jealous as fuck, but I never stopped loving her. Never stopped wishing Faith was mine. You finding that intel is a dream come true, but I was already living a new dream. Knowing that the motherfucker lied doesn’t make me love her more. I started all of this misery when I was stupid enough to take the word of a doctor and not trust Charleigh with what I thought was relationship-ending news. She would’ve made me get a second opinion, she would’ve been smart enough to know even doctors make mistakes. But I pussed out and ran. That’s on me and I’ll have to find a way to move past it.”
“You will. I’ve learned that with the right woman by your side it doesn’t matter what life throws your way—you find a way around