Page 251 of Unexpected Heroine

My spine stiffens. “Yeah?”

“The other evening. In your office. After Mia was taken.”

I nod, already knowing where he’s going with this. “Yes. I was gonna tell you then. And dozens of other times.”

He holds my stare, refusing to let me cower. “Yet you never fucking did.”

My body goes limp. The sting of remorse slices through my skull, pain shooting through me. Moving on their own, my hands raise to scrub my head to massage away the ache. But nothing will help.

He breaks the silence first. “And the two of you?”

“I love her.”

“I know. Judging by the scene today, I’m guessing she didn’t know about me being alive until recently, right?”

“Correct.”

“You told me you’d been with her for a year, right? How the fuck did you manage that?”

“She didn’t even know my real name or where I worked until last week.”

“Jesus fuck, kid. Why? What the hell were you thinking?”

“I only wanted to help her. Protect her. Look after her. It wasn’t supposed to get... complicated the way it did. After I got her set up with a job and a safe place to live, I tried to back away. To leave her alone. I tried so damn hard.”

Biting off my words before the tears come, I close my mouth with such force my teeth clank.

Big Al lets me stew in my shame and regret for a while. Oddly, the sound of his breathing comforts me. “I’d beat the shit out of you or fire you if I didn’t know you the way I do.”

My head draws back with a sudden snap of shock. “You’re not gonna fire me?”

His fingers pinch the bridge of his nose. “No. I’m gonna kick you the fuck out of my office right now.”

“I didn’t tell you how I met her and how we...”

He presses his fists into the tops of his thighs, using the leverage to come to his feet. “If I hear much more of this fucked up story right now, I can’t promise not to beat your ass or tell you to pack up your desk.”

With me on the couch and him at his full height, he towers over me. The familiarity of the positioning triggers a memory. I blink, attempting to fight it off, but it’s determined to break free.

Him. Standing over me in much the same way.

Only it’s not Big Al.

It was my father. Many years ago. Seconds later, I lost it and charged him. My hands found his neck almost instantly. The satisfying thud of his skull hitting the floor. The blood tinged his skin red, where it bunched and wrinkled under my hands. The pop I felt under my palm. The way his eyes begged me to stop, and his mouth moved with words he couldn’t utter. No breath escaped. Life slowly slipped away.

A knock on the door rips me from the vision playing out in my mind as clear as a movie. Suddenly desperate for air, I suck in a razored breath.

“Come in,” Big Al barks out.

The door opens a crack, and Madeline sneaks her head inside. Her eyes sweep between us, landing on Big Al’s.

He tips his head, beckoning her to enter. “Tomer was just leaving.” One of his thick eyebrows arches so pointedly at me that it’s as if it flipped me off.

She opens the door the rest of the way, revealing Lettie standing behind her with her back to the wall. One of her arms is wrapped protectively over her stomach, the other balled into a fist at her side.

As always, the sight of her steals my breath. I rise from the couch, moving toward her as if I’m under compulsion.

When I pass Madeline to approach Lettie, she addresses Boss. “Your daughter would like to speak to you before she leaves.”

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