Page 58 of Obsessed Fox

"I'll get it taken care of."

We said our goodbyes, and after shutting the front door, I headed straight for Maisie. She was in the same position I left her when I answered the door earlier. Her eyes were open but they weren't focused on anything.

I squatted down until I was eye level with her and leaned in close to her face.

"Hey, sweetheart. Did you hear what Special Agent Rogers had to say about Olivia?"

I brushed some of her hair off her face. It was clean only because I forced her into a shower this morning and washed her myself. She hadn't wanted to leave our bed but I knew she would feel a little better being clean, even if she wouldn't admit it. Unfortunately, she went straight from the shower to the recliner and hadn't moved since.

Maisie didn't respond, so I continued on.

"He's going to help us get custody of Olivia. It’s what Matthew wanted. I have to get a lawyer though, so I'm going to ask Maverick to help me find a good one."

No response.

"Come on, sweetheart. I know you're taking your brother's death hard, but Olivia needs you. She watched both of her parents die recently. She's going to need someone strong to help her through that and to raise her."

"It should be Matthew raising her." Those were the first words she had spoken since I'd been home and they were full of pain and her voice cracked with emotion.

An uneasy thought filled my head. "Do you blame me for what happened to Matthew?"

It had been my team who allowed him to go with us. It had been my friend whose life he saved. I had assured Mav that I would be responsible for Matthew and I failed. I would understand if she blamed me.

"No."

One word but there was no conviction behind it.

"Sweetheart, you're killing me here." I winced at my poor choice of words. "What I meant was, I hate seeing you like this and I understand if you blame me and my friends for Matthew's death. What I can't handle though is you shutting me out. We're supposed to be a team. I want to fix this but I don't know how."

It was several long minutes before she spoke again and what she said nearly knocked me on my ass.

"I don't blame you because I'm too busy blaming myself."

I stood back up and crawled into the recliner with her and pulled her into my arms so that her head was resting on my chest. "How could you possibly blame yourself?"

"Matthew was in that position because I killed Atlas. Sarah and Olivia were kidnapped because I was selfish and wanted to know what happened. If I had just let everything go, none of this would've happened and Olivia would have both of her parents right now.”

I played with the ends of her hair. She’d mentioned more than once that it comforted her and right now that was all I wanted to do.

"If I have learned anything in all my years, it's that you can't play the what-if game. There's no telling how things would've worked out. I'm not a very religious man but even I can believe that things happen for a reason. We have to trust the system."

She gave me her beautiful eyes, and even though they were full of pain, I could see the flicker of hope trying to peek through.

"You really think she was meant to be here with us?"

"I think we're going to keep her parents’ memory alive, and love her enough that she's going to have a fulfilling life."

Maisie snuggled deeper into my chest and I knew in that moment everything was going to be okay.

"I hope so. I can't wait to meet her. I've missed out on so much and I know Matthew did too. I want to do this in honor of him."

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Maisie

Two weeks later

I stood with Hendrix inside the small airport, my fingers white from how hard I was gripping his bicep. "What if they've changed their mind?"

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