Page 106 of Our Broken Pieces
“I feel so numb. I wasn’t expecting to feel so much nothingness seeing her.”
“It’s okay to feel that way. You might share blood, but she’s a stranger.”
“Yeah.”
“Let’s go back to my place. I still have ice cream.”
Chapter Seventy-Two
Marcus
I’ve been sitting at my desk, staring at my laptop, but getting nothing done. Audrey texted me a while ago that things were going alright. She said it was awkward and dry as hell, but no issues. I finally heard back from Rory over the weekend, and he’s checking databases, making a couple calls to other departments and will let me know if he finds out anything about Gigi’s parents. While I hope he comes back with nothing, I’ll be interested to see if everything checks out with this woman.
At four o'clock, I text Gigi to check in and see how things went. Her reply buzzes in almost immediately:"It went okay."She asks me to meet her at Audrey’s once I’m done with work. Work can wait. Without hesitation, I pack up my things and head out.
When Jax opens the door, he gives me a fist bump.
“How is she?” I ask, keeping my voice low.
“She’s good. Just a little quiet.”
I nod and walk to the living room. Audrey smiles, rising from her seat on the couch next to Gigi, allowing me to sit. I sit down and Gigi immediately curls into my side. I wrap my arm around her.
“How are we doing, princess?”
“Alright.”
“Have you eaten yet?”
“No, Linc and Melonie are bringing over sushi.”
“Good. Is there anything you need right now?”
She presses her body closer to me. “Just this.”
Jax gives me a reassuring smile from the recliner. Audrey sits in his lap and grabs the remote, pressing play on Cinderella. Knowing I’m what Gigi needs means everything to me right now. I feel relief, knowing the afternoon is over. I didn’t realize how stressed we both were.
Gigi sighs. “I don’t think I’ll ever look at Cinderella the same way ever again.”
Audrey shakes her head. “I don’t even want to know.”
The girls go back to the living room after dinner, occupied with Adam and Millie. Linc, Jax, and I are cleaning the kitchen and putting away the leftover food.
“You didn’t finish the salmon roll, Marcus,” Linc says as he fills a storage container with food.
“It’s been a long day.”
“From what Gigi and Audrey described, it seemed pretty low key,” Jax says while washing silverware.
“I’m glad it was. It was hard sitting in my office, not knowing how it was going.”
“Maybe her mom really just wanted to see her.” Linc shrugs.
“I have someone checking out her background.”
Jax looks at me. “Like a private investigator?”
“Do you remember Rory from college?” They both nod. “He’s a detective in Rochester now. I have him looking into things.”
