Page 86 of Hot Damn
I have to agree with Dad. The Rogues, Oakley’s marriage to Walker, and the arrival of Micky, have made Pa a very happy man. Tipping my head up, I ask, “Are you heading down now?”
“I thought I’d stick with you. See if you need anything.”
“I’m good, Dad. You can go down if you want. I just need to make sure everything is okay here, nothing left behind?—”
“I’m on that.” Trevor stops next to us. “I’ve got enough hands to help too; just take care of your things and you’re good.”
“Are you sure?”
He looks at me like I’ve lost my mind.
“Right, right. Stupid question.” Smiling, I turn to Dad. “All right. Let’s go congratulate the team before we hit the hotel and we lose our chance.”
“We can catch up with Mom—she’s down there already.”
“She is?” I glance around the suite and realize we’re the only ones left. “Wow. It cleared out quick.”
“Most went down with Jimmy but some headed out before that.”
“Oh.”
Dad slips his arm through mine and urges me toward the door. “So, talk to me about Beckett and Whitney.”
“What about them?”
“You threw yourself and your laptop at Kenneth Dupre.” He cocks an eyebrow at me.
“And?”
“Cam.”
He gives me the look he’s always given me when he wants me to talk. It worked when I was younger. It’s not so good now I’m older, but I’ve always confided in Dad or Mom so I find myself caving.
“I didn’t think about it. He grabbed for Whitney and I couldn’t let him get away with that.”
“That’s all it is? You protecting a child?”
“She’s not really a child and she’d pretty much saved herself by twisting away, but something clicked in my head, and I couldn’t not do something.”
“There are a few similarities between you and Whitney.”
I nod. There are. But then again, we’re completely different too. Whitney’s mother was a predator of a different kind to mine.
“I’m here if you need to talk.” He gives my arm a squeeze with his. “About anything.”
I hear the underlying question and answer him right away. “I haven’t heard from her.”
“Hmm…”
“Yeah. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not either.”
“You mind if I get someone to see where Andrea is?”
“Of course not. You have as much right to be sure she isn’t going to crawl out of the woodwork as I do.”
“Less than you. Far less than you.”
“I don’t think so. She lost the power to hurt me a long time ago. She’s a nuisance more than anything now.”
