Page 81 of Sins of the Father

“I don’t need to know what happened. It’s not your fault. And this isn’t something you can just pretend didn’t happen. He could kill you next time.”

Her face crumples again, and I pull her shaking body into me.

Mitch attempts to call her another time. I turn her phone off. She gets upset again, but I don’t let her have the cell back.

We play with Hope. She won’t tell me anything else about what happened, so I stop asking her. For the next few hours, I try to take her mind off it.

Chase and Vivian come back, and Chase looks calmer until he looks at Anna, and his face reddens again. She avoids looking at him. He sits on the couch, and his voice is stern but quiet. “We need to talk, Anna.”

She sighs.

I rise with Hope. “I’ll give you two some privacy.”

Vivian and I go into the den. She holds her hands out. “Can I see her?”

“Sure.”

I hand Hope to her and sit.

Hope takes a fist of Vivian’s hair and yanks it.

“Ouch. I told you to stop doing that,” Vivian reprimands her with a smile and gently puts her hand on Hope’s to release her grip.

“Did your doctor’s appointment go okay?”

“Perfect.”

“That’s good.”

She makes a face at Hope and Hope giggles.

“Anna can’t go back to New York. She’ll go back to him.”

Vivian’s face drains, and her eyes widen. “I know. She can stay here in the guest quarters. When Chase was looking for places, he specifically wanted a place so she could move in.”

“He did?”

“Yes.”

“He knew Mitch was hurting her?”

Vivian scoffs. “Not physically, or Mitch would be dead right now. Chase is lucky the police who showed up when they did know him. The neighbors had already called them. The cops made it clear to Mitch if he pressed charges, then Anna would file against him. Who knows if Mitch will end up being stupid enough to change his mind, but Chase has a full report and pictures of Anna he made the officer take.”

“Did Anna say how long this has been happening?”

“No. She won’t.”

“So, she’s going to stay in Chicago?”

“As long as we can keep her here. Chase is trying to get her to agree to stay right now.”

Hope reaches for Vivian’s earring, but she intercepts. “No, you don’t.”

Hope tilts her head and says, “Ga.”

My phone vibrates in my pocket. I take it out. Steven texted me, “Do I have to send you a picture? I’m not a selfie type guy.”

I try to hide my grin and reply, “Yep. Naked would be best.”

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