No use splitting hairs. I nodded. “Yeah.”
He frowned but nodded a little to himself. “I thought so. He had a gun. He pointed it at us. And Mom said he locked her in a closet.”
He didwhat? IknewHarper didn’t look right when I saw her this morning at the prison. What else has he done?
Fuck. I should never have let her come back to Austin by herself. Not after we realized how far Z was willing to go, even back in the day.
I should have realized it meant he was dangerous, and that confronting him would only make him more desperate. How long has he been working with a Goddamn MC? Harper’s been living adjacent to so much danger. It makes me sick even thinking about it.
Harper came back into the room, so I couldn’t question the kid anymore.
But now that he’s in bed, I dare a look at Harper. She still looks exhausted as she collapses back on the couch again, hands covering her face.
I’m sitting on the loveseat adjacent to the couch, and venture to ask after a few moments of silence, “Harp? Are you okay?”
She drags a hand down her face. “I’m gonna have to get that kid into therapy. Not that I can afford that. But Jesus, this is all gonna fuck him up, right? He’s basically in shock. He just kept wanting me to read him the same chapter of his book over and over. The one at the end where all the friends get back safe and there’s no more zombies.
“I asked him if he wanted to sleep in the bed with me tonight, but he said no. ThatVipersaidhe had to man up and that only babies cried for their moms. He quoted some MC motherfucker to me because Z exposed him to that?—”
Her head drops into her hands again as her shoulders start to shake.
It tears at me, seeing her like this.
“Harper, he’ll be fine.” I move to her side and wrap an arm around her. “Kids are resilient, right?” I have no idea what the fuck I’m talking about, but I feel like that’s something people say?
For a second she resists, trying to pull away, and I almost back off. Fuck knows I’m doing and saying all the wrong things. My hand squeezes into a fist, then unclenches, then clenches. Right as I start to stand again, though, she turns into my chest and gives in to her sobs.
All the tension in my body relaxes at having the warmth of her there, finally allowed to comfort her. Not to mention how right it feels having her in my arms again. God, she feels exactly the same. The same as happened when we were together a couple of days ago; all the years we’ve been separated fall away like shed skin.
The man I’ve pretended to be all these years falls away. Sure, maybe I make a pretense of regulating my emotions better, but I know I’ve also just built up so many walls, too. I’m the funny,casual guy around the club. The guy who has one-night stands, or a series of flings with women like Moira used to be, who were never capable of being anything more serious.
There’s been a Harper-shaped hole in my heart this whole time. Nothing else would fit into this space. I didn’t want anyone to.
Some sane part of me gave up hope of ever getting her back a long time ago. So I just cherished the ache of her loss, because at least then, a part of her was always with me—even if it was the shape of her absence.
But now she’shere.
With me. Warm and in the present.
In crisis, with her son, asshole. This isn’t about you and whatyouwant.
I breathe out and try to steady myself. She doesn’t need my obsessions crowding her right now. She needs a steady, calm presence, and I resolve to be exactly whatever she needs.
So I hold her, and I run my fingers through her hair while she cries, and I try to temper my wild pleasure at having her in my arms while I can feel she’s in so much pain.
Yes, we’ve reconnected.
But Z was the man she was with for almost a decade. He’s the father of her son, and he just betrayed her terribly.
I’ve waited this long.
I can wait a little longer.
“You’re all right,” I soothe her as I continue running my fingers through her silky hair. “It’s gonna be okay.”
She huffs out a laugh against my chest, pulling away and swiping at her eyes with her palms. “That’s my line.”
I’m sorry to lose contact with her, but I’m glad she’s talking again.