“No, no, it wasn’t. That’s why my mom and I fought to have you moved to the house. A compromise I made,” he said.
“What did you lose?” I shot out.
“I agreed to marry Annabelle when the time was right. Something I’d been fighting. I won’t have to do that now, thankfully, because she was wretched toward you,” he said.
“I hate to break it to you, but you probably would have been too late. I had actual plans to take her far from here before the baby arrived,” Quinn said.
“You were gonna take my baby away from me?” Daxyn said.
“It wasn’t about you. If I thought you could have kept their location a secret, and Zay was willing, I’d have shared with you when the time was right,” Quinn said.
“I guess we were all planning to defy my father in some way, huh?”
“And yet, it wasn’t quick enough,” I muttered. Quinn squeezed my hand. He apologized so many times, and I’d forgiven him, but sometimes it reared its ugly head.
“I’m truly sorry,” Daxyn said.
“We all are,” Quinn said.
“Where did you guys bury him—Izayuh?” Daxyn asked.
“We didn’t,” I said. I reached out and grasped the pendant in my hand. “He stays here around my neck twenty-four seven.”
“Can I?”
I nodded. Part of me hated him, but part of me knew he was a victim in all of this, too. He may not have wanted the baby initially, but it was still his baby.
He stepped forward, reached his hand out, and cradled the pendant in his hand. He stared at it, his thumb rubbing the pendant up and down.
“I’ll honor him on every December Seventh until I die,” he whispered.
I reached out and pulled him into a hug. Tears rolled down both of our cheeks. I needed this closure more than I knew. He did too. We both lost parts of ourselves that day that we would never get back.
I let go and turned around to head up the path.
“Hey… another thing,” Daxyn said.
“Yeah?”
“You need to go home… Paxton’s new girlfriend… Asil is really fucking weird. She has him on drugs, she’s abusive toward him and Aspen when your mother’s not home. And your mother… she… the drinking is the worst I’ve seen it,” Daxyn said.
My heart sank into my stomach. I instantly felt nausea creep up to the back of my throat. My heart was hammering.
Chapter 31
I hadn’t even processed who he was talking to or even what they said. All I could think about was what was happening at my home. Ravik was gone, and my life was no longer in danger. I had to go home. I didn’t know what that meant for Quinn and me, but Aspen was a priority. She had to be.
We climbed into the car. With the backseats full, Callie rode with Hyder. He had to bring our stuff to Quinn’s home. I knew he had a small two-bedroom home that he shared with Callie. Callie already told us that she was planning to move back to Louisiana after we figured everything out. Lina had offered to teach her midwifery. She felt that it was her birthright to do that.
“I need to go home, Quinn,” I said.
“I was afraid of that,” he said.
“You know that was always the goal. I need to see Aspen. I don’t know what’s going on over there. I took care of everything, and I haven’t been home in six months,” I said.
“I know, but does it have to be tonight?” he asked.
“Yes, as soon as I can,” I replied.