Page 31 of Hemmed

“Honey, did you think we were going to make you leave at a certain age?” asked Gaspar.

She didn’t say anything at first. Then her lip began to tremble. Victoria was very petite, very small, and it made all of them want to wrap her up in a hug and rock her. Mo beat them to it.

“It’s okay, honey. I told you, you don’t have to go anywhere,” he whispered to his adopted daughter.

“Really?” she sniffed.

“Victoria, sweetie, we told all of you that this is your home now. We meant that. You never have to leave if you don’t want to.”

“I don’t want to,” she sniffed.

“Victoria, is there a reason you don’t want to?” asked Nine. “Is there something or someone you’re afraid of?”

“I don’t want to leave M-Mom and Dad,” she said, smiling at Mo. “I can call you that now, right?”

“Always,” he said proudly.

“I don’t want to leave them. This is the only stable home, stable environment I’ve ever had. I don’t need to leave to go to school. I’m already done. I can work here with people I care about and trust.”

“You can do all of that,” said Ian. “No one will make you leave Belle Fleur. But, honey, sooner or later, you’re going to want to see the world, visit exotic places, do things outside of this property. If you want to do that, we can send an entire team with you for your protection.”

“You would do that?” she sniffed, still clinging to Mo.

“We would do that,” said Ghost. “I’d send your dad with you, probably a few others, but you’d be safe no matter where you went. We would make sure of it.”

“Can I think about it for a while?”

“Of course you can. You did great, Victoria,” smiled Gaspar. “Come and see us any time if you’re worried about something or want to talk. Think of us like your grandfathers.” She had a huge smile on her face as she jumped up, hugging each of them and kissing their cheeks.

“Thank you! I’ll see you at home, Dad.” He nodded at her, waving.

“Brother, why didn’t you tell us about that?” asked Nine.

“We’re working it through with Bree,” said Mo. “I’m not sure what it is at the core, but I’m not making that child leave this property if she doesn’t want to.”

“We agree, brother.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

“How do we get Krauss and Yulia in the same space and prove what they’re doing?” asked Nine.

“You’re not going to like this,” said AJ.

“You’re pushing buttons today, son,” said Ace.

“Look, we need someone on that island. I can do the photoshop of Craig and Thurston on the property in Quebec City to draw Krauss up there. That’ll move him there. Then, I think we need to figure out a way onto the island.”

“How do we do that?” asked Ian.

“Technology,” said Ace. He looked at his son, nodding. “We can use the drones to interfere in their electricity, computers, televisions, all of it. There’s only one way off that island, and it’s by boat. You can see the spot on the other side of the river where her large boat docks.”

“Okay, but how do you get on there? You can’t sneak on the boat,” said Ghost.

“No, I’ll be there, at the marina, in a tech truck. Put some junk on the side about what I fix, etcetera. If they’re looking for someone to repair her issues quickly, it’ll be me. I’ll be handy.”

“It can’t just be you, Ace. Bring Hiro with you or Code.”

“Code,” he said flatly. His son stared at him, almost hurt. “I can’t risk your life, AJ. I can’t. Code has been doing this a lot longer than you.”

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