Page 268 of Unexpected Hero

“I’ll do that too. Safer for everyone involved.”

He glances at his phone again. We sit in silence for a handful of seconds.

“Anything come up lately with anyone else in the family?”

“Meaning?”

“Anyone else at Redleg got anything going I need to be concerned with?”

“Oh.” I shake my head, running my hands along my thighs in soothing strokes. “No. Nothing new.”

Although, I haven’t been watching much over the last few months. Been a bit distracted.

“Excellent.”He slaps his palm on the table. “Any new business?”

Wordlessly, I shake my head, channeling my emotionless mask to shield me.

But on the inside, my stomach pitches and rolls in a riotous tumult.

I need to confess the secrets I’ve been hiding.

I should tell him.

There aren’t any excuses worthy of deceiving the only man who ever protected me.

Redleg is good. Things are calm — finally. I’ve waited for things to settle, and they have.

He’s a logical man, and I have no doubt he’ll understand why I hid her for so long. He’ll know I was protecting him. Like he protected me.

But if I tell him, I’ll definitely lose Lettie.

The pain I’ve felt this weekend from suspecting I’m losing her will become real and permanent, darkening the cavern in my chest to a blackness I haven’t experienced in more than a decade.

He prods me harder. “Any chance you’ve reconsidered talking to me about whatever is happening in your personal life?”

I cannot lose her.It’ll kill me.

All I need is a little more time to find a way to keep her. To protect her from the pain.

Just a little more time.

“Nope.”

He’s a second away from doing that brain probe thing again when his phone signals and the screen lights up.

Saved by a text.

I’m physically unable to stop myself from glancing at the screen. Heart emojis by the contact name capture my attention, the bright red screaming off the black screen in the little text preview.

A megawatt smile spreads up his face as he sets the phone down. “Okay. If there is nothing else, it’s time for my call.”

“Sure thing, Boss.”

On my way back to the office, the curiosity of what made Boss smile like that starts getting to me. Fucking heart emojis and Big Al do not go together. At all. It’s a more unlikely combo than me and heart emojis.

As a general rule, I don’t give two shits about people’s social lives so long as it doesn’t affect work. But I have to wonder if what I just witnessed is an even brighter neon flashing sign that now is the time to tell him. And that’s something else I don’t typically lend weight to. Signs? Those are illogical.

But with Mia assimilating and Klein joining my team full-time, I’ve finally got the capacity to ease the burden on Boss, allowing him to focus on getting to know his daughter. And if his life outside of Redleg is going well too — like it seems — this is the perfect time.

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