Page 104 of Rent Free

“I’d like to say that I could help you when it came to Sage, but there’s something switched off in her brain. Has been since she was an early teen. I’m not sure what happened. No amount of doctors could find out why. And when we took her, she could just play so well at being normal that all of the doctors said she was fine. That maybe it was us.” He sighed. “I hate to say it, but I can’t control my own daughter. Never could.”

“Sage is going to be Sage,” I said. “Now that I know, I know what to look out for. I can help Pepper. But here’s the thing, I don’t want Pepper to have to suffer for the rest of her life because of Sage. It’s my hope that I can help figure out a way to keep her away. When she lied about the kidnapping, that meant that another woman was out there suffering, possibly alive, who could’ve been saved. But we stopped looking because Sage said it was her.”

Emmanuelle’s head dropped. “She’s so selfish. Never thinks of anyone but herself.”

I leaned forward. “I want to be blunt with you, Mr. Solomon.”

“Emmanuelle,” he offered. “My son-in-law will call me Emmanuelle.”

I grinned. “I haven’t gotten to that question yet.”

“You don’t even have to ask it,” he said. “You have my permission. Pepper has always known her own mind. She’s been fiercely independent. I have loved her since the moment she wrapped her little hand around my finger the day she was born. I would give that girl my whole heart if she needed it. The only thing she wants, she told me, is you. So you don’t need to ask. But when I’m not me…”

“I’ll take care of her,” I promised. “I’ll never stop. I love her with my whole heart, too.”

“Back to what you can do about Sage…” he croaked.

I winced. “Lying to police officers is a crime.”

He nodded.

“I’ll be bringing these allegations to the internal board for review. They’ll do an investigation. They’ll find out everything they can, and hopefully they’ll find what they need, and we can have her tried on those charges,” I said.

“You will put her in jail,” he surmised.

“It’s my intention to find a way to do that, yes,” I confirmed.

He stood up and offered me his hand. “Take care of Pepper. And, if it’s possible, wait until I’m lucid so I can give her away.”

I grinned and took his hand in mine. “I’ll do that.”

I made it to the restaurant before they’d left, but only just.

I found them all in the parking lot in a huddle, talking right outside the restaurant.

I parked and got out, moving toward the group.

Forest was asleep on Pepper’s shoulder. Tarrant had his arm wrapped around a woman with bright red hair. Everest had his around a woman with long brown hair.

There were kids behind them playing in the restaurant’s flower bed.

There was also an older man with his arms crossed who was watching me walk up, narrowed eyes aimed directly at mine.

The group turned as one to see who the man was looking at, and Pepper’s face lit up in a breathtaking smile.

“Atlas!” she gasped in excitement, though it was much quieter than she would’ve given me had Forest been awake.

I moved to her, ignoring the people surrounding her, and enfolded them both in my arms.

“You okay?” I asked quietly, pulling back with a kiss to her head.

“I’m okay,” she said. “Better than okay.”

“Awww,” one of the wives cooed.

I squeezed Pepper’s arm and asked, “You need a change?”

My head jerked toward Forest, and she shook her head. “Actually, he’s keeping me pretty warm. Like a mini space heater… just like his father.”

---