Page 22 of Fierce Family

“I’ll promise.”

“And Gregory probably doesn’t care either. He’s just difficult at the moment. Sheila, I think you owe Josh some grovelling.”

“Isn’t it usually men that have to do the grovelling.”

“Nah, equal rights and all. The person that makes the mistake has to grovel,” he chuckles.

“Okay, fine.” I grin.

“Tell you what, I’ve finished for today. I’ll come up and stay with the boys tonight. You go and see Josh and spend the evening with him.”

“I don’t know… what if he doesn’t want to see me? I’ve ignored him since the row.”

“If he turns you away come home and I’ll cook you some dinner. But trust me, he won’t.”

“If you’re sure—”

“Absolutely. I’ll be there in two hours. I’m just heading home to grab some overnight stuff.”

“Thanks, Nico!” I stare at my phone after we end the call. I think this grovelling needs more than just a text message.

Chapter 10

Josh

Ahand slams onmy back.

“Think that spot is clean enough now,” Steve chuckles. I’ve been wiping the same rear light for fifteen minutes. My mind has been on Sheila, the boys and our situation all day. She hasn’t replied to any of my calls or messages. The concern that she might walk away from this has been festering in the pit of my stomach.

“Excuse me.” A voice that immediately causes my heart to beat faster interrupts the idle chitchat of the guys.

“Josh,” Aaron calls out. I don’t need to look to know that it’s Sheila. I take a deep breath and walk round the pump.

“Hey!” I greet her and drop my sponge into the bucket. She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear nervously. I just hope she’s not nervous because she’s getting ready to dump me.

“Josh—” she stops herself and peeks behind me. I turn and see the four guys who’ve been washing the appliances with me grinning at us. Cupping her elbow, I guide her toa door leading from the garage to the main building and away from prying eyes. My office is just down the corridor and we should be uninterrupted in there.

“Are the boys okay?” I just hope that finding out about me hasn’t caused too much drama in the teenagers’ lives. I get it, it can be tough at that age and the last thing you need is another grownup bossing you around.

“I wish I could say yes.” She steps up to me and grabs my T-shirt. She seems to need the closeness.

“Tell me what happened.” My hands slide comfortingly over her arms.

“Keiran is all on board with… us. Gregory seems to be okay too. His lashing out was more down to his frustration with me not letting him go, I guess. But—” She tries to hold back the tears.

“Hey.” I pull her into my arms until she’s leaning against me, with her face buried in my chest. She seems to relax but this causes the flood of tears to finally release. I have a suspicion that she’s been holding them in since yesterday. She always tries to be so strong for the boys. But I love that she feels comfortable to let go with me.

In between sniffling and sobbing, she tells me the whole story.

“He promised us he isn’t doing drugs, but I don’t know if I believe him and that’s what kills me. My boys are not liars, I’ve always trusted them.”

I don’t know what to say. My initial instinct is to reassure her that all is okay and then go and have a word with Gregory myself.But is that the right thing to do? Probably not.

“Tell me Sheila, do you want me to fix this or do you just want to vent?”

She raises her head and our eyes meet.

“What do you mean?”

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