Page 120 of Protector

Do you love him?

Are you scared?

Is he worthy of someone as unique as you?

I rocked back on my heels; the questions stuck in my throat. I couldn’t question Kate’s decisions without revealing my own.

Misreading things entirely, Dakota ran over to hug Jeremy. “Congrats. I have a brother now.”

Rick chuckled to himself before cryptically muttering, “You’re so dead, Jarvis.”

Jeremy looked around for help before blurting, “She didn’t marry me…”

I winced when Dakota connected the dots and confronted her sister. “God of thunder, Kate. Tell me you didn’t do something as stupid as marrying that asshole!”

The asshole happened to be a doctor, but I understood her frustration. From what little I’d seen, the two were oil and water, never managing to go more than a couple of days without blowing up at each other.

Kate pushed herself to her feet. “Well, it’s time for me to go.”

“No, you don’t, Mary Katherine,” Dakota snapped. “I need details!”

“You just called my husband an asshole, Dakota. You don’t get to make demands now. Jeremy, let’s go.”

“If you’re married to Nate, then why are you here with Jeremy?” She called after her.

I’d come to tell Kate the truth, but my head was left spinning with more questions than answers. I’d assumed that the two had put their childhood differences aside, but with the way they were in each other’s faces, it was clear that I was mistaken.

Just one more thing I’d missed.

“Kate—Dad’s alive,” Dakota quietly admitted, pulling me back to the conversation.

Her green eyes met mine, and I nodded, blinking against the sharp sting of tears. She was no longer a woman, but a little girl, battling her anxiety in the middle of a grocery store.

I can’t breathe, Mama!

“My dad died,” she said slowly.

I shook my head, watching her break all over again. The stolen money was the least of their worries when their entire childhood had been drenched in lies.

“Nah, Hail Mary,” Rick said with a laugh. “Your padre is my boss.”

“So, your husband is my dad?” she spluttered.

“Kate, I wanted to tell you—” I started.

“Wow, I’m hearing a lot of that tonight. I need to get out of here.”

With that, she was gone, along with any chance of redemption. Dakota shook her head and wrapped her arms around me as the air left my lungs. Kate was still that lost little girl, grieving her daddy. Telling her the truth hadn’t changed that; if anything, it had only forced her to relive it.

Maybe my mother had been right all along.

The girls had been better off without me.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Grey: December 2016

“Iwant to know where those photos came from. Is Kate even safe here? Fuck, maybe we have Mikey put her back in that holding facility—”

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