Page 480 of Lodestar

Her head tilted to the side and the lights from the traffic illuminated her expression. “She told me about your conversation.”

“Which one? We talk a lot.”

If I sounded proud, so be it. Much like her mother, Kat was a tough nut to crack, but I’d cracked that shell which meant I knew too much about Camden and the ins and outs of floor work in gymnastics.

“About wanting to call me Mom and, once we’re hitched, you Dad.”

“She hasn’t called you that yet, has she?”

“No.” She peeped at me. “Thank you for letting her open up with you.”

“You don’t have to thank me for that,” I grumbled, unfastening my top button for good measure.

“I think you’ll find that I do. I never talked to you about being her father figure, just kind of threw you into the ring, and you’ve shown up more than I could have anticipated."

“I already told you that I knew you came as a package, Star, and I never wanted anything else.” I cleared my throat. “I couldn’t imagine myself having kids, so I feel pretty blessed, to be honest.”

“Why not?”

“They’re a lot of responsibility, they’re fragile and easy to break, and the psychoses you can impart on them…” I whistled under my breath.

“So, it was less about you and more about them?”

I shrugged.

“Even before we met in person, I knew you had it in you to be a great father.”

“Why?”

“Because of how important family is to you. Your main goal in life is to keep your siblings alive?—”

“That just means I’m a neurotic wreck,” I dismissed.

“If you were a regular Joe whose brothers worked in white-collar jobs, sure. But they’re not. So you’re not. You’re appropriately and adequately anxious about their welfare.”

I snorted. “Thanks, I think?”

She chuckled. “No ‘I think’ about it. It’s the truth. But that was before we met, and now, just seeing you with her has confirmed it.”

She stunned me by reaching forward and pressing her lips to mine in a soft kiss.

In fact, it was softer than soft. It was loving and loaded with (entirely unnecessary) gratitude. It was gentle and warm and everything my abrasively abrupt Star usually wasn’t.

“In the future—” I whispered against her mouth as she began to pull back. “—you can thank me like that every time.”

When she chuckled, we settled in for the ride. Her hand knotted with mine.

Ten minutes later, and knowing we were approaching Midtown, I asked, “Truth time?”

She swallowed. “I’d tried to run off the week before. I was beaten black and blue and he made me attend with no makeup.”

My eyes flashed at that. “Are you being serious? Did nobody say anything?”

“It was a power move on his part.That’s how rich I am.” She huffed out a laugh. “I was grateful for the money once he was dead. Do you want to know why he bought me?”

Fuck, what a question.

I cleared my throat. “Hit me with it.”

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