Page 135 of Love Without Control

“Yeah, after we found those old comics in the attic.” He rolled his lips inward and then stared over my shoulder. “When you were gone, sometimes I would think about that and wish I really was a superhero so I could find you.”

“But you became a detective, so you were a hero to so many other people.”

I read the regretful response in his eyes, but he didn’t say it out loud.And yet I couldn’t find my own sister.Instead, he said, “Let’s go see if we can make Auburn piss himself.”

A few people recognized Snoopy and Garfield as we walked, and we had to pause for them to gush and take pictures. They really were popular.

“That’s our hotel,” I said, gesturing to the brick building across the street from the park. “Do you care if we leave Garfield and Snoopy with our friend upstairs?”

Monty looked surprised. “That’s fine, but why did you get a hotel room? You can stay with us.”

I shrugged. “I didn’t know…”

He rolled his eyes. “They’re welcome to come with us. Auburn and Gianna won’t mind.”

“No, it’s almost time for Snoopy’s nap. She gets grumpy if she doesn’t get at least twenty hours of sleep a day.”

Everyone laughed, and Dane reached to take Garfield’s leash from my hand. “I’ll take them. Will you be okay down here?” His eyes darted around as if looking for danger behind every lamp post.

“I’ll be fine,” I assured him.

We watched him enter the hotel, and Monty looped our arms together. “He seems really protective of you.”

“He is,” I said simply before changing the subject. “So tell me about your son. Sully, right?”

My brother’s face cracked into a proud grin. “He’s an awesome kid. I guess in all your snooping, you figured out he’s Kassie’s biological son and I adopted him?”

I nodded. “I’m so happy he has you.”

“I’m the lucky one,” he replied. “I’m not sure what I even did with my life before Kass came back. She and Sully and our soon-to-be daughter are my world. And now you’re here too. It’s like… I feel whole again.”

My chest ached for him. He’d been through so much by the time he turned eighteen. Losing their baby. Kassie disappearing. And then me.

Before I could reply, Dane exited the hotel and jogged up to me, tugging me into his chest and burying his face in my neck like he’d been in Siberia for twenty years instead of in the hotel for five minutes. “You okay?” he murmured, and I nodded. His face smelled faintly of baby lotion, and I suspected he’d grabbed a quick Paulie cuddle while he was up there.

“I am. Is… everything okay upstairs?”

My husband spoke low in my ear. “He’s fine. Doing his favorite activity right now.”

“Eating or pooping?” I whispered, and he chuckled.

“Eating.” He leaned back and brushed a strand of my hair behind my ear. I didn’t have the lavender streak anymore. I’d dispensed of that years ago, and then I’d gotten rid of the nose ring after Paulie almost yanked it out when he was two months old.

We parted and turned, finding Kassie and Monty staring at us. The curve of a smile Kassie gave us was understanding, and I knew she could see our love. Monty frowned a bit, acting like the big brother he pretended to be when we were in high school, protective and wary of any boys who showed interest in me.

We walked a few blocks, and Monty led the way into a gorgeous building and waved at the concierge. “Is this where Auburn lives?” I asked, and he nodded, gripping the back of my neck and kissing the top of my head as we walked to the bank of elevators.

“It is. Kass, Sully, and I live in this building too. So do Cruz and his fiancée, Lehra. Auburn owns it. He and his family live in the penthouse.”

“Why am I not shocked that Mr. Fancy Pants lives in the penthouse?” I teased, though my nerves were ramping up. Things were going okay so far, but now I was about to see my older brother and meet his wife for the first time. Then my dad would come. I had to swallow a lump at the thought of seeing him again. After that, I’d have to tell my story and pray they didn’t hate me for my choices.

Dane, sensing my shifting emotions, gripped my hand in the elevator as we rose to the penthouse floor. It opened into a foyer, and we stepped out onto the ivory marble floor.

“I was thinking…” Monty said. “Maybe I should go inside first and warn him. I thought I was having an aneurysm when I first saw you, and Auburn is over forty now.”

I nodded. “I wouldn’t want to kill any of my family members with my presence,” I said, only half joking because I was a bit worried about how my dad would take this. What if he had another heart attack from the shock of my return?

Kassie took my other hand and squeezed it as Monty let himself inside the apartment. Approximately thirty seconds later, the door swung open, and Auburn burst into the foyer and then screeched to a halt like a cartoon character. His eyes were wild and his normally perfect hair awry. I understood why a second later when he rammed both hands into the dark strands, his elbows winging out to the side.

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