Page 114 of Unlawful Seduction

“Brady, this is my friend Beckett. He brought you something.” She crouched down, rubbing the little boy on his back. I’d agreed to her terms, including not telling Brady who I was until she believed the time was right.

“For me?” Every movement with kids seemed to be exaggerated. He pointed to his chest and puffed it out as he’d done the day I’d met him.

“For you.” I hunkered down, holding out the bear, which was several inches taller than he was. That didn’t stop the little boy. He grabbed the bear and giggled the moment he dragged it back by a few inches. “Come, Sampson.”

His command grabbed Sampson’s attention and both he and Jax bounded onto the porch, muscling their way outside.

“That will keep them occupied,” she said so quietly I had to strain to hear her. “Come in.”

It felt awkward coming into her home after everything we’d been through, but from what I remembered, very little was the same. Different paint on the walls. Different furniture. She was finally making it her own.

She noticed my gaze as she closed the door behind me. “I couldn’t stand the thought a dead man had been in my house so I changed as much as I could.”

“I don’t blame you.” Why did I feel so entirely out of character, tenser than normal around her? Was I trying to impress her? She led me into the kitchen and I was pleasantly surprised the room looked nothing like it had the night I’d broken the asshole’s neck.

We both heard little squeals and smiled.

“Lemonade?” she asked. She must have seen a strange expression on my face. “Don’t worry, it’s spiked. I just need to keep my private stash away from Brady. He’s at the age he’s into anything. I bet you were that way.” She grabbed a couple of glasses, filling them with ice.

“I have no idea. My mother had been able to handle anything at that point though.”

“And you were a handful.”

“I was.”

Another moment of awkwardness settled between us as she poured the drinks.

She didn’t look me directly in the eyes as she handed me the glass, but our fingers touched. Immediately, she jerked her hand away. “Maybe we can sit outside. It’s a nice day.” She didn’t wait for me to respond, immediately heading to the door leading from the kitchen.

I glanced around the kitchen, no longer surprised even the layout was completely different than the night I’d saved her life. She deserved an explanation of why her life had been turned upside down.

By the time I made it outside, she was sitting on an Adirondack chair, staring out at her beautiful garden. I took another one that was a few feet away.

While there were volumes to speak, the starting point wasn’t easy nor was it something I honestly wanted her to hear.

“When I was a kid, my mother introduced me to gardening. Flowers. Shrubs. She had a green thumb and we developed several small gardens so butterflies and birds would have a safe haven. Over the years even as I drifted into those rebellious teenage years, it was something we always did together. Even after I moved out, heading to college, she’d share pictures. I found out she was sick because she stopped sending them. After she lost her battle with cancer, Daddy just wanted nothing to do with the gardens or the house for that matter. It was their special place.”

Her words struck me hard. We’d both suffered significant losses.

“Anyway, I think I stayed away on purpose because I couldn’t stand the thought of reliving the memories. It was selfish andsomething I will always regret. Daddy wasn’t the type of man to talk about his health. He just faded away so quickly. I think he was heartbroken at losing my mom. Anyway, after he died, I knew I had to come home. I had nothing to keep me in Richmond. Damen’s parents weren’t kind to me after his death, as you might imagine. The last thing I’d wanted to do was to work on the garden, but I knew it was the only way to remember the good times. That’s important. You should remember that.”

With her elbow on the armrest, she leaned her head against her outstretched fingers. Seeing her in the waning afternoon sun, I was certain she was the most beautiful woman on earth.

“I try, Mallory. I had a few good ones of my parents when I was younger, and my brother before he became determined to fix the world in whatever country that called to him.”

“You could try and contact him.”

“I assure you that my brother wants nothing to do with me.”

She took a sip of her drink. “You might be surprised. Whatever happened to your father?”

“I heard he died of a heart attack. I didn’t go to the funeral.”

“How terribly sad.”

I sat up in the seat, shifting the glass from one hand to the other. “After I saved Tessa and her son, I learned the man I respected and looked up to had mandated the hit so his precious daughter could marry the son of another crime syndicate leader. He couldn’t have any scandal because of his business connections. I realized that the years I’d been groomed to follow in Lucian’s footsteps had been bullshit.”

“You loved his daughter.” She turned her head slowly, her eyes boring into mine.

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