Page 47 of The Paths We Cross
“Beautiful,” Grayson murmurs with a kiss on her forehead before taking another bite of the eggs on his plate and then shoving it away.
“I agree.”
“Can I hold my niece?” Grayson asks, making a grabbing motion.
“Of course,” I say, passing a sleeping Hazel to Grayson across the table. He cocoons her in his arms as Sophie watches on with hearts in her eyes.
A plate is set down in front of me, full of scrambled eggs, toast, bacon, and a banana. I smile up at Rowan and murmur my thanks. He takes the seat beside me. We take advantage of the child free moment and eat our food while Hazel’s aunt and uncle dote on her.
We’re finishing up when Levi walks over to Grayson and kneels down to whisper in his ears. Grayson nods his head and Levi heads back in the direction he came from.
“Lenny and Wren are here. They want to talk to us. Let’s go to church so we have somewhere quiet to talk,” he offers as he stands with Hazel in his arms.
He pulls Sophie’s chair out for her and calls over two other prospects to clear our plates and asks his dad to watch Asher. Rowan pulls my chair out for me and takes my hand, helping me to stand and then leading me toward church. Grayson flags down Axel as we walk by and he stops eating and leaves his plate half full of food to follow us.
We walk inside church and find Lenny and Wren inside. We all take our seats and Lenny clears his throat.
“I’ve got news for all of you.”
“Good news, I hope,” Axel mumbles and Wren shoots a glare in his direction, making him purse his lips.
“I think you’ll be happy,” Lenny chuckles. “I found out from one of my private investigators that Drew is being charged with Jennifer’s murder and the Devil’s Knights caught wind of it. He was too late to leave town, but the rest of the club scattered. My PI followed them until they were four towns over. It looked like they were heading toward the South Carolina border.”
My shoulders slump in relief. The men who have been stalking me left town and the asshole who was trying to claim me as his own is being charged with murder.
“Fucking hell,” Grayson mutters as he gently rocks Hazel. “Does it sound like the charges will stick?”
“It does,” Wren confirms. “Witnesses saw the two of them together that night and they had a warrant for Drew’sapartment. My contact in the department said they found blood all over and ropes that had DNA that matched Jennifer’s.”
“So, he’s gone for good?” I ask.
“He’s not getting out,” Lenny confirms. “That’s not the only good news I have for you, though. I heard from a colleague that Russel Gibson’s firm is shutting down. Apparently, he was reported to the bar, and they found ethical violations. He’s been disbarred.”
“What does that mean, exactly?” Sophie asks.
“It means he can’t practice law anymore, and even if he could, no clients would trust him,” Wren replies. “Not to mention, the petition for custody was removed.”
“About damn time,” Rowan murmurs.
“I just don’t understand why he was willing to do all of this for my mother when he and his wife have wanted nothing to do with me or Hazel?”
“She might have had something on him,” Wren says.
A knock sounds on the door, and I frown as I look around the room. Axel stands and opens it, talking to whoever is on the other side. He turns around after a moment.
“Everly, your dad is here,” he says.
My heartrate picks up. My dad hasn’t had a chance to come by yet. He hasn’t officially met Hazel, even though he’s seen her over facetime. He didn’t want to come to the club for the lockdown, so he’s been keeping his distance. Hopefully, this doesn’t mean that something is wrong.
“He’s okay,” Axel says after reading my expression. “He just wants to talk to you and Rowan.”
I nod my head and stand, walking over to Grayson to take my baby back. She needs to meet her grandpa officially. I walk out of church with Rowan hot on my heels and follow the prospect, Ace, to the front room by the stairs. My dad is waiting there. He looks older now, like the stress of the last ten months has worn him down.
His dark brown hair has a few more greys in it and his green eyes are surrounded in fine lines. He still wears the same loving smile, though. I walk faster until I reach him, and he wraps his arms around me and Hazel, sighing into my hair.
“I’ve missed you so much, sweet girl.”
“I’ve missed you, too, dad,” I murmur into his chest before pulling back so he can see Hazel.
