Page 34 of Forget Me Not
He ducked his head and blew out a breath. “Yes, I do. And if I had the chance you’ve been given, I’d move heaven and earth to figure out how to move past the pain. Agent Patrick will be in touch with you. You will probably have to testify at the trial.”
I climbed out, unable to hide the smile on my face. “Thank you.”
I watched as he backed out of the driveway and stood there staring at the house. Was he right? Was I being a spoiled brat about this whole thing?
“Mom!” Danny came running out of the house, followed by Catherine and David. His arms wound around my middle, hugging me tight.
“Hey, Bud.”
“Where have you been?” David chuckled and shrugged.
“We told him you were handling some personal matters. Drake thought it was best.”
“Thank you.” I ruffled his hair. “Let’s go inside. I’ll tell you all about it.” I held his hand and headed inside. When I looked into Catherine's and David’s eyes, I could tell they knew. “You know, don’t you?”
“What? That you were kidnapped, or that Danny isn’t dead?” she whispered.
“Yeah, Mom. Did you know my dad is Drake?”
The shock my face didn’t hide, must have surprised David because he ushered Danny into the kitchen. “Go help Grandma. I think your mom might need a drink.”
“He knows?” I couldn’t take my eyes off my son.
“Yes. Drake—I mean Danny, came here and told us everything. Danny happened to hear him, and the rest is history. He took it quite well, actually. What about you? How are you feeling about it?”
“I don’t know.” I plopped down on the sofa and pushed down my nerves. “Part of me is ecstatic he’s not dead. The other part is pissed off. How could he do that to us? Was being a Guardian that fucking important?”
“From what I’ve learned, he thought he could come back and make things right. But the agency doesn’t allow that. You knowing will cost him the job.”
“Good. He should have considered the repercussions.”
“That’s the thing, Mackenzie. He could have gotten you back without telling us who he was. But he didn’t do that. Instead, he threw his career away for you. That has to mean something.”
“What could it possibly mean? He left, David. Faked his death, leaving me here broken and lost.”
“And I’ll never forgive myself for that,” Drake/Danny’s voice echoed off the walls of the living room. “I was young, and the sparkle of being a member of the Guardians blinded me. But after a few months, I knew what I had done. By then it was too late to fix it.”
Drake
“I’ll take Danny out back. You two need to talk.”
“Thank you, Dad.” Drake nodded towards his father.
“So, that’s it? I’m supposed to forgive you for choosing fame or whatever the hell it was over me? Over us? We had plans, Danny—Drake. Fuck. I don’t even know what to call you.”
“Whatever you want—but the world knows me as Drake now, and there is no undoing that.”
“So, you did die. Is that what you're saying?”
“I suppose in a sense, yeah. I’m sorry, Kenz. I thought I would come home and tell you what I did, and you’d forgive me. But too much time passed, and I decided to let you live your life.”
“Live my life? I was brokenhearted, Drake. My heart was ripped out and ground into the pavement the day I buried you. I wasn’t living. I was surviving—for your son. A son you didn’t know existed because you left before I found out. Do you know how hard it was to carry a part of you, when all I wanted was to die myself?”
Her pain hit me like a Mack truck. I had done this. I had left her broken, and I didn’t know if I could fix what I had done.
“I don’t know how that felt. I didn’t mean for it to be this way. I thought when I joined, they would let me bring you somewhere else and change your name with mine. I didn’t know I was cutting you off forever. And when I got this case, I knew it was a sign. For ten years I felt hollow. A job I thought was going to be the best thing, turned out to be the worst thing. All this time it was you. You were supposed to be my greatest accomplishment—I was too young to realize it then. I don’t know what I have to do, but I promise you this.” I stepped toward her. “I will spend the rest of my life proving what you mean to me. I’m not leaving you again.”
“I need a shower.” Mackenzie rushed past me and up the stairs.
