Page 124 of The Casualty of Us
I lift my arms to give her a quick squeeze, breathing in her perfume and the sense of home I was so scared of never finding again before sighing. “Thanks, Mama.”
She pulls back to give me one more smile before turning to where Hayes is standing beside me. Her eyes run over his face with something flashing through them that completely throws me because whatever it is almost looks like recognition.
“Hayes,” she hums under her breath, voice clearly amused as she greets him. “So nice tofinallymeet you.”
My brows fall, and I flick my gaze up to him, catching the nervous swallow he gives before holding out a hand.
“Nice to meet you as well, Mrs. Fitzroy.”
“Aren’t you sweet?” She lifts a hand to his cheek with an affectionate pat, and the surprise on his face has my heart clenching. “But call me Blythe, or else we’re going to have problems, hmm?”
“Of course.” His dimples flash with a quick nod, and she steps back as my dad moves to take her place.
“Hayes.” He reaches out a hand, and Hayes immediately lifts his own to take it, the one with the tattoo on it,of course. “Nice to meet you.”
Both of them seem to stretch a taller for a split second before Hayes clears his throat. “Nice to meet you too, Mr. Fitzroy.”
My dad holds his hand for another second before letting go and stepping back, staring him down with a guarded look that has me rolling my eyes.
“Hi, Daddy,” I toss out, breaking up the tension between them. “So nice to see you too.”
His eyes jerk to me and his face softens instantly. “Princess.” He goes to move like he wants to take a step forward before stopping himself. “Happy birthday.”
Probably worried about pissing me off again, but my stomach drops when his face continues to fall. “Where’s Ollie?”
“Upstairs.” My mom raises a hand. “Don’t worry, he’s fine.”
I frown hard. “What happened then?”
Because something happened. My mother hides it better, but my dad…it’s written all over him.
“Jack was on his way up to meet with Sutton at the school this morning when his car was hit from the side,” my dad delivers, face serious and voice measured in a way that he usually reserves for the courtroom. “He got knocked around pretty good, but he’s okay.”
“That could be random,” I argue back, trying to convince myself.
But it’s my birthday.
I should have thought of that.
“There was a note left on the windshield of his car.”
His gaze holds mine in the silence that follows, and for the first time I can see the absolute terror there. He’s worn down enough that it’s bleeding through now, and it has my stomach plunging further as Hayes interrupts tightly.
“Who’s Jack?”
“One of the bodyguards,” I mutter, eyes darting to where he’s looking between us tensely and making me clear my throat to correct. “One ofmybodyguards.”
“Here.” My father produces his phone and stares at it with an unhappy look on his face. “I know things have been…tense between us.” He looks up at me, expression on his face imploring me to understand as he holds it out. “I’m sorry for letting my fear get away from me, and I will make sure you know everything from here on out, but you have to promise to stay away from this too.”
I reach for the phone immediately, trying to take it from his hand, but he holds it firm.
“Deal?”
I scowl, lying easily this time. “Deal.”
I’m really racking them up these days.
He lets go of the phone a second later, and I lift it up, eyes immediately taking in the near-perfect scrawl that matches the last one I got to see.
