Page 66 of Wilder
She nods, taking in a shuddery breath as she watches him carefully.
He turns his head, pale-green eyes roaming over my face.
“Yes, Chase. I’m your daddy,” I confirm, feeling the need to say it myself.
His head tips to the side, and he hands his mother the remainder of his rapidly melting ice cream cone, which she sets on one of the napkins at her side. My gaze flicks to hers as we both hesitantly wait for how our son’s going to respond to this news. His chest rises with a breath, then he leaves her to stand in front of me, and without missing a beat, my child walks into the circle of my arms and rests his head against my chest.
All coherent thought flies from my head as my entire world explodes, then is pieced back together. Echo leans in, and I put an arm around her, holding them close to me. She strokes her hand over our son’s head.
“Chase, I love you, baby,” I choke out.
And my little man lets out a tiny sigh, nodding as he whispers, “Woyal my daddy.”
THIRTY-ONE
ECHO
I exhale,totally unprepared to return to TZE. I know it’s a reaction to the vulnerability I’d felt while living here, having had someone sneak into my room while I was alone and afraid. It’d shaken me to my core.
I would have thought I’d feel similarly in my own home or SIN, knowing someone had come after us in those places, too, but that’s never been the case, because I wasn’t alone. A surge of warmth moves through my body. All I feel is safe and cared for by the three men in my life. Each of them has proven they’ll always do what they think is right, no matter if it takes them into some morally gray territory. This leads me to believe this absolute truth—these brutal boys would go to great lengths to make sure no one lays a finger on me. They radiate touch-her-and-die vibes. And I know without a shadow of a doubt, they would follow through if necessary.
So, here I am, back where it all began, because the sisters of TZE are having a memorial service for Freya this evening. Wilder and Beckham had come back to the house in time to help Royal with Chase so that I could attend this event. They’d mentioned that SIN was relatively quiet last night, especially fora Friday night, and they didn’t see any reason why TZE would be any different tonight.
As I climb the stairs to the big porch, my stomach rolls over uncomfortably, gurgling with apprehension. The desire to skip out is strong, but it’d look awful if I did. Freyawasmy big sister and all. I work my jaw back and forth. No matter, of course, that she’d been sneaking into my room. That much I’m sure of. Had she left me those awful photos? Texted Royal on that burner phone Cassie mentioned? Written the final note on the mirror in my bathroom? Not that the cops have said a damn word about that or the key they found, so who the fuck knows what else she was responsible for. My heart rate picks up, and my hands go clammy. I wipe them on the skirt of my navy-blue sundress, hoping to blend in at this service. Show up. Pay my begrudging respects. Leave. That’s all I have to do. I wanna do this and then get the fuck outta here, because the more I think about it, the worse about that girl I feel. Tucking a strand of hair behind my ear, I let myself inside.
“Echo! Wow, I wasn’t sure if you’d make it.” Shani rushes toward me, giving me a quick yet awkward hug. A tentative smile spreads across her face. “How have you been?”
For about the tenth time since Wilder dropped me off earlier, I release a huge sigh. “I’m— You know. It’s been weird, right?” Surely she’ll understand that.
She winces, but we don’t have time to discuss anything further, thank goodness, because Cassie hurries toward us. “Echo, can I talk to you for a sec? I was going to text, but then I figured it’d be just as easy to talk to you while you were here today.” She pushes her glasses up on her nose and jerks her head in the direction of the small office she has at the front of the house, which is on the opposite corridor of my room.
I give Shani an apologetic smile, then turn to follow Cassie. “I guess I’m glad I came a little early.”
“I’m glad you came, period. This has been such a difficult time for all of us, but I know it’s been especially rough for you.” She closes the door as we enter the room, and she gestures that I should sit. She doesn’t take a seat herself, though, but simply props herself against the dark wood desk. “First, I hope you’re doing okay. It’s been a week, and it feels like a million years since I’ve seen you.”
“I’m good.” I grit my teeth. “You know, all things considered. They didn’t let us know about the key or the burner phone you mentioned, by the way.” I’m curious as to what she has to tell me now, because I would have thought the information she relayed about Freya would be as bad as it could get.
“I kinda assumed they wouldn’t say anything, investigation and all. But maybe they’re keeping her family in the loop.” Her head bobs as she studies me. “So, there are two things I wanted to talk to you about. First, I know you’d been staying over at SIN before all hell broke loose, and I didn’t really expect you to come back here after we got the all clear—but I wanted to make sure you’re officially moving out, because if you are, I was hoping it would be okay if we packed up the rest of your stuff to empty the room. We have a couple transfer students coming in, but not until second semester, so it’s no real hurry, and we can bring your things wherever you want, no problem,” Cassie finishes in a huff with a flourish of her hand.
I blink. “Oh.” That was unexpected, but I don’t quite know why, as she’s absolutely correct. My mouth holds the O as I stare at her. It hadn’t occurred to me that they’d want me to move out of my room, but I guess it should have. “I?—”
Cassie puts her hands up to the sides of her face. “Oh, god. I’m sorry. I wasn’t sure it was a good idea. Shoot, I should have figured with your mom being a sister and all that this place might be special to you, even if you did have some trouble here.”
My brows shoot up, and I hold a hand up. “No actually, it’s fine. You caught me off guard, but you’re right. I’m sorry for not thinking about moving my stuff sooner.”
She gives me an awkward smile. “Well, it’s not like we’ve been able to get in all week, anyway, so don’t worry about it.”
“Right.” I return her smile with a clenched one of my own.
There’s an uncomfortable silence, and Cassie fidgets through most of it, looking down at her hands. Clearing her throat, she blows out a breath. “So, that second thing I wanted to tell you?—”
Oh boy. Here it comes.
“I actuallydon’tknow how to tell you this, except to say it. You know how Freya helped me with the cage girl selections that first week?” At my slight nod, she continues, “Well, she was in charge every week, the only one ever to really touch the box. Anyway, at the meeting this morning, we also decided to go ahead and send a girl for tomorrow night’s fight.”The one Royal is fighting against Bear.“You know, we figured it might help us if we try to regain some normalcy around here once the memorial is over today.”Where is she going with this? I sure as hell do not want to be in on this, so I hope they didn’t pull my name again.“And… well, when we went to select someone for tomorrow night, I discovered that every single piece of paper in the box had your name on it.”
Holy. Shit. My mouth goes dry, and my brain ticks around horribly, at a loss for what the fuck is happening. “Okay, that’s weird. So… there was no way I wasn’t going to be selected that first time. What kind of game was Freya playing?” I suck in a breath. “Sorry, I know we’re celebrating her life today. But?—”
“Don’t worry. We thought it was really weird, too. Savannah and Ireland had a complete conniption fit. In fact, Ireland demanded to be the cage girl tomorrow because she claimedshewas”—Cassie pauses to throw up some air quotes—“‘most deserving, and obviously our selection process is shit.’”
