Page 289 of Second Sets Omnibus
“I do. For using my credit card without permission. I have the records with my finance guy. He’ll be able to prove without a doubt it was her who spent over fifty-K of my money.” I seethe on the inside, thinking about all the cash her grubby hands got onto before I was alerted.
“Okay. We’ve got her for theft of merchandise with a value of over a thousand dollars,” the officer says, looking down at his notepad.
“What exactly did Gloria try to steal?” I ask with a tic forming in my jaw again. Shit. Even saying her name now puts a bad taste in my mouth.
“Diamond earrings,” he states flatly with thinned lips.
“I’m here,” Asher says breathlessly, wiping his hand across his forehead as he jogs toward us.
“Daddy!” Lyric lights up at the sight of Asher, grinning at him over my shoulder where she’s snuggly cuddled against my chest.
“Who is that?” the officer asks, eyeing Asher with concern.
“My brother.”
At that, the officer drops his shoulders and nods.
Asher grins, stepping right into his element. Being a damn good father. Nothing lights up his face more than baking, cooking, and helping Lyric with whatever she wants.
It’s like he’s trying to prove the exact same thing I am. We are not our fathers. We take responsibility and love the little human we created. Or I created—but that’s semantics. We’re all fathers in Lyric’s eyes.
“Did you have fun?” Asher asks, cocking his head to the side with a chuckle. “Looks like you ate some sparkly ice cream.” Shit. I didn’t even think to wipe her face off before we left.
She immediately nods. “Daddy and me had lots of unicorn ice cream. I ate all mines. Daddy only took a few bites.” She side-eyes me with so much sass I choke on my spit.
How will I survive raising a tiny little River clone? At this rate, she’s going to give me gray hair before I’m thirty. And so will River. Lord. Thankfully, I have the other three guys to balance out the chaos.
“It was good, Little Blue. Daddy just had an important phone call.” That’s the understatement of the century. Vital. Life changing. All those words ring through my mind.
“Come here, Little One,” Asher says, curling his fingers in her direction as she practically climbs over my shoulder and into his embrace.
“I’ll—” I stare at the door holding Gloria, whose soft, pitiful voice wheedles through, infiltrating my damn ears and making them ring. She’s crying inside, begging someone to believe her that she didn’t do this.
“Take your time, man. Are you—” I know what he’s asking without uttering a word.
“She stole from me.” My lips roll together. “After everything we’ve done for her. She stole from me, and I can’t…” I shake my head. “After what she did to River.” My eyes cut to Ly, who listens to our conversation, tilting her head like she’s soaking it in for later. “I’m done with her.”
God. She’s going to tell River everything that happened today. Not that I’d keep anything from her. But I know kids. They’re little blabbermouths. So, it looks like I’ll be having a good old-fashioned sit down with River about what’s to come. Especially with us taking custody of Cami and having her stay with us through the summer and being financially responsible for her, too.
“Okay. We’ll be here,” he says, kissing Ly’s cheek. “Why don’t you show me your favorite YouTube videos? You can use my phone.”
“Yay!” Ly claps her hands as they walk around the corner and away from me.
“Okay, I’d like to speak to her now.” And with that, the officer opens the door to the makeshift hell housing my distraught mother.
“Mr. Knight?” a tall woman with the name tag Angie on it, indicating she’s the store manager, asks as I approach.
“Yes, we spoke on the phone,” I say, giving her a curt nod.
“Oh, Kieran! Thank God you’re here! Tell them…tell them you let me use it! They don’t believe me. They-they took your card, and then the police showed up. Tell them, Kieran, that I’d never take something that wasn’t mine.” Gloria heaves a breath, watching me with tear-filled eyes. Metal handcuffs clink against the table she’s tied to every time she tries to reach for me.
“Sorry for the theatrics, Mr. Knight. We were alerted of fraudulent charges through our computer system. But we found this in her purse first.” I scowl when Angie holds up a pair of diamond earrings glittering in the low, fluorescent lights of the room. “We watched your mother through the cameras walking around. It was brought to our attention by a few customers that they saw her tossing these into her purse after removing the packaging.” She side-eyes Gloria, glaring at her with rage sparking.
Gloria thought she could pull one over on them. And if she couldn’t have, she thought I’d talk them out of taking her to jail by paying for the earrings she stole.
No chance in hell.
My jaw tics. “Do you mind if I have a word with her before you take her?”
