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“Yeah, that was a surprise.”
“Think you can get any information off it?”
“We’re going to dive into it tomorrow,” he said quickly, his eyes on Olivia. She was making a beeline for her dad. She threw her arms around him and hugged him.
“Copy that.” I grabbed Liv once she let go of her dad and pulled her in for a hug too.
“So, Nicole seems nice.” She gave me a mini shit-eating smile that matched her dad’s, and I knew her mother was probably somewhere watching us. “She just went upstairs.”
“And on that note…” I shoved her back to her father and made a point of heading downstairs to my office. I closed the door and went to work on the drone.
I slept in my office as I often did when I needed my head to settle, only this time it didn’t. I just stared at the wall with my mind in an endless loop of how Talya must have felt having Chase all on her own. The fact that my choices in life meant that I not only missed knowing she was pregnant, I missed my son’s birth, and I wasn’t there to protect his mother from being killed. That would forever weigh on me.
I stayed downstairs the next morning, after getting word from Abby that Chase was eating now but sleeping a lot because of the medication. I slipped upstairs a couple times to check on him. She was right; he was out cold. I knew he needed it, but I missed the guy.
My body was healing well, and I was antsy with not being able to train with the guys. I tried to disobey Cole’s orders and get in a little exercise, but he’d already caught me in the gym once, no thanks to Frank, who seemed to be keeping watch.
Lost in thought, I didn’t hear the door slide open.
“Why are you avoiding everyone?” Dr. Ivy stood there with her arms crossed over her chest. I caught a lightness in her eyes, so I knew she wasn’t really pissed.
I gave her a small smile. “Just got a lot on my mind.”
She nodded and stepped inside the office, closing the door halfway behind her. “Lucky for you, there are people here willing to listen.”
“Are there, now?” I teased. I knew I needed to try to release some of the tension that was building inside, but I had to get a handle on it myself first.
“Mhm, look, Paul, Dr. Bash is ready and willing to listen.”
“Pass,” I shot back.
“Why?” When I didn’t answer, she let out a long sigh. “You boys really hate change.” I shrugged and fiddled with a new lens for the drone. “You know Doc Roberts is retiring, and I can’t take on Dark Water, given the team leader is my husband. So that leaves me with Blackstone and the kids. But I could have one spot open for Stonewall.”
“Good, me, then.” I flashed her a grin.
“It would be better if team Stonewall all stayed with one therapist. You know Doc Roberts would only bring in the best of the best. He sees something in Bash. He’d be good for you and the team.”
“What do you see?” I challenged.
She shook her head. “This isn’t about me.”
“If you want me to jump to Dr. Bash, sell him to me.” I popped the lens inside then lowered it to give her my attention.
“Paul?” Cole popped out of thin air and gave Ivy a nod as he said, “Please join us next door.”
“Copy that.” I set the drone down and looked at Ivy. “You think on that answer and get back to me, yeah?”
“All right, Paul.” She shot me an unimpressed look. “Meet with me later today for a session, and we’ll talk it through.” She stared hard at me. “And don’t think I don’t know about you and Frank and your evening sessions.” Christ, she saw a lot. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.” She smacked my arm as she stepped out of the office.
Frank, Cole, Daniel, and Nicole all sat around the conference table.
Daniel rubbed his hip like it hurt him to sit. For a man in his eighties, he was still pretty spry, but the years had taken a toll on his body. “How’s our tiniest houseguest?” he asked Nicole.
“Sleeping now. Abigail’s keeping an eye on him. He’s got a way to go before he’ll be the active little boy I’m sure he’ll be one day.” I noticed that the guys avoided any eye contact with me.
“What’s going to happen to him?” Nicole looked at Daniel. “I mean, do you have a family lined up for him?”
Daniel cleared his throat. “For now, he’ll stay here. He’s too valuable to the Cartel to put him with anyone else, at least for the foreseeable future.”
