Page 67 of Shattered Union

Fuck, but it's so good to say those words.

"Are you okay?" Danny questions.

"Yeah, I'm grand. How are you two holding up?"

Danny glares at me. Melissa's lips are pursed. Both of them are pissed and have every right to be. What Zoe was doing, having evidence on him, that would have sent him to prison for a long fucking time. It was messed up. Complete bullshit.

Romero's arms tighten around Holly.

"Da, we're fine. We've known this day has been coming. Ma's been skating on thin ice for too long now. The only ones you should be worried about are Chloe, Mary, and Gareth," Holly tells me.

"There's no need to worry about me," Chloe says, walking into the room, she's dressed in her pyjamas. "As for Mary and Gareth, Zoe was never around them enough for them to even know who she was." She turns to me. "Is Callie okay, Da?"

I nod. "Yeah, baby, she's okay."

"I haven't seen her in a while and I overheard Holly talking, saying she's hurt. But she's not answering her phone." The panic in her voice has me crossing the room to her. "Da, is she really okay?"

"She's hurting, but she's okay. She's staying in a hotel tonight. We'll go see her tomorrow," I promise her.

She smiles brightly at me. "Thanks, Da. Before you say anything, I'm going to bed now."

"Night, baby. See you in the morning."

"Night, Chloe," Holly calls out to her.

"Night, guys." She smiles brightly.

I watch as she bounces away from me and toward the stairs.

"I think," Melissa begins, "she's right. I don't think her death will affect any of those children. While it's shitty, it's also a good thing. It means you can all move forward, together."

"You know," Holly says with a bright smile, "you're going to have to buy a new house."

"Why the hell would I do that?" I ask, confused. My house is fine. She and Melissa share a look. "What?" I growl.

"You're going to get back with Callie, right?" Melissa asks.

I sigh, fuck. They don't know what's going on.

"Yes, I'm going to get her back," I tell her. There's no way I'd ever let her go.

"Okay, but, Da, she's not going to want to live here," Holly says. "I'd go crazy if I had to move into a house where Romero's ex had lived."

Melissa nods. "Mmm hmm. I'd probably kill someone."

"Fine," I grunt. "While you're here, you two can look at houses for me."

They instantly nod, grinning at each other.

"Good. Now, I need to tell you something." I glance around at them and see they've all tensed. "Your ma was the one who had Callie attacked." I hear Holly and Melissa's sharp intakes of breath. Danny leans forward, his elbows on his knees. "Your ma found out Callie's pregnant and thought it would be a good idea to kill both mother and baby."

"Fucking hell," Danny clips out. "Seriously?"

I nod. "Yep. Now I'm going to shower. The next few days are going to be crazy. I'll talk to you in the morning."

"Night, Da," Holly says softly.

"Night," Danny replies, his voice still gruff. He's pissed.

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