Page 74 of The Layover

I’d be offended if he thought I might know, but now wasn’t the time for anything but going. No thinking. No feeling. We just had to get this done. “Office.”

I had no idea why that was my answer, and the entire way there, I fluctuated between that and home in my head, but I didn’t share the doubts with Diego. We needed to pick a single direction, not waver.

Curtis’s office was in one of those shared workspaces, where anyone could reserve a room or a desk. When we stepped inside, Diego seemed to know exactly where we were going, so I followed. The woman at reception tried to stop us—I caught something about you don’t belong here—and we brushed past her without pausing.

He was in one of the individual offices, rather than the common working space, and when we pushed into the room, he was on the phone.

Eloise on the floor in the corner, playing with building blocks. My heart bounced that she looked okay. And when she looked up with a smile, I almost dared feel relief.

Not yet, but soon.

“Daddy. Carly.” Eloise grinned.

“I’ll have to call you back,” Curtis said to whomever was on the other end of the line.

I crouched and held out my arms. “Come here, sweetie.” I focused on Eloise.

She ran up to me and gave me a big hug, and I held her facing away from the room while Diego swung a fist at Curtis’s face, and connected with a sickening sound.

Fuck. Yes. I covered Eloise’s ears. “Were you having fun?” I asked softly. This might be a beautiful scene for me, but she didn’t need to see it.

“Listen, you fucking wanna-be—” Curtis looked furious.

Diego punched him again, this time in the stomach.

“I just wanted to talk to Car—”

Diego grabbed Curtis by the shoulders, cutting him off, and drove a knee into his groin. Curtis grunted and dropped to his knees.

“Nobody move.” Police burst into the room.

It didn’t matter if I’d understood the words or not, their tone was indication enough. I should be grateful they got here so quickly after us, rather than wishing Diego had a few more minutes to pound on Curtis.

Diego held his hands in the air and stepped back from Curtis.

“He’s her father,” I said.

The next few hours passed in a blur. Confirming Eloise was safe, and Curtis was the one who took her, answering questions for the police. Watching Diego and Raul wrap Eloise in their arms and being pretty sure they weren’t letting her out of their sight for a while.

Sitting in the midst of it all as one specific and harsh reality sank in. This was all my fault.

As the longest day in the history of days wound down, Diego and Raul were finally able to take Eloise and go home. Daria had sent her girls back to the cottages with Brooke and Adam, and waited for me.

I was both grateful to have her here, and feeling completely unworthy of the consideration.

We didn’t say anything on the ride back. When we stopped by the place Brooke was staying, Daria’s girls were happy to see her, and an ache grew in my chest at the overall vibe in the air. That closeness and kind of family feeling I didn’t even have with my siblings. Megan, Jeremy, and I were close, but Daria, Harmony, and Alana needed each other.

Harmony was a bundle of energy when we got back to our place. “Can we do this again tomorrow?”

Daria shook her head. “No, hon. We can’t.”

Please, God, never again. Please.

“Do your boyfriends know Donovan?” Alana’s question jarred me on multiple levels.

They’re not my boyfriends, the protest died in the back of my throat. “Who?”

“That’s why he looks familiar.” Daria puffed out a sigh. “The guy who came back with Diego was on a show years ago, when he was a kid. Donovan’s Wilde Ride. They still play the reruns.”

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