Page 60 of Broken

"Well, Aunt Dani and dad are the only people who have ever come to the apartment, and you love Aunt Dani, so you must love dad." She gave me a grin. "Plus, there was the night you and dad fell asleep on the couch together."

It took a second for it to hit me, she was talking about the night she met Kai. When he came to the apartment after she went to bed. I wasn't sure how long we slept on the couch before he got up and left. Apparently, not before our daughter caught us in the act. I stared at her, dumbfounded.

"It's okay mom. I just want you to be happy, and I love my dad too. He's a cool guy."

Well, if that didn't tear my heart in two, nothing would.

"When did my little ladybug grow up?" I smiled at her through my tears.

"Shh. Don't tell anyone, but I'm secretly an old lady." Aine started to laugh, and I couldn't help but join her.

This kid had a personality and the best sense of humor. She grew up faster than she should have because I raised her alone for so long. I did my best to protect her from the hard stuff in life, but that didn't change the fact that there were some lessons she had to learn early.

thirty-four

Kai

Ifinishedpackingmythings to go home when there was a knock at the door. I hung the "No Housekeeping" tag on the door, so it couldn't be housekeeping. The only other person it could be was Sin.

My heart filled with so much hope as I went to open the door. Tonight, wouldn't be our goodbye, it wouldn't be our end. We would find a way to make things work for us. We would be a family.

"You have no idea how glad I am you changed your mind," I said opening the door for...Millie?

What the fuck? What was she doing here? Why the fuck did she look like a UFC fighter after losing a fight?

"Millie, what are you doing here?"

"Cal told me you were here. Joey found me in Lakewood and begged me to take him back." She was shaking and crying. I wrapped her in a hug and led her into my room and closed the door tight. I never met Joey, her ex-boyfriend, but as her doctor, I knew he beat her up pretty badly in the past.

"Tell me what happened. How did you wind up in Palm Springs?" I wrapped a blanket around her shoulders and sat her down on the couch.

She told me her ex showed up in Lakewood at the bar, begged her to take him back, and promised that he changed. He asked her to go with him to Vegas for the weekend for his sister's wedding. Millie explained that she liked his little sister, and didn't want to let her down, so she agreed.

Somewhere between Bakersfield and Barstow, he got jealous over the texting between Millie and my brother Callum, and he took her phone and threw it out the window.

"When I told him he was being an ass and got angry, he backhanded me in the face. So, when we stopped for gas in Barstow, I met a family who was headed down this way, and they offered to drive me as far as Palm Springs. I don't think he saw me go with them, but I can't go back to Lakewood. Not yet."

Millie sobbed uncontrollably. She had a bruise across the left side of her face, and her lip had a gash across it that barely started to scab over. He must have hit her pretty hard for it to look this bad.

The only person who had personal experience with these things was

Sin. I tried calling her, but she didn't answer, so I sent her a text.

Sin, I need to talk to you. It's urgent.

When she didn't reply after a few minutes, I sent another text.

Please Sin. What did I do, baby? I really need to talk to you.

Fuck. Whatever it was, she refused to speak to me. I needed to go to her.

I decided to extend the hotel stay, in my name, for Ronni for the next week. I left her with plenty of money for food, and Sin's cell number. I told her I was going to go talk to Sin in person and she would come to check on her. She understood better than anyone else what Millie was going through.

Before I could try Sinclair again, Callum called.

"Hey. Millies here." I told him.

"Oh, thank God. I was worried when she stopped texting back."

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