Page 30 of Nines's Time

“Here good, or do you want me to speak more privately?” Sniper asks.

“Here’s okay,” she says, glancing at me as if seeking my assurance.

“You’re safe. I’m here, and these are my brothers. And in truth, your family. Nerd’s your cousin.”

I watch as her eyes widen, and she turns her attention to Nerd. “You’re . . . you’re Nick?”

“You know my name?” Nerd stares at her in shock.

“Linda would talk about you.” Meadow’s voice wavers, and her lip trembles.

“What?” he grinds out, leaning back in his chair.

Looks like we’re all in for a surprise because the next thing I know, Meadow is opening up in a way I didn’t think she would be able to do.

CHAPTEREIGHTEEN

MEADOW

Safe.

I’m safe with Nines. He won’t let anything happen to me. I can be around him and know nothing will harm me in any way. He’ll see to it. I saw it in his eyes.

Because of this, I feel confident in talking openly. It’s not easy, but one look at Sniper and Nerd, and I know neither are like the monsters who hurt me.

“Yeah, Linda . . . she, um, talked about you. Well, more or less screamed and threw things when Libby spoke about you,” I answer honestly, giving him the truth.

Several murmurs of curses hit my ears as I cast my gaze to my lap, clasping my hands together. I have so many of my own questions and all of them scare me, but I need the truth.

“Meadow.” Nines’s soothing voice calms me, and I finally look up to meet Sniper’s gaze again. “I don’t remember much about Libby . . . well, nothing but her screams. However, she told me a couple of things a long time ago, and I never understood them. She . . . she said . . .” I stop and close my eyes. “She would always say, ‘The heart wants what the heart wants and knows it at first sight. Time holds no bars against what is fated and what will be,’ and, ‘Never underestimate those who surround you. That only when the time is right will you be released from the evil within.’ I didn’t know what she meant by that, and I honestly still don’t. Not really. But the one thing I want to know now is what was she hiding and why would she allow herself to be where she was without trying to escape.”

“Don’t know, but can you tell me the truth about something else?”

“What?” I frown, unsure of what he’s going to ask.

“Is Johnathan your father?”

“No,” I whisper, shaking my head as the voice of the man who raised me screams within my mind. Him yelling at me that Libby was supposed to be his and not someone else’s. That I was to pay for what should have been his. And that I was his property. “I don’t know who my real father is.”

“I have an idea of who it is then,” Sniper says.

Shocked, I glance up and meet his gaze with surprise. “You do?”

Nodding, Sniper looked to the others and let out a breath. “Libby was seeing someone, and the two of them were nearly inseparable. He left, for the military. They had plans, though, for when he got back. The two of them were gonna get married. It’s why he asked me to look out for her until he got back.”

“You talkin’ about who I think you are?” Nerd asks.

“Yeah. Meaning when he finds out, which he will, he’s going to lose his shit.”

“Umm, I don’t understand.” Confused by this interaction, I tense further, not knowing what to expect.

Nerd looks in my direction, his eyes filled with rage. “It’s gonna sound fucked up what I’m about to tell you, but it’s got to be said. Keys and I have been looking into your life.”

“What?” I swear, if my eyes could, they’d pop out of their sockets with how wide I open them. They looked into me?

“I wanted to find out what you’ve been through, so we can . . .”

“You can’t fix it,” I whisper, tears springing up in my eyes. “Nothing can change the past.”

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