Page 22 of Finding Redemption

Muttering a curse under my breath, I stepped into the apartment.Bella ran out of what I assumed was Brooke’s room, her hair in a knot similar to Sariah’s.Seeing them side by side never failed to make my heart lift.In another lifetime, maybe things would have been different, but I’d already driven myself crazy enough over the what-ifs to want to ruin what little peace I’d finally found.

“Daddy, Riah said Brooke is coming to live with us.”Bella threw herself into my arms, and I swung her up, kissing both her cheeks.“I’ve been helping pack up all her pretty princess dresses.”

“She’s been a big help,” Sariah praised.“I couldn’t have done it without her.And Brooke will be so happy you helped, Bella-Boo.”

Placing Bella on her feet, I turned her toward the bedroom.“You go finish up.I need to talk to Riah.”

Bella glanced at me over her shoulder, her brown eyes full of concern.“Is she in trouble?”

“Maybe.”There was no use in lying about it.Nudging her, I waited until she was out of the room before I turned to face the woman standing there waiting.

From the way she wouldn’t meet my gaze all of a sudden, I was that much more convinced she wasn’t innocent.“What did you do, Riah?”

Her teeth sank into her bottom lip.“What do you mean?”

I scrubbed a hand over my jaw in frustration.“It would be a hell of a lot more convincing if you didn’t look guilty as fuck right now.Talk.”

With a huff, she put distance between us, a pout already on her face.“Brooke deserves better.”

This woman-child was going to drive me insane.Her explanation didn’t tell me shit.“Sariah.”

“I…” Swallowing loudly, she walked over to a stack of boxes, each neatly labeled.“Luck told me about his niece a while back.It’s been maybe a year.”

My eyes narrowed at the way she ducked her head at the mention of my best friend.I did not like the way Sariah seemed to go all shy when his name came up, but I’d been ignoring the niggling sensation for a while now.Fuck.Another thing to worry about with her.

“By then, he’d stopped looking for her.He’d been doing his own investigating until that point, because her dad and stepmom were supposedly looking for her too, and he didn’t want to draw their attention with a PI snooping around.I didn’t understand it, but I didn’t think it was my place to ask questions.”

“Because it wasn’t,” I gritted out.

She shrugged, as if she didn’t necessarily agree, and that pissed me off.“He talked about her again a few weeks later, and I could tell it was weighing on him.I still didn’t understand, but it hurt to see him like that.”Her eyes drifted to the open bedroom door.“I had a few favors left over from…back in the day.I didn’t think anything would come of it, but I found her.”

I was going to ignore the fact that she had admitted to having contact with people from her past, people she had promised me she would never associate with again.But I sure as fuck wouldn’t forget.She would definitely be getting another member of my security team shadowing her more now.

For the moment, however, I needed to focus on what she’d done to make Brooke cry.“But you didn’t tell Luck?”

Sariah grimaced.“I wanted to make sure she wasn’t going to hurt him more than he already was.And… I don’t know, Paxton, okay?I don’t know, but there was something about her when I saw her that day.She’s different from anyone else I’ve ever met.There is good in her.The kind of good that gets sucked out of normal people.”

I didn’t need her to tell me that.I knew it.Had seen it firsthand only a few days before.It made no sense to me either.Especially after Luck told me a little of what had happened to Brooke, but it was there, nonetheless.

“It wasn’t that I was trying to keep her a secret from him.I simply wanted to get to know her better.”She tucked a curl that had fallen from her knot behind her ear.“And maybe I was a little selfish and wanted some of her magic for myself.”

“Sweetheart, I’m not blaming you for that.No one would,” I assured her gently.“I’m just trying to understand what you’ve done.In case I need to fix it.”

“You don’t have to fix anything.Not this time.”Taking a seat on the couch, she looked up at me.“For once, I fixed it for everyone.”

“Sariah—”

“I kept putting up flyers about the apartment where Brooke would see them.I got a lot of calls before she finally reached out.”She pressed her lips into a hard line.“I tried to figure out what would be a fair price she could pay without denting her pride or making her struggle.”

I’d wondered about that when she’d first told me she was getting a roommate.Her apartment was paid for, so she didn’t need help with rent.I’d thought maybe she was just doing it because they cut her hours at the restaurant, and she needed the extra cash.But since Luck owned the damn place, and after a call to the manager, I knew that wasn’t the case.Still, I’d kept my mouth shut because she’d stayed out of trouble, which was all I cared about.

“Brooke moved in, and we were getting to know each other.I saw just how great she is.But I felt guilty because Luck still seemed down.”Her gaze dropped to her hands as she played with her fingers while she talked.“I don’t know why I didn’t tell him.Okay, that’s a lie.It was because I had a friend.A real friend.For the first time in my entire life, it felt like I had a person.She didn’t know my past or who my parents are.There was no judgment.It was nice to have her in my corner.”

“Then why did you let her walk into that birthday party without warning her about Luck?”I demanded, unable to mask my anger.“You blindsided her.Set her up to be hurt.You don’t do that to a friend, Riah.”

“I know,” she whispered, her chin wobbling.“But I couldn’t figure out how to explain it to her without ruining everything.”

“Regardless of what you were trying to do, you still messed up, and you need to apologize.”

---