“I see,” Dante said as he made a couple of notes in his book. “Do you know what happened after that?”
Paris sipped her drink as she sat back and glanced nervously around again. “Julie would be so mad at me for telling you this.”
Dante didn’t push her, and Cassidy didn’t speak as the young girl fiddled with the earpiece of her glasses. If what Paris was saying was true, then Preston might have a bigger reason than money for contacting Julie.
Preston was the tossed aside child, the unloved one, and Julie was living the high life with their dad. He might have decided to mess with Julie for revenge, and he might have killed her for the same reason.
“But then, Julie doesn’t talk to me anymore anyway, so what does it matter?” Paris said, and fresh tears filled her eyes before she ducked her head. “Her father gave the woman some money to go away. He sent her money every month for their kid, but I’m not sure if he ever saw Preston.”
“And Preston told Julie this?” Dante asked.
“Yeah. At first, Julie was upset about it; she believed her dad was perfect, you know? But for some reason, she likes the guy. Don’t ask me why; I think he’s a complete douche for inserting himself into her life and telling her that. She’d just lost her dad; she should have been allowed to continue thinking he was perfect. Plus, he believes in vampires, so he’s also out of his mind.”
“Clearly,” Cassidy said.
“Do you know where Preston lives?” Dante asked.
“No.”
“Do you know his last name?”
“No. I’ve told you everything I know about him. I have to go,” Paris said as she rose and lifted her sunglasses off the table. “I hope you find Julie. She’s been… well, she’s been plain awful lately, but I miss her, and I love her, and I want her home.”
“I’m going to do my best to make sure she comes home,” Dante promised as he and Cassidy rose.
“It was nice to meet you,” Cassidy said and extended her hand to Paris.
Paris shook her hand. “You also.”
“Can I call you again if I have more questions?” Dante asked.
Paris hesitated before replying, “Yeah, I guess. Good luck.”
With that, she lifted her coffee, turned away, and wound her way expertly through the crowd before exiting the coffee shop.
While Dante searched on his phone for some hint of the woman who was Preston’s mother, Cassidy rose from the table. “I’ll be right back,” she said. “I have to make a phone call.”
Dante glanced at her and then around the coffee shop. For some reason, he didn’t like the idea of her out of his sight. “I’ll come with you,” he said.
He started to rise, but she rested her hand on his shoulder. “Stay,” she said. “I have to call one of my brothers. It won’t take long.”
Dante reluctantly settled back in his chair. He needed to calm down with his increasingly caveman attitude toward her, but he had to know she was safe. His hand tightened around his phone, and his teeth grated together while she glided through the crowd.
He would push her away if he wasn’t careful, but it took everything he had not to follow her out the door while knocking out every guy who turned to look at her. That unfamiliar knot of jealousy churned in his stomach and burned up his chest as most of the men watched her go.
He kept his eyes on her when she stepped outside, but she didn’t go far beyond the door and remained in front of the plate-glass windows as she pulled out her phone. His eyes traveled between her and his phone while he continued his search for Preston’s mom.
Cassidy bit her bottom lip as she hit Brian’s number and waited for him to answer. His jovial tone greeted her on the fourth ring. “What’s up, my youngest sister-in-law?”
“And by that, you mean your favorite sister-in-law,” she said.
“Well yeah, but your sisters are crazy.”
Cassidy chuckled as she glanced inside the coffee shop to make sure Dante hadn’t followed her. He remained at the table, but his eyes were on her. She could feel the tension he radiated and gulped.
With his increasingly protective behavior and her growing need for him, she was starting to lean toward him being her mate. But that was a problem for later. She had something else to deal with now. She smiled at Dante and gave a small wave before turning her back to him.
“They are,” she agreed; she loved her sisters, but she was the sanest one of them. “But you also have my brothers’ mates too.”
“Now, there you have a lot of competition.”
“I’m still the best, though.”
“Weeelll,” he drew the word out in amusement. “I don’t know; Maggie is entertaining, and Paige’s paintings are beautiful, and Emma—”
“You’re my favorite brother-in-law.”
“Oh, okay then, you’re the best.”
“I knew it.” In the background, a baby squealed. “Is that Rhys?”
She’d been home for Christmas and again last month, but it sounded as if her brother Aiden’s nine-month-old son, had grown a lot since her previous visit. But then, she already knew that from the proud pictures, Aiden bombarded them with every day in their family group text.
“It is,” Brian confirmed. “Abby volunteered to babysit so Aiden and Maggie could have a couple of days away.”
“He sounds thrilled about it.”
“Surprisingly, he is. The kid finds me irresistible.”
“Someone besides Abby has to.”
“And just like that, Willow has replaced you as my favorite sister-in-law.”
Cassidy laughed. “Liar.”
Brian chuckled. It had taken him some time to adjust to their large family, and his role in it, but he’d grown to love them
