“Yes. You fled in the middle of the night while a psychopath was looking for you. That’s not the actions of a pragmatic operative. That tells me he did something awful that night.”
“He said some words. He was angry.” Those words still echoed in her mind. She heard them every single time she worried she wasn’t a good mom.
“Words can hurt way more than punches sometimes. Especially when they come from someone we love. I should know. I did a lot of things to Ian I’m not proud of. In the beginning, that is. I hurt him quite badly. I thank the universe that my husband is actually pretty good at expressing himself and processing his emotions. Oh, he’ll tell you it makes him vomit, but he’s good at it. We had a shot because he let us work it out, and not just in bed, though there was a lot of that. He let me apologize.”
“I told you, Beck apologized. We both did bad shit. Some marriages aren’t supposed to work out.” That was precisely why she was so antsy. She believed that. They’d been through too much to start over. She was done being angry with him, had let go of that emotion altogether, and it was good to feel…numb. God, was that what she was afraid of giving up? The safety of the cocoon she’d woven around herself? She wanted to get up and walk out and not talk about this another second. Instead, she forced herself to smile. “There’s no need to worry. I’m good. Beck and I are in a good place. And I’m glad he’s talking to Ezra again. Now if we could solve our Levi problems, I think we could all get on with our lives.”
“What does that involve? I ask because if you’re planning on staying here, I can give you information on the best schools,” Charlotte offered and sat back. “The elementary school close to your house is fabulous.”
An image of her and Beck walking Roman to school whispered across her brain. “I’ll keep that in mind if I decide to move here. I’m pretty established in Europe.”
“Ah, so I should start thinking about who can take Beck’s place,” Charlotte mused. “It’s been nice having him around. He doesn’t mind traveling and he doesn’t mind working with different partners. You wouldn’t believe how rigid some of our guys have become. And by guys, I mean Erin.”
“Why would Beck quit?” It was a dumb question. He’d already said he would, but she felt the need to ask it, to force an answer from someone else. It was illogical for him to uproot his life since they weren’t going to be together.
“He’s going to want to be with his son,” Charlotte replied. “He can’t do that from here if you’re back in Malta. I was hoping offering you a job here would tempt you to stay, but if you’re taking Roman back, I know Beck will go, too.”
“It’s not as easy as that. He can’t simply move to Europe. There are a lot of hoops to go through.” She knew Beck had said he would move if she forced the situation, but she hadn’t truly believed it. Except he seemed to want to be a dad.
If he wanted to be a dad, then he shouldn’t have pushed her away. He didn’t get to waltz back in seven years later and dictate what happened in her life.
Damn it. Maybe there was some anger down deep.
Charlotte was looking at her like she wasn’t sure what to say. “I don’t think a bunch of red tape will deter him. He’s been searching for you for seven years. He’s not going to let his lack of proper paperwork keep him away from his son.”
The door opened behind her and Charlotte’s face lit up as her girls strode into the room. Tasha was carrying a couple of packets of creamer in her hand. She placed them in front of Charlotte. “I found some in the storage room, Mom. I refilled the break room, but I knew you would miss it.”
“Thanks, sweetie,” Charlotte said, patting her oldest daughter’s hand.
“Mom, there’s something wrong with Mr. Kent’s brother,” one of the twins said with a frown on her face. “He’s weird.”
For a second she’d been scared, but Ezra was weird. “What did he do?”
The girl with strawberry blonde hair turned toward her, one brow arched over her eyes in an amazing imitation of her father. “He overheard me talking to Kenzie about this girl in camp last year who was mean to me and how I’m not taking it this year.”
“You didn’t take it last year,” Charlotte pointed out. “You punched her.”
“She punched me first,” the girl who was definitely Kala announced. “And Mr. Kent’s brother told me I should turn the other cheek. Why would I do that, Mom? Do I want her to hit my other cheek?”
“I believe he’s talking about the Christian principle of nonviolence.” Charlotte winced. “We need to go to church more often. You see Mr. Kent’s brother is a priest.”
“I thought that was his cover,” Tasha said, her arms folding over her chest. “I heard he was a criminal on the run.”
Charlotte was the one arching a brow now. “Where did you hear that?”
Tasha flushed slightly. “I’ve just heard rumors around the office. I wasn’t eavesdropping. Uhm, Uncle Alex is loud.”
“Your Uncle Alex said Father Ezra was a criminal?” Charlotte asked.
“I didn’t hear him say that,” Kenzie replied. “I heard him say that it was good we had a priest around now because someone should make Kala exercise.”
Kala’s eyes rolled. “He said he wanted someone to exorcise me.”
“What did you
