Maybe love wasn’t enough. Maybe love didn’t conquer all. Maybe love wasn’t kind. Maybe love was brutal and ugly. Maybe it left you in tatters.
Hours later, I would come to know the true devastation of love. It would be then, I would feel the crushing blow of regret. My life would be forever changed again.
28
With each step, Holden felt like he was walking toward his execution.
How had one bad decision rippled into catastrophe? One wrong choice, and he’d ruined everything. Dread filled him as he made his way to the front door. He’d waited too long; once again, he’d been a coward and put off telling Charleigh about the box until it was too late.
Rhode was there on the other side of the door. A panel of wood was Holden’s last defense. He didn’t have to open it. He could tell Rhode to go away, that they didn’t want to know what Paul had left behind. Holden could bar the door and save himself from the hell that awaited him.
What was supposed to be a beautiful Saturday with his girls had turned into an epic clusterfuck.
Would there ever come a time when the past wouldn’t hurt them and send their lives spiraling out of control?
When Holden opened the door and found Nixon standing beside Rhode, he knew the answer—today would not be the day he and Charleigh moved forward. Today wouldn’t bring healing. The universe wasn’t done fucking with him. He had more reparations to pay.
Fuck.
Holden wordlessly stepped to the side to allow the men to enter, his gaze going to the cardboard banker’s box that would serve as his noose. Whatever was in that box was bad enough that Rhode felt he needed to bring Nixon along.
Christ.
“Who’s that?” Faith’s sleepy voice filled the foyer and Holden inhaled sharply.
He hadn’t had a chance to call Alec or Jameson to ask one of them to come pick her up.
“Hey there, little lady. My name is Rhode.”
“That’s a funny name.” Faith’s cute face scrunched. Any other time, Holden would’ve melted seeing that look, but right then all he wanted to do was scoop her up, grab Charleigh, and flee. Take them both someplace where evil bitches and unknown horror-filled boxes didn’t exist.
“Faith, that’s not nice,” Charleigh chastised.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean it bad.”
“It is a funny name,” Rhode smoothly interjected. “The story goes, my mom wanted to name me Preston, but my dad was a biker and he wasn’t gonna name his son Preston. So after I was born, he waited for my mom to take a shower, then went to the nurses’ station and changed my name. Word has it, my momma was fit to be tied, but then my dad explained why he named me Rhode and my mom forgave him.”
“Why’d he change it?” Faith asked, totally enthralled with Rhode’s story.
“I don’t know. Neither of them will say. But I was stuck with a funny name.” Rhode winked at Faith and she smiled.
“My mom named me Faith because when I was born I gave her strength and faith after Paul died.”
Paul?
Charleigh gasped, and it was a wonder she hadn’t inhaled all of the oxygen in the room. When did Faith start calling her dad Paul? Holden’s lungs felt like they were on fire as he struggled to breathe. And when his gaze sliced to Charleigh, he saw the same.
“What’s in the box?” Faith inquired.
Fucking hell, could the room get anymore uncomfortable?
“Breathe,” Holden muttered as he made his way to Charleigh.
Her startled eyes came to him and she nodded but didn’t follow his orders.
“What’s going on?”
“Let’s you and me go for a walk, Faith,” Nix said. Holden didn’t take his gaze from Charleigh.
“Mom?”
Charleigh jumped and looked around. She read the room correctly when she settled on Faith and said, “It’s okay. Go with Uncle Nix. Maybe you can show him the bird nest you found by the dock.”
“Okay.”
Moments later, the back door opened then closed and the vibe in the house changed from uncomfortable to hostile.
“What’s happening?” Charleigh asked, her voice tinged with rage.
“This is Rhode,” Holden began.
“I know that. Hello, Rhode, nice to meet you. Now why’s he here and what’s with the box?”
Fuck.
“When we were looking for Faith, Rhode was our man in Virginia Beach. Actually, before Faith was taken, he was investigating the Towlers, digging up whatever he could to help you when you went to court. But he was goin’ easy so that he didn’t alert Bea or Patty. After Faith was taken, easy shifted and so did our objective. Rhode searched Bea’s house for clues where they’d taken Faith. He found that box and took it. Last week, he called me and told me that it belonged to Paul and we needed to see what was in it.”
“What’s in it?” She looked back and forth between the two men.
“That’s why Rhode is here to show us.”
Her brow furrowed. “I don’t understand.”
“I know you don’t,” Rhode rejoined. “And I wouldn’t have insisted on bringing it to you if it wasn’t important, and I’m sorry that I didn’t go through it sooner. I was actually going to throw it away, but there’s some stuff you both need to see.”
“Fine,” Charleigh snapped, then her shoulders sagged. “Sorry. I’m being a bitch to you and you helped save my daughter’s life. Thank you for everything you did.”
“It was my pleasure, and I don’t take offense. No one wants their past to invade their present, especially when everything was starting to smooth out. I promise, I wouldn’t be here unless I knew what was in this box could provide answers you both need.”
Rhode handed the box to Holden but paused before he let go.
“I’m sorry, brother.” Motherfuck. Holden felt that straight to his bones. “I’ll be outside with Nixon and Faith.”
Rhode let go and suddenly the box felt like it weighed a ton instead of a few pounds.
Charleigh stared at the box like it was about to explode. “We don’t have to—”
“We do, Leigh-Leigh. No more running. Whatever’s in
