“Are you sad you’re my dad?”
Horror passed over Holden’s face before he covered her hand with his.
Another moment I wished I could capture. The tips of Faith’s tiny fingers were barely poking out from under her dad’s much bigger hand.
“No. I am not sad I’m your dad. I’m sad I missed out on you growing in your mom’s belly. I’m sad I didn’t get to see your beautiful face when you were born. I’m sorry I didn’t know you were my daughter and we missed out on so many years. But, Faith, I promise you I’m gonna make it up to you. I swear, doll, I’m gonna be the best dad. I know this is confusing, but I want you to know I didn’t leave because I didn’t want you.”
“Do I get to live with you?”
“Yes. You and your mom.”
Faith grinned, then her grin turned into a full-fledged smile and she said, “You, me, Mom, and a puppy.”
Holden’s face split into a matching smile and he agreed. But I wasn’t thinking about life with a puppy and all that came with a small, needy dog in the house. No, I couldn’t take my eyes off the similarities between the two of them. All the small things I had shoved aside over the years and eventually stopped looking for altogether. But now that I was free to compare, it was plain to see.
“Aunt Patty said that Mom was stupid,” Faith announced. “She told that man that they were running out of time. That I looked like Holden and now that he was back he’d start asking questions. Then she told him all it would take was a N-A-D test and Holden would know he was my dad.”
“DNA,” Holden mouthed, then asked Faith, “Did Patty say anything else?”
“I was getting sleepy,” Faith muttered. “And my tummy felt funny. I was scared.”
“I know you were, doll. It’s okay if you don’t remember anything else.”
“Patty was mad at the man and was yelling that he better not have…killed Mom…or they’d never get the money.”
God, those bitches. Money. It was always about the money.
“They will never hurt you or your mom again.”
“Patty said Mom would give them the money to get me back.”
Holden stared at Faith and pulled her closer.
“Faith, your mom would’ve done anything to get you back. Anything, you hear that? Any. Thing.”
“I know. She sent you.”
“She did.”
Hours and hours of pent-up emotion, years and years of pent-up frustration, years of agonizing loneliness and loss finally broke free. I was tired, so damn tired I couldn’t hold it in. I couldn’t even hold my body upright so I slumped forward and gave Holden my weight. And just like I knew he would, his arm came around me and my arm went around Faith and together we held our daughter.
Finally.
Freaking, finally.
Holden Stanford lay awake in a big bed that was not his and stared into the dark. To his right, his daughter slept with her hand in his. To his left, his Leigh-Leigh had fallen into a restless sleep. He knew this because in the hours since they’d come upstairs, he hadn’t closed his eyes, not once. He was too afraid if he did, he’d wake up to find it was all a dream.
Charleigh’s body jolted and he pulled her tighter against his chest and waited. She settled in and nuzzled his chest.
Heaven.
He held heaven in his hands.
Everything he’d ever wanted was in that bed. His Leigh-Leigh and their daughter.
His.
Then he lay there in the dark remembering all the plans they’d made, all the adventures they wanted to take, all the things they wanted to do. All of the things they were going to do.
Finally.
Fucking, finally.
33
“How’s Faith?” Jameson asked.
Holden looked up from the report he was reading and rubbed his eyes.
“She already knew I was her dad.”
“How?”
Just thinking about those bitches made Holden’s skin crawl. White-hot rage took on a whole new meaning when he thought about what they’d done to Charleigh. She’d endured years of their nasty vitriol. As for Faith—they’d hurt his daughter and scared her. Holden had seen a lot, done a lot, been to battle, taken lives, but never had he wanted to commit murder. Now he could think of four people he’d gladly take out. And while the law would frown at him ridding the world of four vile pieces of shit, he would feel no remorse. Each of those four assholes played a role in keeping Faith from him, depriving his child of her father.
When Holden was done explaining last night’s conversation, Jameson’s face was set to stone. As always, when one of his friends expressed their loyalty, Holden sat back and remembered how lucky he was.
“Christ. And here I thought Chasin’s mom was the supreme cunt. Seems to me, the bitch has company. Alec filled us in on Edward Axelson. I’ll do my part and make some calls, see what I can dig up. For what it’s worth, I agree with your play. Above all else, they care about their social standing.”
“Appreciate it. But don’t give it too much time, you have a family to worry about.”
“And you’re not family?”
There it was, another reminder.
“You know what I mean.”
“Not sure I do. You seem to forget that when something happens to one of us it happens to all of us. That includes our wives and children. Kennedy and the girl posse are circling Charleigh, closing in tight, making sure her and Faith are okay. Whether she wants it or not, she just got six new best friends and became an aunt to a ragtag group of hellions. Not that Faith didn’t already have us, but she’s got five uncles and you got your brothers at your back to help you with her. That’s family, Holden. That’s what we do. It’s what we should’ve done when you left her. We should’ve strapped your ass to a board and tortured
