“I don’t understand,” I told her honestly.
“Max is scared you’re going to leave him, so he was going to burn your clothes to make it harder for you to run off.” Lexa motioned toward the clothes. “Tavia saved them from becoming ashes.”
“Thanks…?” Stunned, I was unsure of what else to say.
Lexa laughed again and grasped my hand, giving it a squeeze. “You are so different from Max’s usual type.” Jealousy hit me, and she seemed to see it because her next words were to reassure me. “That’s a good thing, Delaney. You have nothing to worry about or be jealous over. Before you, Max didn’t think about a girl past the first hour of meeting her. With you, he’s ready to take on the world—or worse, our mom. And trust me, taking on Raven Reid is much scarier than taking on the entire world.”
I gulped. “Your mom doesn’t like me.”
“That’s where you’re wrong.” Her blue eyes softened. “Mom already loves you. The minute Max claimed you, she considered you hers. You can ask Tavia. When Raven claims you, she will move mountains to protect you. Things just got out of hand at the reception, and Mom didn’t have time to welcome you to the family as she would have done under normal circumstances.”
For some reason, I believed her. There was just something in her eyes that told me she was speaking the truth. Like with her brother, I sensed I could trust her. Earlier, when Max had tried to make excuses for how I’d felt everyone didn’t want us to be together, I’d wanted to believe him then too. But I’d been so scared that he was trying to gloss over everything and didn’t want to face the reality that his family didn’t like me, that I couldn’t allow myself to believe him.
Having it confirmed that he was right eased all my fears, and I was able to relax a little.
“Where is Max?” I asked, missing him.
“Our husbands needed a meeting with him,” Lexa said. “They should be in the parking lot, but depending on what they have to do, they might have had to take a drive.” She moved so she was sitting in the corner of the couch and folded her long legs under her. “Don’t worry about him. Max can take care of himself. We want to know more about you.”
“There isn’t much to know,” I signed with a shrug. “My parents died when I was young. I was sent to live with my aunt and uncle because there was no one else… At least, not that I knew of. Kelli… She came as a big surprise.”
“For us too,” Lexa agreed. “Kelli didn’t grow up here like most of the people in our family. We all thought the only family she had left was River.”
Curiosity got the better of me. “Can you tell me about her?”
“Kelli?”
I nodded.
“I don’t know a lot about her past, but what I do know, most of the world does too. Kelli’s dad was a senator here in California. He was dirty, and when her mom died, Kelli blamed him. To the point that she unleashed all his secrets. The man went crazy because he lost everything. And he tried to kill her.”
I wasn’t sure what I was expecting to learn about my newfound aunt, but that was definitely not it. From what Kelli had told me earlier, her father would have been my grandfather. Realizing what the man was capable of—and trying to kill his own child, at that—made me grateful my mom had been adopted into a wonderful family that had showered her with love. That had taught her how to love in return.
“Kelli was shot in the chest,” Lexa explained further. “Her dad died the same night, though. A heart attack or something like that. I don’t really remember. I was only like five at the time. She married my uncle Colt not long afterward, and a year or so later, River was born.”
“But what is she like?” I asked.
Lexa scratched her cheek without the scar on it for a moment before answering. “She’s smart and mouthy at times. A bit of a hard-ass. She tells you how it is. Doesn’t sugarcoat anything, for anyone—no exceptions. She always says it wastes too much time. But she can be incredibly kind, and when she loves you, she makes sure you know it.”
I let all of that sink in, realizing I already liked the woman who was my last link to my mom. When I lost her, I’d thought I’d lost all connections with her. But discovering Kelli—and even River—renewed that connection for me. As hard as the day had been, it had also been a blessing.
Suddenly, I didn’t feel so alone in the world.
For the next hour, Lexa and Tavia told me about themselves, with Lexa mostly translating for Tavia because the younger woman would get so animated that she would forget to talk slowly and I wouldn’t be able to understand anything she said. I enjoyed getting to know them both, but I especially loved it when they talked about their babies. The love that shone from their eyes when Lexa mentioned Finn or Tavia told me about all of Rai’s milestones seemed to light up the room, and I couldn’t look away from either one of them when they did.
Both babies were with Raven, so they had the evening free to hang out with me. But I got the feeling she was the only person either of them trusted enough to babysit to enable them to be so at ease.
“I have to go back to New York tomorrow,” Tavia said with a sad twist of her mouth. “We really only meant to stop in for the
