Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 107118 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 428(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107118 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 428(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
But like Kyler, I was good at covering what was bothering me.
So I’d pull up my big-girl panties and stay at the club for a while. As we passed through downtown Austin, lights from South Congress Avenue illuminating the cab of my truck, I let two images of Hades guide me: his smug face, and a noose, reminding why I ran away all those years ago.
This club was quicksand. A quicksand in which I was hell-bent on not getting stuck.
*****
“Aunt Sia!” The second I opened the door to Ky’s home, Grace came barreling forward and slammed into my legs.
“Gracie-Bell!” I called, dropping my bags to the floor. I picked my niece up and kissed her cheek. I pulled on a strand of her curly hair. “Curls?”
“Momma curled it for me just now, before bed.”
“It’s beautiful, darlin’.” I looked over her shoulder as my brother brushed past us, running his hand over Grace’s hair before making a beeline for the living room. “Where’s your momma, darlin’?”
“In the living room.” I made my way into the room to see Ky sitting on the couch, kissing his wife.
“I am okay. You need to stop being overprotective,” I heard Lilah whisper against his lips.
Grace groaned and covered her eyes. “They’re kissing. Again!”
I laughed. Ky and Lilah turned around. Lilah moved to get up from the couch, and Ky grabbed her hand, helping her up. Lilah put a hand on his cheek. “I am fine, Ky. Relax. I am not ill.”
Ky looked like he was about to argue, but then shut his mouth. He flicked his eyes to me, then back to his wife. “I’m gonna grab a shower.”
Lilah turned to face me, a huge smile spreading on her lips. “Sia!” she sang as she came toward me. I placed Grace on the floor, and Lilah wrapped her arms around me. “It is so good to see you.”
I hugged her back. “Everything okay?”
“Everything is fine,” she said and moved into the kitchen. She’d had an operation a while back, but as far as I knew she’d made a full recovery. “More to the point, are you okay?” She put water in the coffee pot and turned to me. “I do not know it all, but I know that Ky is worried about that man . . .” She lowered her voice, checking that Grace was still playing in the living room. “From your past.”
I swallowed, but nodded. Lilah smiled, hair falling over her eyes. Lilah knew men like Garcia. She had lived with worse as a child. Yet she had come through the other side.
I knew, in reality, I was still living in purgatory. The truth was, I hadn’t lived much of a life at all since coming back home from that god-awful time in Mexico. Lilah didn’t know it, but she was my hero. To go through what she went through and survive long enough to be given her own happily-ever-after. It was my ultimate dream. But I wasn’t naive. Lilah was a lucky one. I was damaged goods. Not all of us were awarded the fairytale ending.
“I hope you are okay with decaf. It is all we have.”
“Sure,” I said. She sat down beside me at the table. My heart squeezed at the sight of the scar on her face. It always did. I took a sip of my coffee. “What’s wrong with Ky, Li?”
Lilah froze, her cup halfway to her mouth. She sighed and shook her head. It took her a few moments to reply. “He just gets overwhelmed at times. I know he can come across pushy and rude, but he is just dealing with a lot. The club, the threats. Me.” She laughed a single laugh and played with the handle of her cup. “He always worries about me. About Grace.” She lifted her eyes and added, “And you. I am not sure you know how protective he is of you, Sia. He worries for you greatly. So much so that he broke club protocol and told me about the man who hurt you, the one who has returned. It was weighing heavily on his mind. He needed to unburden himself to me.” She squeezed my hand. “You are his only blood family. He loves you so much.” A pause. A tender smile. “We all do. Grace, your brother and I.”
Lilah’s soft confession made the anger I was keeping close to my chest lessen. In that moment, I couldn’t speak. He was all I really had left too; they all were. The sound of Grace laughing drew my attention to the living room. Ky was fresh out of the shower, dressed only in jeans, his long hair dripping with water. Grace screamed and ran to the couch as he flicked the watery strands on her.
Lilah laughed, the sound enough to pull my brother’s gaze. He looked past Lilah to me, and the smile he was wearing for his daughter fell. I gave him a small nod, glad to see him happy. Ky came into the kitchen and poured himself a coffee.