Dirty Thief

“Your butt is just fine.” Zelda takes Belle from his arms and starts up the stairway into the palace. “I can only worry about one baby at a time.”

“That’s what you think,” my brother shouts and jogs up the stairs. Zelda squeals and runs inside faster.

Ava turns to me and puts both hands on my shoulders. “You’re not sending me away?”

“I’ll be with you every night.” I slide my hands down her bare arms, and we start to walk up the stone staircase. “You, however, have some explaining to do.” Her brow quirks and I continue. “Freddie hacked into the orphanage Gmail account and read the message from Vega.”

“All this hacking. It’s like I have no privacy anymore!”

Pulling her to a stop, I make her look at me. “You don’t. Not where this is concerned. You have to tell me everything.”

She exhales a sigh. “You were just so angry that day. I didn’t want to say anything more about it.”

“What exactly happened?”

We’re on the second floor, and she takes my hand. “Come with me.”

The noise of Cal and his little family echoes down the stairwell leading to the next floor. I follow Ava to the sitting room across from our master suite. She goes to the desk where her laptop sits, and pulling a narrow drawer open, she takes out a card.

“He wants me to leave the check at this location.” She holds the small white paper. “I don’t know if he’s planning to meet me there or if it’s some sort of mailbox.”

I take it from her quickly, tamping down my irritation that I’m just learning about this. “Were you planning to slip away again?” I ask, cutting my eyes at her.

“No,” she says quietly. “Zee and Belle are safe here with us. I was considering not doing it at all.”

Reaching out, I catch her chin, gently lifting her eyes to meet mine. “If there’s a next time, I need you to tell me. Immediately.”

She nods. Then she adds quietly, “I don’t want to give him the money.” Her hands go to her stomach, and I can see this is hard for her. “If he gets it back, it will be like he never had to pay for what he did. It will be like he wins.”

My eyes close, and I reach for her, pulling her to me and taking a deep breath of her jasmine scent. She’s right. It does feel like I’m at the top of a mountain, taking my first deep breath of the day.

“He will not win,” I say, conviction deepening my tone. “I will be sure he pays for what he did to you, my love. I promise you that.”

Her arms circle my waist and she holds me. “I’m sorry I’ve brought this into your world. I know you have enough worries without having to pile my past on top of everything.”

Placing my hands on her shoulders, I hold her steady. “I love you, Ava Wilder-Tate. Your worries are my worries. My shoulders are wider than yours, and my back is stronger. I have no problem taking this from you.”

That earns me a little smile. “Thank you,” she whispers, but she still seems a bit sad.

“Hey.” I catch her chin again, and her beautiful green eyes meet mine. “Let me have it.”

Chapter 14

Ava

Zelda and I are both dressed in bikinis, lying on our towels in the sand. Belle is in a swim diaper and tons of sunscreen, and she’s adorable running in and out of the tiny surf, squealing at everything she sees. At one point she runs to where we’re lying and drops in front of her mother.

“Pish,” she says pointing to the water.

“Yes,” Zee says, taking her fat little hand. “Fish swim in the water.”

The baby pats her arm. “Pish, mama.”

“Sure,” my sister says. “I’m your fish mama.” Zee leans forward to rub their noses together. “Mermaid baby.”

My niece pops up and returns to running back and forth with the small breakers. My sister flops on her stomach to face me.

“So tell me about your orphanage.”