In His Keeping (Slow Burn 2)

Ari’s hand broke free of her parents’ grasp and she brought it over her mouth as a gasp escaped.

“I won’t go into the details,” Beau said in disgust. “There’s no need. These people are—were—animals. But then I neither heard from him again, nor did I ever see him in person until that night. When I found him outside. And he made me swear that I would give you his message.”

“What was it?” Ari asked, her voice catching.

“That he loved you. That your birth mother loved you. And that when they discovered the true intentions of the surrogacy foundation who funded your birth mother’s pregnancy, they ran. They had several close calls, so after you were born they went to . . .”

He broke off and closed his eyes as if what he would say next hurt him more than it would her.

“They went to my father,” he said hoarsely. “Because he was an active donor/participant in the foundation, and they begged him to take you in and raise you. So you’d be safe.”

Her father closed his own eyes when Beau spoke the last and Ari frowned, realizing this hadn’t come as a surprise to him.

“My father,” he said, with bitter emphasis on the word, “refused and instead sent your birth parents to . . . them.”

Beau pointed at her parents as his words trailed off.

“I’m very glad that he did,” Ari said softly.

She reached up to touch Beau’s jaw, sliding her thumb over the hard cheekbone.

“I would hate to think of us as having been raised as siblings. That would put quite a kink in our relationship, don’t you think?”

And then she groaned.

“Oh my God. Forget I said that. I did not mean it that way.”

“Jesus,” her father muttered, reaching to cover his ears. “There’s only so much a father can take, Ari.”

Her mother was battling a smile and Beau looked baffled, almost as if he’d fully expected her to think he was repugnant because of the kind of man his father was.

“It would indeed put a kink in it,” her mother said with a completely straight face.

“Enough!” her father groaned.

Beau went tense again, and he was studying her father intently.

“There is one thing I’d like to know,” Beau said in a quiet tone.

Since it was obviously directed at her father, he nodded in Beau’s direction.

“You went to see my father the day before he died. Ari would have been around two years old then. Both my father and my mother died the next day. They were murdered.”

Ari gasped because surely . . . No, he couldn’t think . . . Did he think her father had anything to do with his parents’ death?

Her father met Beau’s gaze unblinkingly. “If you’re asking me if I had anything to do with their deaths, the answer is no. I did, however, go to see your father. I went to warn him.”

“About?” Beau prompted.

“About the fact that there were some very discreet inquiries into Franklin’s business dealings. Particularly those involving his funding of CAS—Creative Adoption Solutions. And let me answer your next question before you ask. No, I had no idea at the time that Franklin had anything to do with Ari appearing on my doorstep. There was a note left in her car carrier begging us to take her in and raise her as our own daughter. So we did. It wasn’t until Ari was several months old that we made the move to Houston. When Ari was a year old, Franklin came to see me. To tell me about his role in Ari becoming my daughter. And I’ll be straight with you, son. The son of a bitch tried to blackmail me.”

Beau flinched, but he didn’t look at all surprised by her father’s accusation.

“If he tried to blackmail you, then why would you later warn him?” Beau asked.

Her father signed. “Because he had you. And three other children. He had a family anyone would be proud to have and his children didn’t deserve to suffer because of his sins. I’m just grateful that whoever did the job didn’t also kill you and your brothers and sister.”

“So am I,” Beau murmured.

Ari squeezed Beau’s hand this time, offering him reassurance and comfort. She knew his father wasn’t Father of the Year material but she hadn’t realized just how loathsome he was.

The two men talked a bit further, but the pain was starting to come back, and she drifted, trying to get comfortable on the narrow hospital bed. The doctor still hadn’t come by, so she didn’t know if she required surgery or not.

The idea of having to be off her feet for so long was irritating. But at least she could use her powers to float food and drinks to her. Or maybe Beau would sign up for the role as her personal assistant. The idea had merit. She’d make a very exacting job description for him.

She was about to hit the nurse call button, realizing her pain was only getting stronger, when she heard her name being called. Shaking herself, she looked up to see Beau’s concerned face as well as her parents’.

“Do you need pain medicine, honey?” Beau asked gently.

She nodded.

Beau reached over for the controller that operated the TV as well as the call button and punched it. Her father leaned closer to Ari, placing his hand over her forehead and wiping up and over her hair in a soothing motion.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked gently.

She knew he wasn’t acting about her physical hurts. He was asking if she was okay emotionally after having so many bombs dropped on her in such a short period of time.