“Fuck,” Casper spat.
“So we didn’t go through an agency,” Cecilia said. “Cane had the money and the connections to do it privately.” She met her dad’s eyes. “It was all legal and aboveboard. They just didn’t want to advertise it.”
“They threw you in a lion’s den and crossed their fingers that he wouldn’t fuckin’ notice you,” I said, anger burning in my chest. “Jesus Christ, Cecilia.”
“She was my best friend,” Cecilia replied, crossing her arms over her chest. “And I was in a position to help.”
I wanted to believe that was her reasoning, that she’d gone into the thing because of love for her friend and nothing else, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that her motivation wasn’t quite so clear cut. I searched her eyes for clues and she looked away.
“It all went fine,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. “My pregnancy went off without a hitch.”
“Yeah, until you had the baby and your friends were shot dead in their house,” her dad said, smacking his hand against the doorjamb.
“He couldn’t have known,” Cecilia said, her eyes widening as she shook her head in denial. “They were waiting to tell anyone. They didn’t even come see me at the hospital.”
“Timing’s a little too coincidental,” I told her softly, reaching out to put my hand on her thigh.
“There’s no fuckin’ thing as coincidence,” Casper said. “That shit doesn’t exist.”
“They had the baby’s room all set up,” I reminded Cecilia, my gut twisting as she closed her eyes in sad realization. “What’s this guy look like?”
I had a pretty good feeling that I could describe him to her, but I waited to say anything until I was sure.
“Dark hair and eyes,” she said, her hand lifting to her lips before she deliberately dropped it again. “Mid-twenties. Less than six feet tall, but not super short. He wears his hair brushed back from his face like some old-time gangster and he looks like an idiot. Walks around like he owns the world. Saunters.” She scoffed.
“Baby,” I said, my tone telling her everything she didn’t want to hear. I’d seen that man. He was the douchebag we’d watched leave her friend’s house with a box full of shit. No wonder he hadn’t robbed the place. As soon as someone found the bodies, it would all go to him anyway.
“Fuck,” she whispered, her eyes filling with tears. “Goddamn it.”
Farrah reached out to rub her back. “We have to assume he knows about the baby,” she murmured.
“But he has no proof,” Cecilia countered, sniffling. “She’s still legally mine, and I don’t think he even knows my name.”
“What do you mean?” Casper asked.
“I gave birth to her, so she was legally considered mine. Her birth certificate has my name on it.” Cecilia reached out to smooth her hand over the sleeping baby’s head. “They could’ve done a thing called a pre-birth parentage order, but they decided not to. Liv and Cane were going to legally adopt her, instead. I guess they just really didn’t want anyone to know until they actually had the baby.”
“They never filed any paperwork?” Farrah asked dubiously.
“No,” Cecilia replied. “I haven’t even sent in the birth certificate yet. Liv hadn’t decided on a name, and I didn’t want it to be something different than what she chose. We were supposed to sign everything this morning. Cane’s attorney was going to come to the house—that’s why I was staying the night there.”
“So the bodies have most likely been found by now,” Casper said quietly. “Anyone else know about all this?”
“No,” Cecilia said, shaking her head. “Only the attorney.”
“We got company,” Cam said from the hallway, his voice low. “Guy’s checkin’ out the front of the house.”
When the doorbell rang a few seconds later, I knew it wasn’t one of my team outside. They might hang back for a minute when they noticed the bikes parked out front, but they sure as hell wouldn’t have rang the doorbell.
“I’ll handle it,” I said. I strode to the front of the house with Casper at my back.
“Don’t like this,” he said quietly.
“Yeah, me, either.” Grabbing the pistol off the table near the door, I double-checked that the safety was on and stuffed it in the back of my sweatpants. As soon as Casper was out of sight, I swung open the door.
“Can I help you?” I asked, keeping my expression neutral as I stared at the motherfucker I’d seen the night before.
“Hey,” he said, smiling. “Sorry to bother you, but I was thinking about buying that place for sale down the street, and I was wondering how you liked the neighborhood.”
“It’s good,” I replied, hiding the fact that I wanted to grab him up by his scrawny neck and choke the life out of him. “Pretty quiet. No complaints.”
“Good, good,” he said, still smiling. “Good place for a family, then?”