“This morning. It’s not a big deal. It’ll all get sorted.”
“Fuck,” she whispers as she squeezes her eyes shut. “That’s awful.”
“Grandpa’s going to do his best to get him out of the jam,” Lucio tells Zoey.
Zoey’s eyes fly open and snap to her sister. “Oh my God. How many people know about this?”
“Just us,” Lulu explains, “And only what they need to know, and that includes you.” Lulu’s trying to cover her tracks, but whether she knows it or not, she’s failing.
Lucio’s gaze is moving between the two of them, and I can see the wheels spinning. The man isn’tdumb. He’s been around these two for their entire lives. If anyone knows them and their code talk, it’s their own father.
“No!” Lucio barks out, staring at Zoey. “You?”
“Me what?” Zoey asks, touching her chest and starting her backpedaling. “I didn’t do anything.”
“Was it you?” Lucio asks again, leaning over the table and taking his daughter’s hand in his.
“What?” She’s good, but she’s white as a ghost, making it damn near impossible for him not to get all the confirmation he needs.
“What happened to you, baby?” he asks, but this time, his voice is gentle. “You know you can tell me anything.”
“Daddy,” she whispers, her gaze dropping to where their hands are connected. “I can’t…”
“Was it you?” he asks again.
“Yes,” she says, but her voice is so quiet, I can barely hear her.
“Fuck,” he hisses, and the pain is etched all over his face as the reality of everything that could’ve happened slams into him. “Did he…”
“Dad, I don’t want to talk about it, okay?” Zoey says, but this time, she’s looking at his face, begging him for a reprieve. “I want to forget everything that happened. Please don’t make me talk about it.”
“I won’t,” he says as he sweeps his thumb across the back of her hand. “Are you okay?”
“I’m better than I was.”
“What can I do?” he asks.
“Nothing, Daddy. Oliver did enough, and Lulu helped me too. I just need time.”
I’m not sure time will make anything better. That type of betrayal and trauma isn’t something that any length of hours or days can erase.
“Thank you,” Lucio says.
I drag my gaze from Lulu to him, finding him staring at me. “For what?”
“For protecting my girls,” he says.
“Always and forever.”
11
LULU
Everything is a mess.
Oliver is facing jail time. Sure, my grandfather said he’d do what he could, but the chances of him having the ability to make everything disappear are slim to none. Even with his past, he has only so many strings he can pull.
My dad figured out Zoey was the person we were protecting. I did my best not to spill Zoey’s secret, but one look at her and he knew. He didn’t probe too much after she said it was indeed her that Oliver had been protecting, but that doesn’t mean he is content not to want to find out more. Do I think he’ll let it drop? Absolutely not.
