We come to a closed door in the hall and the deputy stops, tapping his knuckles against the frame quietly. “Jaxon. It’s Deputy Clark. Killian is here.”
There’s quiet shuffling from the other side before the door cracks open and a very broken version of the boy I’ve come to know stands before me.
When his eyes land on mine, his shoulders deflate, his chin trembles and he falls into my chest. I catch him just as he crumbles, loud sobs tearing from his throat in a pained wail.
It’s fucking brutal.
It wrecks something inside of me.
I palm the back of his head, holding him like a child as he lets out years’ worth of pain right there in the hallway.
CHAPTER 46
DAISY
It’s crazy how much life can change in the matter of a few hours.
Less than twelve hours ago, I thought Killian hated me. I thought our marriage was over without ever really starting and I was looking up contact numbers for the nearest divorce attorney.
Now it’s twelve hours later and Killian and I have had an emotional love confession in the pouring rain, a very steamy shower, four hours sleep, multiple conversations with police, paramedics, coroners and social workers.
As expected, social services wouldn’t release the two children into our custody for the night because we aren’t family. So, once the coroners were done at the house and the police had collected all the information they needed, Jaxon and Juliet were taken to a facility where they’ll be safe until the authorities can get in contact with a relative. They’ve also tried getting in contact with their father, but so far, no dice.
Not thathe’d be much help, anyway.
No good, loving father would ever walk away and leave his children in that cesspit of a house.
I always knew I lived a sheltered, privileged life. I came to that realisation when I became friends with Bella and saw firsthand the kind of hell she and her brother lived with day in day out.
None of it compared to what we saw tonight.
Killian has been unusually silent since we watched the kids get placed into the back of a police car, and I know somewhere deep inside; he’s blaming himself for not doing more. He’s angry at himself for not digging deeper into Jax’s life and getting more information out of him when he hired him.
He watched a young boy break tonight and he’s carrying the weight of Jax’s pain on his shoulders as if it’s his own.
I hate that were so powerless. I hate that there’s not something more we can do for them right now. The last place that those children should be is in a facility, surrounded by strangers but unfortunately our hands are tied.
The house is eerily silent as I sit at the dining table, sipping my coffee. Killian sits beside me, his own coffee long forgotten as his fingers fly across the screen of his phone. He’s barely looked up from it since we got back to his cabin an hour ago.
I place my hand on his, halting his typing and urging him to look at me. “Killian.” His exhaustion-filled eyes meet mine. “There’s nothing we can do right now.”
His shoulders drop in defeat. “It’s not right, Dais. They shouldn’t be in there.”
My heart clenches at the sheer sorrow in his voice and I stand, climbing across his lap and wrapping my arms around his neck. His hands slide up my back, to my shoulders as he clings to me like I’m his lifeline.
I say nothing as his shoulders begin to shake, allowing him to feel everything he needs to feel. I run a soothing hand through his hair, letting him know it’s okay and that I’m here whenever he’s ready.
I don’t know how long we stay like that, but when the sound of tyre’s crunching over gravel disturbs the silence, both of our heads turn to the door.
I wait for a knock, but it doesn’t come. Instead, the lock turns and the door swings open revealing Bella. Her eyes seek us out, her face falling when they find Killian and she quickly rushes inside. Noah is hot on her heels, followed by Hunter, Savannah, Grayson and Olivia.
My chest warms.
“Savannah texted us,” Olivia explains as she places down two trays of coffee on the table.
“You guys didn’t have to come,” I say, despite the gratitude I feel that they did.
I texted Savannah on the drive over to Jax’s house earlier this morning. She was on a night feed, so she had responded straight away, and I’ve been keeping her updated all through the night.
