“Declan? You okay?”
The owner of the voice didn’t even register as I rushed out of the living room to the bedroom. At the door, someone grabbed me from behind. I spun, fists up, my phone clutched in one of them.
Walker stood with his hands in the air. “Hey! It’s just me.”
I sighed and lowered my hands.
“Now that I know you’re not going to take my head off, what’s wrong?”
I shook my phone. “He got the box. He emailed.”
Walker’s face split into a smile. “That’s good. So why the crazy act?”
“What if…”
“Turn that shit off. If he didn’t want to hear from you, he wouldn’t have emailed. My guess is he’s been kicking his ass since he stepped on that plane because he didn’t make sure you knew how to get in touch with him.”
“How…”
“Cause I did the same damn thing with Lillian when she and I first met.”
I nodded, then tipped my head to the bedroom. “I’m gonna…”
“You do you, but I wanted to let you know that Uncle Marcus called me. I let it roll to voicemail, but I thought I should give you a heads-up.”
Holy motherfucking shit balls, this was bad.
“Did he say what he wanted?”
“No. You know how he is. He just said, ‘Call me sooner better than later.’”
Yeah, that was Daddy. He only said it that way when he had a bone to pick with you.
“Thanks, I’ll… fuck,” I growled, rubbing my hand over my face and into my hair, giving it a tug.
“Yeah. That about sums it up.”
“Do you think he knows?”
“What do you think? The man has a knack for knowing shit.”
“Yeah. I’ll figure it out, but I appreciate the heads-up.”
I walked into the bedroom, shutting the door behind me. My ass dropped on the foot of the bed, and I fell back. Mama and Daddy being Mama and Daddy were the last thing I needed right now. It would be different if Hayden were in the country. I’d prepare him for the craziness that was Ellen and Marcus Holt and invite them out here so we could be done with it, but he wasn’t. I would need to handle this on my own.
But first, I had an email to read. I took a deep breath and opened the email.
From: Marin, Hayden
To: Holt, Declan
Subject: Hello, stranger.
Or maybe I should have said, hello, husband. Either way, I’m damn glad you found a way to contact me. I apologize for not making sure you knew how to go about it. As for the worry that jumped off the pages of your letter and punched me right in the face, toss that shit in the trash. You have no reason to worry I don’t want to hear from you.
Let’s talk about the box I found that letter tucked in. I’m not sure how you managed to get all that shit in there, but damn, vato. You knocked it outta the park. Thank you. I’ve never gotten a care package before.
Never.
