I was surprised, honestly, having forgotten about the file. It was still locked in my desk from before I had left for that idiotic run, when Fiona was hurt.
“You didn’t do anything wrong. We didn’t ask for a deep search. I haven’t even looked at it, to be honest. With Fiona’s attack, and then, well… either way, we’re good, man. You don’t have to apologize.”
“You haven’t read it?” he asked, seeming surprised. I shook my head as I looked toward the locked drawer, feeling conflicted.
“Are you going to read it now? Do you want me to rerun it, dig deeper?” he asked, eager to help.
“No. Actually, let’s not look at anything having to do with Fiona or Atlas for the time being. I want Fee to tell me stuff in her own time. I don’t want to invade her privacy any further.” That seemed to surprise Keys.
“Really? I wouldn’t be able to hold off if I had a woman. But you do what you feel is best. Let me know if you want that deep dive,” Keys said, a small smile on his face as he gave me a mock salute before scuttling out of the room.
Pushing the folder to the back of my mind, I focused instead on my time with Fiona. Since the cookout, we had spent every night together. Picking her up from work was quickly becoming the highlight of my days. Our nights together were simple and genuine. It wasn’t anything I could have even dreamed of for myself.
It was the moments you didn’t think about, with the smallest fanfare, that meant the most. Other than dinner, most of our evenings were spent in companionable silence. Fiona had dived into the club books with a fervor.
Her single-minded focus on the documents almost made me jealous, desperate for all of that attention. No longer even bothering to ask, I brought over some clothes and bathroom products to keep at her place.
Falling asleep every night with her in my arms, my obsession with Fiona had only grown deeper, morphing into plans for our future together. Plans that required research and knowledge, which called me back to the folder haunting me from the desk. It was Friday morning before work, and I was sitting in my office at the clubhouse. Without a knock, my door swung open as Charlie let herself in, dropping into the chair across from my desk.
“Oh, good, you’re here. Tonight is girls’ night, so you’re not allowed near Fee, not even to pick her up. Match is gonna follow her home, so don’t worry about that, but I don’t want you butting in on our night. I’ve been good all week and haven’t asked her anything about her brother. I’ve earned this,” Charlie threatened. With a sigh, I couldn’t help but look at the drawer again. I leaned over and unlocked it, pulling the folder out and dropping it in front of her.
“What’s that?” she asked, looking confused.
“The file Keys put together on Fiona. Remember, you asked him to run her background and track down her parents? I forgot to give it to you because her attack happened right after Keys gave it to me.” Charlie’s face paled as she looked at the folder in front of her.
“Did you read it?” she asked, and I shook my head.
“Honestly, I totally forgot about it until Keys came by to apologize for not running her deep enough to warn us about Atlas.”
“Me too. I forgot. What do we do? We have to read it, right? If we had, we might have known to look into her brother more. Did he say anything about their parents to you?” she asked, several emotions warring in her eyes.
“He said a lot of things, none of which made any sense, honestly.”
Now that the file was out and in front of me, fighting the urge to read it was grating at me even stronger. It went against my nature to restrain myself. I was someone who was used to having all the information upfront.
To defend my Brothers, my family, I needed and wanted to have access to all the research so I could plan for any potential attacks or outcomes. The same urge to protect Fiona ran through me, only stronger. Every minute I spent with her further solidified the feeling of rightness inside me.
Seeing that protectiveness, that worry on Charlie’s face and Keys’ earlier comment, made the decision for me. Fee may not have liked it, but she had a family now, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to sit by with my thumb up my ass when another demon from her past decided to show up.
That lie worked just long enough to motivate me to read through the file with Charlie, but the churning in my gut returned as soon as we were finished. Work kept me distracted, but once I got home that night, I couldn’t help but repeatedly check my phone, expecting a flurry of angry texts or calls from Fiona. Everything about the moment felt wrong.
All my hopes that I was blowing things out of proportion flew out the window when Charlie walked through the door, tears pouring down her face. As I comforted my sister, my thoughts were focused on Fiona and getting to her. I had no time to waste, knowing she would try to use it to pull away, to retreat.
Chapter 15
Fiona
A million thoughts ran through my head as Charlie sat next to me, her face creased with worry as she prepared herself. I had never seen her at a loss for words, which was only increasing my concern. My stomach dropped, a knot forming at the reluctance on my friend’s face. Grasping my hand, she finally started talking.
“I need to tell you something, and I know you’re not going to like it. I want to say I’m sorry first, and that it was never done to hurt you.” I nodded, my mouth too dry to answer, but wanting to hear what she had to say.
“When we first started hanging out, when you told me about your parents, well, I was really angry. I hated what they did to you. I hated the idea of them getting anywhere near you now. So I asked Keys to run a background check on you to find your parents to let us know what they were up to. I just wanted to make sure they didn’t know where you were or make any moves toward this area,” she blurted out.
I felt slightly violated, especially since I had no idea what was in the file. My mind started to spin with questions.What details could they have dug up that I deliberately left out?That Keys had seen it only made it hurt that much more, causing a terrible thought to run through me.
“Who else has seen it?” I asked, watching Charlie’s panicked expression freeze on her face.
“Well, this all happened around the time of your attack. Keys gave it to Bash, who has had it locked in his office. Neither one of us wound up looking at it until yesterday. Keys apologized for not looking into your family further, for not realizing Atlas was your brother.”
