“Twelve.”
She would have been six when Abby married Tony. “How—?” Abby rubbed her palms on her jeans. “How did I not know about you?”
Olivia nodded. “I guess that answers that.”
“Answers what?”
“When I was little, I thought he left because of you.”
Abby shook her head. “Olivia, I didn’t?—”
“I know. My mom always said it was all him. She said we should feel bad for you since you were married to him.”
Abby wanted to defend herself, but she felt a level of sympathy for the next woman Tony married, so she understood.
“Does your mom know you’re here?”
Olivia looked down at the glass in her hand. “She died. Six months ago.” A tear dripped down her cheek, and she wiped it away.
“I’m so sorry,” Abby said.
Olivia nodded.
“Are you living with Tony?”
She shook her head. “I was staying with my mom’s half-sister and her husband, but I can’t live there anymore.”
Abby was at a loss. “Olivia, why are you here?”
Tears streamed down her face. “I want to live with you.”
Damsel in distress
Tinker zoomed in on the floor plan of the venue he was assessing. A local businessman was holding a party for his daughter’s sixteenth birthday and had hired Leonidas to provide the security. Paige had tasked him as lead. On one hand, he appreciated the vote of confidence. On the other, it was a fucking birthday party.
The party was in six weeks, and he had plenty of time to coordinate the security plan, but there he was on a fucking Saturday afternoon trying to distract himself. Working on a custom build in his shop hadn’t gone so well—he’d laid a shitty weld twice. He’d finally given up and come to the office hoping mundane office work would distract him.
Something smacked him on the shoulder. He flinched and turned as Angie continued to smack him on the shoulder.
“What the fuck, Ange?”
“You—” Smack. “Didn’t—” Smack. “Call—” Smack. “Her—” Smack. Smack. Smack.
He rolled his chair out of striking range. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Abby. You never called her after your date. You fucking ghosted her.”
He caught the sticky notepad she threw at him. “How the hell do you know that?”
“Because her number isn’t in your call logs.”
“You hacked my phone?”
She braced her hands on her hips. “I pull call logs every month.”
“Do Paige and Graham know?”
“Uh. Yeah. I give them to Paige.”
