“Because when Dread found you, he was about to hit you over the head with a wooden table leg, so Dread shot him. You’re welcome!”
“Who’s with Maddie?” I asked, ignoring the part where the asshole who had lunch with my woman saved my fucking life. “They need to know Maxim is having her followed. Sylvia said she couldn’t get to Maddie because of the Russian bastard following her.”
Caity rolled her lips between her teeth and looked away.
“What?”
She sat on the edge of the bed and laid a hand on my stomach. I covered her hand with mine and rubbed the back of it with my thumb. I’d needed to touch her so fucking much.
Caity stared at our hands and sniffled.
“Caity, who’s with Maddie?”
She blew out a breath and bit her lip. A sure sign I wouldn’t like what she was about to say. She opened her mouth to speak when the guy on the other side of the curtain said, “Someone come spit in my mouth. I’m thirsty.”
Her eyes widened, and I shook my head. I’d have Sal talk to the hospital about getting me a private room.
“Our daughter—Caity?”
“I need you to try stay calm, okay? Don’t freak out.”
“What?” I ground out.
“Lucille talked to Freyja.”
“Jesus Christ,” I groaned. “What did the fuckin’ woman say now?”
“You know I love you, right?” Caity said, startling me with her confession. Before I could say it back, because I did fucking love her more than anything in this world, she continued, “But I’m so angry with you. You should have told us about Sylvia. You don’t get to fuckin’ kick me out of your life on some misguided notion of keeping me safe. I am a grown-ass woman capable of making my own choices. I have survived more than you even know, and your birth mother doesn’t scare me. I lived with Eamon O’Malley for crying out loud.”
“First, I love you too. I always have and I always will. I’m sorry for not talking to you. It was never going to be permanent; I just needed to confirm she was dead. Only, now I know why I couldn’t. Second, what does that all have to do with Maddie?”
I was almost afraid to ask, knowing that Lucille was a fucking psychopath who only wanted Freyja to have bits and pieces of whatever was happening. It was as if the woman thrived on drama. Lucille, not Freyja.
Honestly, if the woman wasn’t already dead, I might consider killing her myself. We’d be better off not knowing anything than the information Lucille gave us.
I reached up and rubbed the back of my head. I must have been hurt worse than I thought if I considered Lucille a valid source of any information, as scarce as it might be.
“Lucille told Freyja that Maddie would find love again. That the man had already chosen her, and he would protect her.”
I stared at Caity, not knowing how to respond, or even react. I wanted Maddie to be happy. I wanted her to have her son back, and I wanted her to find love and have more babies. I wanted more for her than what her mother and I had endured.
But at the same time, Lucille’s words sounded ominous. Caity’s delivery wasn’t any better. I was protective of Maddie; I always had been, even before I knew she was mine. Though, looking back, deep down I’d always known despite Caity’s denial.
“Who?” I asked, closing my eyes against the thoughts going through my head. Because with those few words, everything I’d feared when Sylvia told me that Russian bastard was in the way suddenly fell apart.
Maxim wasn’t having my daughter followed; in fact, I now believed Maxim had no idea she was being followed.
“Does Maxim know?” I asked.
“I’m not sure.”
“How did you find out? And what’s the fucker’s name?”
Caity looked down at our hands again, then she picked mine up and held it between hers. “I called Sinclair while you were in surgery.”
“Why the fuck did you call Sinclair?”
“Because he loves Maddie. He told me who it was, and if it helps, I don’t think Maddie knows she’s being followed. ButSinclair promised to call him and tell him about Sylvia and make sure he’s with Maddie every minute.”
