I've decided to tell them. Céline is right. They won't fault me for having a monster for a father. Even if the idea of saying the words out loud—admitting the truth—makes me shudder.
Seven drives around the front of the house, and Ellie is already bouncing with energy in the back seat, making her happy sounds as her tail whips the seats. She barks when Seven parks the car outside the garage and Atticus exits, grinning when she fogs up the rear window with her excited barks.
I exit with a shiver at the chill in the mountain air and head to the trunk as Atticus lets Ellie out of the car and gives her a good pat-down, making her sit pretty and roll over before he gives her a few of those duck liver treats she loves from his pocket.
I shake my head as Seven gets out and pops the trunk, but when I go to reach for my bags, Atticus is there first, slipping his hand through the handle of my suitcase to lift it from the trunk.
"You okay?" he asks in a low tone.
He must see my confusion because he adds, "When you didn't reach out right away after your meeting with Ambrose, I thought?—"
"I'm fine."
He takes the hint for once and then frowns, lifting my suitcase to give it a little shake. "It's pretty light."
"I still have clothes here, remember?"
"Does this mean I don't have to worry about having fifty pounds of dickfetti exploding in the house?"
I smirk. "Guess you'll find out."
"Fifty pounds of what?" Seven asks, lifting his attention from Ellie.
"Nothing," Atticus says, shooting me a smirk right back before looking to Seven. "How'd it go?"
"Like you said," Seven replies. "They followed us, but only about twenty miles. Just long enough for them to have Ambrose's people run the plates and see Chris is the owner."
"And the handoff?"
"Jack has her phone and is en route to Huntsville now. He said he has yourscheduleand he'll follow it. We're good."
Atticus looks doubtful, but nods. "Ambrose could still decide to send his people to Huntsville to keep an eye on things there. We'll need to be ready to move her back to campus just in case."
"Remember what we talked about?" Seven asks in a teasing tone. "It's not a problem until it's a problem.Relax."
Atticus grunts, and his honey eyes slide back to me. "Come on, let's get you inside. It's cold as fuck out here today."
Seven's eyes crinkle at me in confusion when I move to follow Atticus into the house, but I'm not going in because he told me to. Itiscold as fuck.
"What?" I ask when he falls into step behind me, Ellie trotting alongside him.
He shakes his head. "Nothing."
My gaze falls to his jacket, which is now open to reveal a plaid shirt that's buttoned all the way to his throat. He tugs at the fabric and winces. "I should probably go change."
"Please do. You look like someone's deranged uncle on a hunting trip."
He pushes his palm to his chest. "Ouch, Ro. I'm telling Chris you said that."
"The day you meet my foster dad will be the day he dies of a heart attack."
"You hearing this, Atty? She's so mean."
Atticus grunts. "Stop pretending you don't love it."
He sets my suitcase down inside the house and drops to a knee, calling Ellie over to clean her paws, and fuck if she doesn't sit so still for him while he does it, too. I shake my head at the pair of them.
"Where's Elijah?" I ask as Seven jogs through the house to go and change.
