Her mom, a woman that I’d met while being on leave in Italy, had died during childbirth.
I’d taken emergency leave from the Navy and had eventually separated completely a few short weeks after her birth.
From the moment that we’d first laid eyes on each other, we were inseparable.
And now, we’d been separated just as long as we’d been together.
It was killing both of us, and it looked like it wasn’t going to get any better ever.
“Sorry, man.” Apollo winced.
“Not your fault,” I admitted. “Thanks.”
Apollo nodded and held back as I walked out to my truck, even more impossibly tired than before.
The first person I called when I got into my truck was Bossy.
“Hey, Daddy!”
I drew in a deep breath, even though it hurt to do.
“Hey, Bossy,” I said. “How’s school?”
She groaned. “Not good. Every year around the anniversary, things start to get difficult. But you know how it is.”
The anniversary of when everything had gone down between Sonny, Pippa, Stanton, and me.
And the rest of the feds.
“Anyone giving you any trouble this year?” I asked.
“Not since you got Grandma and Grandpa to start me in jujitsu. Everyone leaves me alone now since I put Tommy Long on his back in the middle of lunch.”
My lips twitched at that.
I’d gotten to watch it over the school’s cameras after I’d begged Apollo to find the video for me.
I watched it every now and then when I was having a bad day.
Hell, after today, I might watch it a hundred times.
“Anything new with you?” Bossy asked.
I hesitated.
I usually told my girl everything.
It’d been a long time since she was a little kid.
She’d grown up pretty fast during the Sonny situation.
But this time, I would have to tell her about someone that I’d grown to actually like. And I didn’t want Bossy to get upset.
But I should’ve known better. My Bossy was the best girl on the planet with the biggest heart.
“I met a woman a couple of days ago,” I said, sparing her the details of her parents. “I liked her a lot.”
“What happened?” she asked. “Did you sleep with her?”
