“No,”James interrupted, his eyes flicking to Willow before returning to mine.“Please, Kiera. Stay here with Willow. We’ll get Billie.”
His pleading tone hit me like a punch to the gut. He was genuinely scared for Willow. I wanted to tell himthathe could stay with his wife, andthatI would find Billie, but instead, I bobbed my head.
James had done so much for me over the years and had never asked for anything in return. The least I could do was stay with Willow if it eased his mind. With a reassuring squeeze to my shoulder, Jackson followed James out of the car and up the stone steps. The door opened, the two of them disappearing inside.
A thick silence filled the car, neither Willow nor I able to speak, prevented by our fears. With my hand still clutched in Willow’s, I stared at the oak doors, counting the seconds and minutesthatpassed as I waited for them to open again.
Ten minutes and thirty-seven seconds ticked by before the oak doors were flung open, my heart racing double the speed the entire time. At the sight of Billie clutching James’ hand as he led her outside, I shoved open the car door and leaped out.
An enormous, relieved smile lit up Billie’s face as she dropped James’ hand and rushed down the stairs into my waiting arms. I wrapped my arms around her small frame, holding her tight against me as tears streamed from my eyes.
My heart beat lighter in my chest, free of any barbs.
I had my daughter back.
Chapter 32
Kiera
Funny how life had a way of flipping upside down in a heartbeat. Ten years ago, my world had been flipped around for the worst; I’d been cast aside, left to come to terms with not only being raped, but trying to find a way to navigate through life with a new baby.
My world had been flipped on its axis once more, only this time, for the better.
A month after returning from Peartree House, James was hosting a party in his garden to celebrate Billie’s cancer results. I’d promised her a celebration, and damn was I going to deliver.
To my relief, she’d been kept separate from all the other girls during the few days she was at Peartree House. She’d been kept in a single room, with no company, and only allowed out for dinner in the dining hall after all the other girls had eaten, and to use the bathroom.
It wasn’t her short stint at the housethatcaused her to have nightmares, but her ordeal with Alec. She often woke up screaming, petrifiedthathe was coming back to get her. Between Jackson and me, though, we were slowly convincing herthatAlec would never be able to hurt her again, and along with the therapist she had recently started seeing, my courageously brave girl had found her spark again.
If there was anything good to come out of Billie’s short incarceration at the vile house, it wasthatJames had a change of heart. He’d made a decisionthattheprogram would be shutting down, regardless of whether the society voted to keep it running.
He’d also made the decision to reinstate me as a member, something I wasn’t keen on until Jackson convinced methatI could help James with his vision to turn Legion back into the society our ancestors had wanted.
If it meant a better, safer society for Billie,thenI would happily do my part.
The Peartree House program was taking a little longer to close down than James had hoped. I didn’t know the full details, nor did I want to, but James had been privy to informationthatsuggested more nefarious things were going on in the house than what he could have ever imagined.
He and Jackson were working with the other heirs to understand the situation before they could finally close the program for good.
Thatday couldn’t come soon enough.
A burst of laughter echoed around the garden, and I whipped my head up, smiling affectionately at Billie. She was playing poker with Jenny, Jackson’s mom, and from where I stood, prepping the salad to go with the barbecue James’ chef was cooking—he’d taken on a whole new bunch of staff after discovering Alec had paid one of his guards to let him into James’ house—I assumed Billie hadjustwon another round.
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t hesitant when Jackson asked if his mom could meet Billie. He’d told me the truth about who was responsible for murdering Ethan, and I couldn’t help but fearthatshe might want to hurt Billie too.
My concern was washed away the second they met. Jenny adored Billie and had taken on a kinda grandma role. Having never had a grandma, Billie was delighted at the new figure in her life.
If I thought Jenny would harbor animosity toward me, I wasverymuch mistaken. After spending some time with Billie, Jenny pulled me into a giant bear-hug, sobbing her apology for what her husband did to me, and begging me to forgive her for not stopping him.
There was nothing for me to forgive;justlike Jackson, she didn’t knowthatunderneath Ethan’s armor of love and kindness, a monster resided.
I glanced around the garden, wondering where Jackson had disappeared to. He’d been talking to James and Willow—who had taken her usual spot in James’ lap—but now, he was nowhere to be seen as my brother clasped his wife possessively to him.
My phone dinged in the pocket of my skirt, and I fished it out, tapping on the message flashing on the screen.
Jackson
Get your ass to the greenhouse now.
