“Kiki drove four hours to get this for Theo. I didn’t ask her, hell, I was barely speaking to her at that point. She carried it onto the job site and handed it to me. She was so thrilled to make our son happy.” I put the toy back in the bag as the heaviness settles over me. “What did I do? Told her I couldn’t even mention her name. Excluded her, pushed her out, just like everyone else.”
“So you’re an asshole, too, huh?” Deirdre murmurs, eyes on the table.
“Yes, but that’s because I didn’t know the whole story. Now that I do, my goal is protecting an innocent woman who’s being ripped to shreds.”
“How do you plan on doing that? These sound like dangerous men, Eddie.”
I scrub a hand over my face before popping up and grabbing aspirin from the cabinet. “They are, and that’s why I told Kiki to leave. She has a job offer in Los Angeles. A new start in a city that won’t destroy her for sport.”
“Is she taking it?”
Shrugging, I down the pills with a glass of water. “What choice does she have? Continue living like this?”
“So, she’s leaving.”
Fuck but those words hit like bullets against the walls of my heart. I suck in a noisy breath and nod, desperate not to let the emotion back up on me. “I wish she didn’t have to, but I love her enough to want her safe, even if that means never seeing her again. As for you and I, the next time you have a problemwith me, we talk it out. If I learn you’ve snuck around and retained an attorney to drag me into court again without sitting me down first, this friendship, or whatever it is, is over. You want to burn our family down, that’s on you. I’m not giving you the damn match.”
Deirdre stands and I prepare for her counterargument, but it never arrives. She leans her head into the hallway. “Theo, come on. Are you ready?”
Our son bounces into the room, excitement etching a permanent grin on his face, oblivious to the battle lines laid by his parents moments before. “Can I open my gifts now?”
Deirdre nods, her eyes on me. “There’s a special one in there. From your friend, Kiki. Want to open it first?”
Theo tears into the bag, completely oblivious to anything beyond his presents.
For him, it’s the best day.
For me, it’s bittersweet, but that’s life, isn’t it?
Deirdre steps to my side and gives me a gentle hip check. “I’m sorry, Eddie.”
I run a hand over my jaw, my gaze locked on Theo. “For which part?”
She shrugs, contrition crawling across her face. “All of it. I’m sorry I didn’t give you a chance to explain. I’m sorry she’s living in fear. And… I’m sorry you’re losing her. I know you really love her.”
Truer words have never been spoken.
I nod, feeling that familiar burn building behind my eyes. “Yeah, but sometimes love isn’t enough. I want her to have a good life, a full life, even if it’s not with me.”
As if on cue, Theo’s loud whoop breaks into the moment as he holds up his dinosaur in triumph. “Open it for me, Daddy!”
I smile at Theo and reach for the box. “Told you it would be a good birthday, right?”
“Yeah!”
God, I adore this kid.
And thanks to Kiki, it will be his best birthday ever, even if she’s gone from all the ones that follow.
Kiki is the dream I’ll never get to have, but our few moments together are forever etched into my memory.
For that, I’m grateful, even if I’m not sure what life looks like without her in it.
Chapter 31
Start Fucking Digging
Kiki
