Ronan rubs my shoulder as he hugs me to his side. “She’s okay,” he replies quietly. “I’d trust Alec and Gage with my life. They won’t let anything happen to her.”
“Okay.” I swallow hard. “Okay.” Then I look at Sage and say, “I was on the phone with Ronan when the camera by the back door was triggered. I thought it was an animal at first. Even though Alec said he changed the settings so animals like raccoons and possums wouldn’t set it off.”
Sage nods. “And then what?”
“Then I looked at the camera,” I reply. “And I saw a person. Or part of one. Right by the kitchen door. Then I heard this noise. Kind of… metallic.” I glance back at Ronan. “But how could they get inside? I have a deadbolt. And I’m sure it was locked.”
Before Ronan can respond, Patrick does. “Unfortunately, a deadbolt only does so much. With a set of lock picks and some videos online…” He shakes his head. “Sometimes there’s stuff online that shouldn’t be.”
“I should have installed better locks,” Ronan mutters. He looks pissed at himself. “I should have thought. With that asshole—” He stops. Glowers.
“So you heard a noise downstairs,” Sage prods. “What did you do then?”
At the memory, my body involuntarily shivers. I don’t want to think about those first terrifying moments when I realizedsomeone was breaking into my house. I don’t want to relive the breath-stealing fear when I wasn’t sure if I’d be hurt or assaulted or worse.
But I learned early on that being an adult means doing a lot of things we don’t want to. So, after another shaky breath, I tell her the rest, from my mad scramble to the cubby at the back of Haley’s closet until Ronan showed up to help me out of it.
The room is silent by the time I finish. Everyone’s expressions are grim. Still sitting beside me, Ronan is carefully still, but I can feel him vibrating with anger.
“So you think Justin may have done it?” Patrick asks.
Ronan’s arm tightens around me.
“Maybe,” I answer. “I don’t know why. He’s never been interested in Haley before. And my lawyer said he hasn’t received anything from Justin regarding custody.”
“Because he knows he won’t get it,” Ronan mutters bitterly. “The guy’s been absent Haley’s entire life. Now he gets some idea in his head, maybe he’s got some new girlfriend and he thinks he’ll pretend he’s a good dad or something. But no judge would grant custody. Not even partial. The best he’d get is supervised visitation.”
I glance at Ronan in surprise. His cheeks turn the slightest pink and he says, “I talked to the attorney I told you about. Charlie. I just wanted to know what we—you—were dealing with.”
My heart thuds hard.
That doesn’t sound like something he would do if he didn’t care about me. If he didn’t care about Haley.
“It’s a motive,” Patrick agrees. “And we will definitely follow up on it. Is there anyone else you can think of who might have reason to break in?” Before I can answer, he adds, “It could be random, Angel. We’re not ruling that out. But the more information we have to go on from the start, the better.”
“I can’t think of anyone else,” I reply.
“What about Phil?” Ronan asks. He looks between Patrick and Sage as he explains, “I don’t know if you heard. But Phil got arrested after he shoved Angel at Blissful Brews. She didn’t press charges of assault—” His jaw tightens.
He wanted me to. But I didn’t want to complicate things, and it wasn’t like Phil had done it intentionally. He was just drunk and acting stupid.
“But Frank pushed for drunk and disorderly,” Ronan continues after a second. “If Phil’s still pissed off about it, he could come after Angel in retribution. That’s why I wanted the cameras. Just in case.”
“Okay.” Patrick’s pen makes another sparkly swoosh as he writes in his notebook. “So we’ll follow up on Justin and Phil. And we’ll look through the footage on the cameras, see if any of the neighbors saw anything.”
“We’ll search the house, too,” Sage adds. “Look for fingerprints that shouldn’t be here and any other forensic evidence. Chances are, we’ll find something.”
As what she says sinks in, my stomach plummets. “Does that mean I can’t stay here?”
Not that I want to. Not knowing how easily someone broke in. But what’s the alternative? A room at the Blissful Sleep Motel? I wouldn’t bring Haley there. And the Bliss Bed and Breakfast is far too expensive. Plus, how would I explain it to Haley without scaring her?
“Not yet,” Sage replies. Her expression is apologetic. “We should be able to get you back at some point tomorrow. You’ll want to change the deadbolt, of course. And?—”
“We’ll take care of it,” Ronan interrupts. He looks at Enzo, who gives him a quick chin lift. “New locks. More security. More—fuck.” He turns to me. “You can stay with me until this isresolved. You and Haley. My place is safe. Alec installed a full security system. And I can protect you.”
I blink at him. “Stay with you?” It’s a big jump from a few hours ago, when I thought Ronan might be breaking up with me. And now he wants me and Haley to stay with him?
“Yes.” His gaze burns into mine. “You know what I used to do, Angel. I haven’t forgotten any of it. And anyone who even thinks they can take me on…” His eyes flash dangerously. “I won’t say it, not with certain people present. But in a battle, I can promise I’ll win.”
