Her words had lost their full effect, but I was still filled with shame. What must Garrick think? I took a step to the side, out from behind Garrick’s protective stance. “Vivian, can we please be civil to each other? Dylan would want that. I want that.”
She scoffed, her sneer screwing up her face and making her look evil. “She took everything from me. She’ll do the same to you.”
Kurt stepped in front of me. “Stop it, Vivian.”
Between him and Garrick, they formed a wall.
“Dylan was your friend,” she spat at him.
Kurt ran his hands through his hair. It was useless to try to reason with her. At Dylan’s funeral, he’d been the one to have her escorted off the funeral parlor’s property. At the private viewing, she had screamed at me and knocked over some flowers. It had been terrible. “Vivian, he loved Knoah with his whole heart. And now Knoah is all we have left of him.”
“Well—”
“Enough.” The ice in Garrick’s voice sent shivers down my back. This was full-on business-mode Garrick. “You will not speak to Knoah in this manner. Ever. She is here paying her respects to her deceased husband. You can come back later.”
Vivian visibly startled. “But—”
“There are no buts. With one nod, I will have security here and you will be physically removed as a threat. And my lawyers can draw up a restraining order to keep you from visiting your son. Do you want that?”
She blanched. Quickly, her beady eyes landed on me. “I wish Dylan had listened to me and never married you. But then again, you probably got pregnant on purpose. When you realized he left you everything, you probably aborted the baby.”
I physically jerked. I wanted to say something, but nothing came out. Kurt grabbed my hand and quietly said, “Don’t listen to her, Knoah.” He turned back to Dylan’s mother. “You really are a bitch, Vivian. No wonder Dylan wanted nothing to do with you.”
Garrick leaned in and whispered something in her ear. Her eyes widened, and she stared at me for a second. Silently, she turned and stalked away.
Kurt looked at me. “You okay?”
“I-I-I don’t know.” Aborting my baby. The only chance I had to be a mother. Everything around me began to dim.
Garrick cursed and grabbed me as my knees gave out. “Breathe, Knoah. Deep breaths. Follow my lead.”
He took a deep slow breath in and let it out. I did the same. The darkness ebbed, and the world righted itself. I was on the ground, lying in Garrick’s arms. “That’s it, baby. Keep breathing slow.”
I turned to Kurt, who squatted beside me. “I would never kill my baby. The money meant nothing. I would trade it all to have my baby back.”
“I know, squirt. I never doubted you. Remember, I was with you the entire time. Once the nurse told you to stay calm, you never cried. You lay there immobile, trying to save your baby. I remember, Knoah. I saw you fall apart after you lost the baby. Never doubt your love for your and Dylan’s baby. I saw it.”
I closed my eyes as more tears fell. I had loved them. I still loved them. Garrick watched me closely as I sat up and said, “Thank you. You kept the darkness from finding me.”
“And I will every time it tries.”
Kurt looked at me. “I’m going to meet you back at your mom’s.” We stood, and Kurt gave me a hug. In my ear, he whispered, “I’m proud of you. Dylan would be, too.”
“I hope so.”
“I know so. Garrick is a good man. Dylan would approve.”
That meant so much to me. Kurt had been his closest friend; he would know. Kurt waved goodbye, and as I watched him walk away, a sense of peace came over us.
Thank you, Dylan.
I grabbed Garrick’s hand. “Can I show you something?”
“Of course. Where are we going?”
“A place I go that no one knows about.”
After we got into his black sports car, I noticed a black SUV behind us. “Who is that?”
“Security. I think it’s necessary until we find who’s behind Jessica’s death. Kurt agreed. I figured we’d talk about it.”
It reminded me of the one I’d seen at my parents’. “Were they with me this morning?”
Garrick stopped the car and looked at me. “No, they came with me. Why?”
“I noticed a similar one with dark tinted windows driving down Mom and Dad’s road this morning. They didn’t slow and turned at the end of the street.”
“Dammit all to hell!” Garrick cursed before taking a second to calm down. “You cannot go anywhere without telling someone. Have you seen a car like that at any other time?”
His outburst shocked me. “Garrick, what is it? What’s going on?”
“If he’s involved, I’m going to kill him. So help me, I will bury him if he’s involved.”
“Who?” The more Garrick worked himself up, the more worried I became.
Garrick scrubbed his hand down his face. “Can we go to your spot first? I need to get my thoughts in order.”
“Okay.” I put an address into GPS in the console. “Follow this.”
Do the SUVs have something in common? Is Garrick involved? Obviously, he suspected someone. What if… no, I refused to go there.
The GPS directed Garrick across town to the spot where I found solace. In silence, we got out and walked down a trail, careful to keep an eye out for alligators. The grip in his hand was stiff and Garrick’s eyes were unfocused. What would he tell me?
At the end of the trail, some distance from the road, there was a bench facing a serene pond. The groundskeeper I paid to keep it in pristine order did a wonderful job.
I stopped and sat. Garrick joined me.
Everything felt out of sorts between us. He was still deep in thought, so I began to talk, continuing where my story had left off.
“After I buried Dylan, I became an emotional, hormonal mess from losing the baby. I would go on these long walks and found this place. Every day, I would come here and sit on this bench. One day, an older man came by. Told me it was his pond, his property, but he let me stay. We sat and talked about our lives. I shared everything with this complete stranger. After that day, I never saw him again. Every day I came here, I wondered what life threw his way.
“Three months later, I got a letter in the mail from his lawyer. The man knew my name and that I lived in Cocoa Beach. The lawyer found me to tell me Mr. Harligen had left this place to me. The lawyer’s letter said the day he met me gave him comfort, and he thanked me. He had been having a difficult time accepting that he was dying of cancer. He had come out to the pond to commit suicide, but realized after we talked how selfish it would be to rob his family of the days he had left.”
“That’s beautiful.”
The surface of the water rippled from the activity below. “I thought so. I pay a groundskeeper to keep it up. I’ve only been back a handful of times but come here to try and sort myself out when things are hard to deal with.”
He put his arm around me. “Thanks for bringing me here.”
I turned toward him, wanting to reassure him. “I’m ready to go all in on our relationship. I want to try with you.”
“I want that. More than I ever dreamed I would.” His lips pressed against mine. “You’ve bared your soul to me today. I think it’s only fair I do the same. All I ask is that you give me a chance to answer your questions.”
What’s he going to tell me? Garrick hadn’t run, even with everything I threw his way. I wouldn’t, either. “I promise.”
Apprehension lingered.
He took a deep breath and looked back out at the water where two dragonflies danced together. “When I was a kid, I got mixed up with the wrong crowd. I met Hastings Monroe in high school. We became family. And then I realized I was in deeper than I wanted to be in a world I knew nothing about.”
Hastings. I knew there was a reason he rubbed me the wrong way. Prompting Garrick, I asked, “Deeper into what?”
“Crime. Territories. Threats.”
> This made no sense. “You mean like the mob?”
“Yes.”
I gasped and stiffened. Is Garrick in the mob? My mind raced with possibilities.
“I’m not involved with them. I’ve never done anything criminal. I never got entrenched, but I was on my way. As soon as I put the pieces together, I cut all ties and traveled across the country to college. When I came back, my dad funded my first business venture. Within a few years, I paid him back and then began making substantial money on my own.”
With bated breath, I waited for him to continue. The mob. Hastings is involved in the mob? I had been in close proximity to a member of the mob.
“I know your mind is racing, sweetheart. I’ll answer all your questions, I promise.” I nodded, and he continued, “About two months ago, I acquired a telecommunications company under GS Industries. I’d had my eye on the company for a while. It was failing, but the owner wasn’t ready to settle. When it was time, I seized the opportunity. On the day of the closing, Hasting was voted onto the board of directors. I was livid. Now I’m working on detangling myself from the company and selling it. It’s a delicate process because I don’t want to piss off the Monroe family. At one time I considered them family.”
Things were beginning to click into place. “Was Hastings behind the bad PR for the company?”
Garrick leaned back and raked his free hand through his hair. “Yes, but I don’t know why. I’m trying to figure it out. The company hasn’t been absorbed into GS Industries like my other ones. It still operates on its own, and I plan to keep it that way. If Hastings was able to get himself voted in, it means other board members are dirty. He doesn’t know about my plan to sell. If he wants access to GS Industries for his own gain, that won’t happen.”
“Won’t that piss him off?” Irritating the mob sounded like a bad idea.
He exhaled, and for the first time, I saw the stress on his face. “It’s why I have to handle it delicately. Sometimes I buy companies, flip them, and sell them. I’m working on getting the infrastructure in place to do that. It’ll only be believable if I can flip it for a profit.”
“And you’re not involved with the mob at all?” I needed to verify this. Being involved with crime, killing, blackmail, and who knows what else was a deal breaker for me.
“No, I’m not. I swear it.”
I could see the honesty in his eyes. Thank goodness Garrick wasn’t tied to them. A shudder ran through me at the thought. “How long before you think you’ll be able to get rid of him?”
“Hopefully a few months. He’s being persistent regarding the plans for the company. More so in the last week. It’s possible he suspects a flip.”
“Do you think he was in the SUV this morning?”
Garrick’s eyes narrowed at the thought. “His men drive dark SUVs. If he’s having you followed, we’re going to have problems.”
I’d seen the irritation in Garrick over this last week, but had Hastings? “Does your mom know?”
“No, she doesn’t. Mom thinks we simply grew apart.”
How did someone like Garrick become friends with a mobster? I had so many questions.
Putting his arm behind me, he drew me closer. I went willingly. “Do you want to wait until I get this handled before we continue?”
I hadn’t thought of that. We would be apart for up to two months. That was the last thing I wanted, but relationships were a two-way street. “Is that what you want?”
“No, not at all. I want you.”
The plea in his voice mirrored one of my own. “I want the same thing. I don’t want us to be apart. We each have a past. We can’t ignore them.”
He leaned in closer. “I can’t wait to get your future.”
I smiled against his lips. “I can’t wait to give it to you.”
His lips touched mine, and I instantly let him in. His hand came to my neck, holding me in place as he kissed me thoroughly. It slowed more quickly than I wanted.
Putting his forehead against mine, he said. “We’ll figure this out together. There is nothing you can’t ask me.”
“The same goes for you, too.” We’d cleared another hurdle, and it felt perfect. “Do you want to meet my parents? I told Mom about you this morning. And she’s making cinnamon rolls.”
“Absolutely.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
We walked into Garrick’s apartment, and I felt lighter since this morning. Things had gone well with Mom and Dad, which relieved me. I’d seen the light in their eyes when they met Garrick. I promised to have them over for dinner soon.
I talked to Sawyer for a bit on the car ride home with Garrick. I was glad to hear her Mom was stable and responsive. She was expected to go home at the end of the week.
Garrick kissed me on the cheek and asked, “Would you like a drink?”
It was still relatively early in the evening. “A glass of wine would be nice.”
“Coming right up. Security just texted me. Your car is downstairs.”
They’d driven it here so I could ride with Garrick. “Thank you.”
I walked over to the window to look outside, thinking about the visit with my parents. It all still seemed surreal. I’d brought another man to meet Mom and Dad—someone I’d felt an array of emotions for rather quickly. After an afternoon of baring ourselves to each other, I believed Garrick would be long-term in my life.
~ ~ ~
We’d pulled up into the driveway around lunch. Kurt’s car had been there like he’d said it would be. Before we’d made it to the door, Mom had opened it. “Hey, sweetie.”
“Hey, Mom. This is Garrick, my…” I’d swallowed hard and finished, “My boyfriend.”
I’d waited to see her reaction since Dylan had been the only boy I’d ever brought home. He’d been like a son to my parents. Only happiness had bubbled from Mom and I’d been overcome with relief. “Oh, Garrick, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Barb.”
“Likewise. You have a magnificent daughter.”
Mom had beamed. “We think so.”
Dad had come to the door, extending his hand. “Wyatt Knox.”
“Garrick Shaw.”
Dad had nodded, not giving much away. Before he’d turned, he’d given me a wink. He approved.
“Come in. Lunch is almost ready.” Mom had stepped back to let us pass. “For dessert I made cinnamon rolls. They’re some of Knoah’s favorite.”
I hugged Mom. “Thank you.”
“Anytime.”
From the couch, Kurt had nodded while continuing to study the chessboard, deep in thought. Internally I’d groaned and turned to my father. “Oh no, Dad. Tell me you did not challenge Kurt. You guys will be doing this for hours.”
Dad had patted me on the head. “Don’t be a spoilsport. It’s been forever since someone played me.”
I’d leaned into Garrick, who had seemed at ease. I loved him in jeans. It was casual and sexy. But he still exuded power.
Dad had approached Kurt. “Figured out your next move yet, son?”
“Not yet.”
It had felt like déjà vu, seeing Kurt at the table. I’d playfully whispered, “Word to the wise, never offer to play chess with Dad.”
“I heard that.” Dad had pointed to me and then Garrick. “Any respectable man will bring his wits to the table.”
“I’ll make note of that.”
What does that mean? Before I’d been able to think about it any further, Mom had appeared in the doorway of the kitchen. “Wyatt, stop it. Enchiladas are ready.”
Grabbing Garrick’s hand, I smiled. “You will want to try Mom’s enchiladas. They’re amazing.”
~ ~ ~
“You know I’m going to have to challenge your father to a game of chess.”
I groaned as Garrick handed me a glass of wine, grabbed my free hand, and pulled me toward the couch. “If you do, you’ll be stuck there forever. I may never see you again.”
Once we were seated, I nestled into his side. “Sweetheart,
your father threw down the gauntlet. I’m going to have to take the challenge.”
“I promise you don’t.”
To make a point, I grabbed my phone and texted Kurt.
Me: Has a winner been declared?
Kurt: Hell no. But I smell a victory in the near future. Your dad is going to lose.
Me: Good luck.
I showed the phone to Garrick. “See. This will go on all night. Kurt will most likely stay over and it’ll continue tomorrow. Dad’s toying with him. When he’s tired of playing, game over.”
Garrick chuckled, a deep sound that seemed to come from his chest. “Your father said any respectable man would bring his wits to the table. It was a challenge. I have to accept.”
My head fell back against his arm. “Why? Just say you aren’t respectable.”
“That’s not how things work, not as we get more serious. I will want your father’s blessing. You’ll want it, too.”
Of course he was right. More serious—I liked the sound of that. “Okay. Once. Only once.”
“Deal.”
The fruitiness of the wine was refreshing. “Thanks for everything today. I’m glad you know about Dylan.”
“I am, too. Don’t ever feel you can’t talk to me about him or what you had.”
I stared at him for a second; the angular features of his jaw were one of my favorite features beside his eyes. “You’re amazing. I still don’t understand why some woman hadn’t swiped you up.”
“I’m far from perfect. Some of the things I got involved in when I was younger are proof. I made mistakes.”
A ribbon of unease filtered through me. “What did you do?”
“I saw things, heard things, used women to get answers.” I shuddered. “It was a play Hastings liked to do when his father needed something. Women came easily enough. When I walked away, I stopped. I was repulsed by the person I’d become. It’s why I kept women at a distance and was more blunt than necessary when it came to where I stood on relationships.”
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