Page 78 of Harmless Secrets

She noticed a movement out of the corner of her eye and saw Devon standing there. His hands were in his pockets, his eyes filled with a vulnerability she had never seen.

“I’ll see what he says. Why don’t you go play with Alana before she has to head home?”

She leaned forward and kissed Bridget’s forehead. She scrambled off the bed and hurried out of the room. Devon stopped her before she left the room and whispered in her ear. Bridget looked back at Alicia, then she looked at Devon and nodded.

She skipped out of the room.

“Where have you been?” she asked, trying to keep things light. What the bloody hell did she say now?

“In my office, drinking.”

“Well, that’s good.”

He smiled at her sarcasm and walked into the room. “I had a talk with Kaheaku. He seems to think that I’m a dumbass.”

She shrugged and instantly regretted it. Pain flashed in her arm and then filtered down to her hand. Dammit.

“And I have to agree.”

She frowned. “What are you talking about Devon?”

He sat on the bed where her daughter had been and took her free hand in his. “There are times when we were growing up that Dee would tell me I was too smart for my own good. And I’ll admit it to you and no one else, she was right.”

She was tired and in immense pain. She just didn’t have the patience to banter back and forth. For some reason, she felt the need to cry again, but she was strong enough to fight it for the moment.

“You’re talking in riddles.”

“Now you know how it feels.” He pulled out the note she wrote. “You gave her to me and told me to keep her safe.”

“I know what I put in the note.”

“I get a lot of things. It’s weird being this rich and have people give you things. Some of the things are worth thousands.”

“How nice for you,” she said.

His lips curved. “But nothing, not anything I can buy and not anything I am given, is worth more to me than what you gave me.”

The happy tears she had held back just a few seconds earlier spilled down her cheeks. He wiped them away.

“From the time I saw you sitting at my favorite table in Vegas, you’ve had a hold on me. And now…I want you in my life. I want both of you with me, always. I was so pissed when you left earlier, you want to know why?”

She shook her head.

“Now that I have you with me, I don’t ever want you to go away. It scared the hell out of me just how much you had come to mean to me. And now, there’s Bridget in the mix…I love you both so much. Please, don’t ever do that again.”

She sighed then closed her eyes. The emotions of that moment, of knowing she had to risk everything to gain what she needed, came rushing back to her. She opened her eyes. “I needed to know she would have someone there for her. She deserved to have someone who loved her more than themselves. I knew you would.”

“And you picked me. You could have picked someone else, like Dee.”

“Well, you’re her father and don’t think I didn’t see how you felt about her. It was so easy to see in your eyes.”

He swallowed and reached into his pocket again. “Then, I am going to hold you to all of this, and use your vulnerability right now to my advantage.”

He held out a small black box, which he opened. Snuggled securely in the red satin sat a ring. It was set on top of a white gold band.

“It was my grandmother’s ring. I’ve had it for a few years now, and somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew it was yours.”

She said nothing. She couldn’t. A lump now clogged her throat, and it seemed all the air had backed up in her lungs.