Page 8 of Eleven of a Kind

“Ah, shit. Where and who did she run away from?”

“Hawaii and Ariana’s parents.”

“She flew here by herself?” Jackson’s brows furrowed.

“Yep.” I told them everything Riley said.

“I’ll check it out,” Simon said. “You do know that you’ll have to call her grandparents, right? Because if you don’t, and they find her, you’ll be in a lot of trouble. She’s a minor, cousin.”

“I know.” I sighed. “What the hell am I supposed to do?”

“Get to know her, love her, protect her, and make sure you keep her on the right path.” Nathan smiled.

“I’m sure Dad asked the same thing after Mom died,” Grayson said. “Don’t forget he raised the two of us alone. And look how we turned out.” He smiled.

“And don’t forget, you have all of us and the girls. Remember, we have a village here and take care of our own,” Stefan said.

“We want to meet her, Gabriel,” Sam said.

I stood up from my chair and walked to Shaun’s house. Opening the sliding door, I saw Riley talking to Lily and Ella.

“She’s beautiful, Gabriel. How are you holding up?” Charlotte asked.

“I guess as well as I can be. I don’t know, Charlotte.”

“She’s fifteen, her mother, whom she was very close to, just passed away, and she’s a runaway. I can tell just by talking to her that she’s a tough kid, but she’s broken. She needs you.” She placed her hand on my shoulder.

I tucked my hands into my pockets and stared across the room at her. Even her smile reminded me so much of Ariana.

“Riley, come meet the rest of the family,” I said.

“Okay.” She walked over, and we went down to the beach.

I introduced her to all of my cousins who sat around the bonfire. She seemed a little uncomfortable, so I took her home.

“It’s a little overwhelming, isn’t it?” I smiled.

“Yeah. This family is huge. But everyone seems cool.”

“Listen, I need to call your grandparents.”

“No!” She shouted as tears filled her eyes. “You can’t do that. Please, Dad.”

“I have to tell them you’re here with me.”

“No! You don’t understand.” Tears streamed down her face.

She ran up the stairs to her room and slammed the door. I stood there and ran my hand through my hair. Walking over to the table, I picked up her birth certificate and stared at my name. Ariana wouldn’t have put my name down as Riley’s father if I weren’t. It wasn’t like she slept around. She was a virgin when we met. I was eighteen, and she was seventeen. I picked up the picture of us on the table and swallowed hard.

I opened the door to Riley’s room and saw her sitting on the edge of the bed, staring out the window.

“Go away,” she said.

“I loved your mother very much.” I sat down next to her. “And as much as I wanted to be with her, it was impossible. Summer was almost over. She was going back to New York to finish high school, and I was returning to Harvard to start my second year of college. It broke my heart when I had to say goodbye to her. We had a long talk, and we both knew it would never work out with the distance. Her parents kept a very close eye on her. The only reason we were able to spend the time we did together in Hawaii was because her cousin was there. Her parents thought she was with her when she was actually with me.”

“I know. She told me. She also said that when she found out she was pregnant, they demanded to know who the father was. There was no way she was telling them about you, so she lied and gave them a fake name. She said they would have come after you if she had told them who you were. That’s the kind of people they are.”

“She told me all about them.” I sighed. “But you have to understand that I can get into a lot of trouble. You ran away from them, Riley. I need to tell them you’re safe and with me. You’re my daughter.” I reached over and placed my hand on hers. “I’m not going to let them take you away.”