Page 77 of Kiss Kiss Bang
“What?”
“I am pretty sure that McGregor is somehow connected to Connor and Colin.”
Fuck.
“And to find out, I’m breaking into his emails after dinner.” He pulled out the thumb drive.
Double fuck.
* * *
Joey was dead to the world. After Olivia finally stopped arguing with him, mostly because Sophie’s safety was on the line, and the answers were possibly sitting somewhere in McGregor’s computer, he’d spent hours searching McGregor’s work computer. Tomorrow he was going to work on his personal one now that he had gotten the IP address through some emails McGregor had sent to his own work email.
It had been a tough few days and he’d laid his head on the pillow and passed right out, which wasn’t usual at all for him. But the sound of little feet scurrying around had him sitting up immediately. “I want my mommy,” the little voice cried from outside her room door. He quickly jumped out of bed, reached for his T-shirt, and slid it over his head as he walked out of the room. They still needed to explain to Sophie that he was staying over indefinitely.
With sleep-rumpled hair, her eyes barely open, Sophie was padding down the hall, confusion and sleep clearly on her face.
“Hey freckles, you okay?”
She opened her eyes as if trying to get her bearings as to where she was. Once she saw the familiar face, she raised her hands up to the ceiling. It took him a moment to understand what she wanted but it quickly became clear she wanted to be carried. “Mommy?” she whimpered, still half asleep.
Should he wake Olivia?
She was as bad a sleeper as he was and the fact she hadn’t heard Sophie was a testament to how asleep she actually was.
He bent down and picked her up. “I scared.”
He walked her back to her room and tucked her in. “Nothing to be scared of, Soph. I’m here and your mommy is right in the next room.”
“Monsters under the bed.”
He got under the bed and checked. “Nope. All clear. Goodnight, Soph.”
She extended her arms and he leaned down and kissed her forehead and she tightened her arms around his neck. “Stay here. Monsters are scared of daddies.”
He stilled. He always knew he wanted kids. Hell, he wanted a big family like the one he grew up with. But the thought of settling down hadn’t really been in the forefront of his mind. Except that she equated him to a dad. Maybe even her dad. And the thought didn’t scare him. No, it made him feel ten feet tall. Hell yeah, he’d keep the monsters away. He’d never felt more needed in his life then he did right there and then. He’d also never felt more love in his heart.
“Freckles, you’re okay, there’s nothing wrong. I’d never let anything happen—”
“No! No!” She started panicking.
“Okay, okay.” He pulled the desk chair next to her bed and sat down, then propped his feet up on the bed. “How about a bedtime story?”
“Okay,” she said sleepily, her hand gripping his foot as he thought of a story. Any story.
* * *
The bright light coming in through the sliver of window shade that had been left opened woke Olivia the next morning. She stretched her arms over her head and yawned and realized, by the clock on the bedside table, that it was still early, barely seven in the morning, but still she felt rested. Joey was probably still working on his computer. He was sure there was a connection between the governor and the Mathers brothers and had been working well past the time she’d gone to bed.
After using the restroom, she was checking in on Sophie when she stopped dead in her tracks. Sitting with his head rolled uncomfortably to the side, his legs propped up and a hand stretched in a way that couldn’t possibly be comfortable, he was holding Sophie’s hand. Her heart skipped a beat.
This was the exact feeling that scared her. She’d been in love once. Had held hopes of having a beautiful perfect family. And a car accident later, she’d been left widowed and heartbroken and with a daughter who never met her father.
Tip-toeing back to her room, she sat on her bed and breathed in and out. In and out. Trying to ignore the surge of emotion, she decided to busy herself with a shower. Once she was done and dressed, she was going to go wake him up, but she heard giggling from the kitchen as she walked out of the bedroom.
“Mommy, Joey made stwabewy pancakes.”
“A fruit.” Joey winked at her and went back to flipping the food while her daughter stood on a chair next to him, watching intently.
