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***
After the guys leave for the stadium, Danny pulls in with a man in the vehicle.
“Hey, Cora.” I nod to the door. “I think your dad just got here.”
She jumps off the couch. “Thank God.”
As soon as she runs out, I quickly get up so I can see her moment.
Rome comes up behind me as I stare out the window and wraps his arms around me. “I can’t wait until we have kids who run to us like we’re the most important thing in the world because they’ve never had to doubt how much we love them.”
Cora jumps into her dad’s arms, and he holds her tight.
“Just like that.”
I turn and look up at him. I push up onto my toes, and our lips meet.
Against mine, he groans.
I lean back and look up at him. “You should rest.”
“You should help me rest.”
“I think that’s the opposite of rest, Rome,” Gwen says from behind him.
He smiles, and I step away and look at Chloe. “Are you going out to meet her father?”
“I’m gonna give them some time,” Chloe answers.
“Do you think she’s going to stay here or go home with him?” I ask.
“I’m gonna guess she’ll go home. They’ve got some things to get through.”
“Anyone go through their place yet?” Roman asks.
“You’re good at this, Hart,” Gwen tries to joke, but it falls flat, which is highly unusual for Gwen. Then, she exhales a quaky breath. “They said you dived in without hesitation?”
“You’d have done the same.”
She holds her hand over her stomach, and I notice her shake a bit. I glance at Chloe, and she gives me the look, telling me she noticed, too.
“You need something for pain?” I ask.
“I need sleep.”
***
Cora’s father was nice, polite, but a bit standoffish, which makes total sense after finding out the woman who’d been catfishing him was the prison wife of a man who just tried to murder a girl he thought was his daughter, a convicted rapist who tried to get Cora—Joseph’s daughter—to meet him for a date. One in which she may have been raped and possibly murdered.
She asked for Monday off to give her statement. I gave her the week off. She promised to keep in touch.
Chloe and Danny headed back to Pope and Whitley’s to hug Aggie. Gwen is sleeping, and Marks is … somewhere.
“You should rest just in case you want to watch the game,” I suggest then think better of it. “Can you watch the game?”
“We can turn the brightness down. I can wear sunglasses. But first, I need a shower.”
“How about a bath? There’s something about that tub that soaks worries away.” I take his hand, and we walk toward the stairs.
