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“Yeah.” I try to climb off of him, but every move I make has him groaning more. “I don’t… know how… to do this.”
“Just pull off the Band-Aid,” he groans, repeating my words from earlier.
I do my best to not cause him any more pain than I’ve already caused, but I don’t do well at that either. I hold out my hand and Cord rolls his eyes.
“If I let you help me off the ground, you’ll end up falling back on top of me.” He climbs to his feet much more gracefully than I did and rights the chair.
Cord holds out his hand to me and leads me over to the couch. He sits down and tugs me onto his lap, then grabs his iPad off of the end table and maneuvers through it.
“I started getting emails from the private investigators early this morning. I guess Dad called them when I got off the phone with him last night and told them to get to work right away.” He lifts his shoulder in a shrug.
My love for this man and his family grows even bigger. They’re always so willing to help and protect those they love. I used to get annoyed when I thought they overstepped, but now I'm realizing they can't help it. They’ll do what they need to do to take care of me and I’m slowly learning to accept that’s just who they are.
“Did you read them?”
“Yeah, I didn’t want you to read them first in case there was some bad stuff in it.” Cord tugs me a little closer and I melt against his body. There’s no place I’d rather be than in his arms.
“Tell me what they say,” I mumble as I rest my head against his shoulder and close my eyes.
“Basically, he was a model inmate while in prison. He kept his nose clean the entire time. When he was released, his parole officer had nothing but good things to say about him.”
His deep voice soothes some of the tension in my body. I focus on that and what he found out, trying my hardest to forget the man my father was the night everything happened.
“He’s been working his ass off to get a good job and get back on his feet. He was lucky to still have the house… it looks like Miranda’s been paying the taxes on it since he was put in prison, so he at least had a place to go when he got out.”
“That’s Miranda for you.” I chuckle and shake my head. “She used to visit my dad in prison. She knew it was hard for Liam to do, but she also saw how remorseful my dad was over what happened. She’s sworn for years he’d come back and beg to be in our lives again. She has such a big heart. She reminds me so much of your dad.”
“Those two are a little too much alike.” Cord laughs. “Well, your dad’s been working for the same company since he was released from prison. It’s a printing company and he’s worked his way up through the company. He’s now the manager and people seem to love him.”
“What do you think I should do?”
“Sweetheart, I think you need to do whatever you think is best.” He kisses my forehead and slips his hand under the hem of my shirt so he can rub my back.
“No. Cord. Seriously.” I push away from him and straddle his waist so he’s forced to look at me.
“What?” His easy smile is gone and there’s a pinch in his brows.
“What do you think I should do? What would you do if you were in my shoes?”
“But I'm not in your shoes, babe. I didn’t live through the things you did. I can't say what I’d do.”
I nod my head, but I know exactly what Cord would do. It’s in his nature to be kind and give people a second chance.
“No, you’d hear him out. I know you would. You’d let him come over and give him a chance,” I say softly, dropping my gaze to his chest.
“Yeah, I probably would. But that doesn’t mean you need to.” Cord places his knuckles under my chin and slowly raises it until I'm forced to meet his gaze. “No matter what you do, I’ll support your decision and make sure everyone else respects it too.”
“Will you be there if I meet with him?”
“Of course.” He presses a soft kiss to my lips. “I’ll always be there when you need me, all you have to do is ask.”
“Thank you.”
“Do you want to call him or do you want me to?” He brushes a strand of hair behind my ear before cupping my cheek.
“Could you call him?”
“Of course. But for now, how about we go up to bed and relax.”
