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The woman responsible for Delilah ending up in Brielle’s care as a baby, the woman responsible for abandoning her, the woman responsible for attempting to take down her own sister… was still alive.
“I know she was! Whatever the hell happened, it did not go as fucking planned. And better yet, Delilah’s birth father is still out there,” Calvin muttered, finally finding what he was looking for in the drawer.
Andrew watched as he powered on the phone and dialed a number he seemed to know by memory, belonging to the person who was responsible for this entire thing.
Taking his earphones out of his ear, Eugene looked over to his wife, who was holding their daughter. Dropping the barbell, he watched her enter the gym with a smile.
“Someone came to me and told me to tell Daddy to stop working out because he’s always sweaty and stinky and doesn’t want to go to her tea party.”
Eugene chuckled, and the little girl gave him a shy smile as he watched her.
“Is that right, Princess Melanie?” he asked, and she shrugged. Eugene grabbed her from Juliet, and the little girl made a funny face of disgust as she tried to dodge his sweaty kisses.
“EW, EW! Daddy’s sticky and sweaty!!” Melanie exclaimed, trying to push him away, and he chuckled, placing her on his lap.
“Okay, okay, I’ll stop. Now, Daddy may need to go shower before he joins your tea party. Nobody wants a sweaty king.”
Melanie nodded and hopped off of his lap. “Except right now, Daddy, you don’t look one.”
“Hey, little girl, that’s no way to talk to the king.” He faked his anger, but she shook her head.
“But you’re not the king right now. You’re a sweaty jester,” she said and skipped away as Eugene watched.
“Ouch. That wasn’t very princess-like.”
Juliet chuckled, and he brought her over to sit on his lap.
“You know she, Benjamin, and Reginald have been planning a tea party with Brielle’s twins. I even got word that the royal Blaine will also grace us with his presence and his royal family,” his wife continued, and he shook his head with a sigh.
“Oh, God.”
Juliet wiped the hair from his face. “I promise it won’t be as bad as you think… Brielle’s excited for it… She has also been telling me that she misses seeing you more often. Says she wants us to join their events and be more involved.”
“I don’t want you or Melanie anywhere near Killian’s business, or anyone else for that matter. I know she’s my sister, and I should do things with her and her family, but I would much rather spend my time with my girls and not worry about the drama.”
Juliet nodded, and Eugene laid his head on her shoulder.
Getting his sister back into his life after being away in the army was a blessing, but over the years, he had to focus on himself. He had to get back into the right state of mind for Juliet and for their daughter Melanie. He knew Brielle wanted to build their relationship, but he felt he wasn’t ready to face her at times.
“Are you all right?” Juliet asked, and he sighed heavily but nodded. “Do you still see him?” she asked, referring to his friend that he’d accidentally killed in the army.
Eugene didn’t say anything as she already knew the answer. His comrade’s death was almost his blessing, allowing him to fake his own death and run from the war.
One of the many downsides to it was the PTSD that led to visual and auditory hallucinations of the dead man, taking the metaphor of the memory of the fallen soldier living on to an extreme.
Juliet caressed his face in her hand, and they stayed in comfortable silence.
Then, as if in another nightmare, the sound of a faint ringtone came from their room, and Eugene’s heart sank. Thinking it was all in his mind, he said nothing.
“I think your phone is ringing, honey—” Juliet began, and he had already stood up and placed her on her feet softly.
He ran for the bedroom, and once he entered his closet, he put his finger on the scanner and opened the safe. He pushed away the multiple pistols and essential documents to find the source of the noise.
Pulling out the phone, his heart was beating out of his chest as he read the caller ID, and the phone went to voicemail.
Juliet came by the doorway to his walk-in closet and saw him in the place she was most frightened by in the house. She could see the silhouettes of the guns in the safe.
Eugene stood to stare at the phone in deep thought.
