Page 9 of Savage Elites

“They’re both fine.”

“Of course, the baby!” I shook my head. A combination of my sore shoulder and blinding headaches had caused me to forget. “Boy or girl?”

“Girl.” He gave me a warm smile. “We’re calling her Holly.”

“Daddy!” Peter galloped into the kitchen. “Ashley’s here!”

“She knows,” I whispered.

His brows drew together. “About?”

“Why Mom and Dad were out that night.”

Uncle Trevor’s face slackened. “Oh.” He picked up the cereal bowls and walked across the little kitchen. At the door, he glanced over his shoulder and said, “Well, maybe knowing the consequences of her actions might be the catalyst for change she needs.”

I grimaced. He was right about the knowledge being a catalyst, but I wasn’t sure it would be for the better.

Chapter 3

A few days later, Uncle Trevor left to visit Aunt Hortense in the hospital, and I watched over my little cousins. Someone else knocked on the door, and my insides went stiff.

If this was Ashley, demanding answers I couldn’t give her, answers I wanted for myself, I wasn’t sure how I would react. She acted as though I’d just blurted out how Mom and Dad had died as a weapon to hurt her but had refused to tell me what she had said or done for me on that Monday to tell her the truth.

“There’s somebody at the door!” shouted Peter.

Stevie raced out of the living room. “Answer, answer!”

“Mummy!” Anne jumped up and down.

I pushed myself off the sofa, ambled to the door, and cracked it open. Leopold stood in the front, and Sebastian hung back several steps.

A jolt of happiness warmed my heart. “What are you two doing here?”

“There was no answer at your house, so someone hacked into Mrs. Benazir’s computer and told us where to find you.”

“Prakash, right?” I glanced up and down the hallway for signs of him, but he wasn’t there.

“A gentleman never hacks and tells. Leopold inclined his head. May we come in?”

I stepped aside and let them both in. Leopold’s fresh, summer scent filled my nostrils, and Sebastian’s masculine, cedar scent filled my heart. While Leopold gave my hand a little squeeze as he passed, Sebastian dipped his head as though in deep contemplation.

Peter, Stevie, and Anne stared at the pair in open-mouthed shock. A smile curled my lips. Even in their winter coats, the pair looked like fairytale princes.

I made the introductions and offered them seats on the sofa, while my cousins huddled together on my lap.

Sebastian swallowed. “Have your memories returned?”

A lump formed in my throat. “I can’t recall anything after you brought me back from the hideout.”

Leopold leaned forward. “What have the doctors said?”

I gave them a summary and explained that my memories might return in time. Something about that made Sebastian relax, but Leopold scowled. I suppose it was because Leopold seemed to be the most impatient of the pair.

Rubbing the back of my neck, I told them everything I could remember. While I struggled with the children squirming on my lap, Sebastian bowed his head. My insides clenched with apprehension. What was wrong with him?

Leopold turned to Sebastian. “Maybe you should tell her.”

He said, “You came to us that night, bleeding from a head wound.”