Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 69511 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 348(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69511 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 348(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
My mouth fell open. “What a bitch!”
“She was,” Garrett said. I whirled around to find Garrett standing behind me. “Still haven’t forgiven her.”
“I don’t blame you,” I admitted. “How are you?”
“I’m fine,” he shrugged, his fingers going to the scar on his face. “I just got back. Tyrone filled you in?”
“He did,” Gable said as he watched his twin carefully. “What’s the next step?”
“Keep on livin’, man.” He walked to the fridge and pulled out three bottles of beer.
Even though I wasn’t the hugest fan of beer, I took one anyway.
When I couldn’t twist the top off, I walked over to Gable to hand it to him. He easily twisted it off and handed it back to me.
“You movin’ in?” Garrett asked curiously.
“I’m…”
“Yes,” Gable answered, his eyes straying to mine. “Even though she hasn’t realized it yet.”
I scrunched my nose up at him. “I feel like that might be a conversation we need to have first before making any declarations.”
My computer pinged, and I twisted to look at it.
“One second,” I said, hurrying toward it.
“What is it?” Garrett and Gable asked at the same time.
“That’s the notification I get when there’s been a match with someone on the app I created,” I replied excitedly.
Both men moved to where they could see over my shoulder.
I started typing away at my computer and sat back when the matches started to pull up.
“Whoa,” Gable said. “Isn’t that the little girl who went missing when we were kids? She’s what, sixteen now?”
“Sixteen and just did an Ancestry Zero DNA kit,” I replied excitedly. “I’ve had two come back for this same reason!”
“Wouldn’t the cops have this, too?” Garrett wondered.
“Actually, no,” I said. “This is a voluntary DNA database, and they have to agree to give their DNA to a third party, which is me.”
“Why would they choose to do that?” Gable asked.
“Because they feel the need to get an Ancestry Zero DNA kit because they feel like they don’t fit in with their current family.” I shrugged. “There’s a lot of reasons.”
Over the next thirty minutes, I fed information to the local cops in Cincinnati, Ohio.
They sounded stunned themselves and started working on their end with all of my information.
When I pulled back from my laptop, both men were watching me with curiosity.
“That’s a really cool app,” Gable said once he saw I’d given him my attention.
“I know,” I beamed. “I’m glad Maven urged me to set it up. Even though I’d already partially had it in the works. I might not have ever put it out there if it wasn’t for her urging.”
“You just changed someone’s life,” Garrett pointed out. “You should be really proud.”
That night, when I went to bed, I thought about their words.
I should be really proud.
And I had my dad to thank for my perseverance.
If I could only find my sister…
Later that night, as I lay in bed in Gable’s arms, I couldn’t help but think about how happy I was.
“Do you ever think you shouldn’t be happy?” I asked into the dark.
Gable had just come to bed after getting a shower.
His damp hair was against my skin as he lay with his head resting on my chest.
I was running my fingers through the damp locks and idly wondering if I deserved to be happy when it was possible that Mary Beth was out there struggling to live.
Was she happy?
Was she okay?
Did she suffer?
Was she even alive?
All of those questions raced through me all day, every day.
And now, with my heart protected by Gable, I wondered if I should be allowed to be happy. If, by being happy, I was somehow betraying my sister who couldn’t be.
His large palm came up, starting at my hip and ending at my rib cage. When he got to my lower ribs, he squeezed.
“Baby,” he said quietly into the dark. “Everyone deserves to be happy. I think at this point, your sister wouldn’t want you beating yourself up over being at peace yourself. Would she?”
“No,” I admitted. “She would be so mad at me for being like this. I just feel so guilty.”
“You’ll find her,” he whispered. “One day, you’ll find her.”
Tears once again pricked my eyes.
I was so freakin’ tired of crying.
He moved when my breath hitched, his body coming up to cover mine.
I widened my legs when his hips came into contact with my pubic bone, allowing them to fall between mine.
His hands came up to frame my face and he said, “Athena Grace Murphy, you deserve to be happy. You deserve to be loved. You deserve more than me, but you’ll never get the chance to find anyone better, because I’ll never let you go.”
My heart started to pound. “Yeah?”
“Yeah,” he said before pressing his lips to mine. “You’re my good girl forever.”
“Forever?” I breathed against his lips.
He wound both arms around my body and pulled me in tight, burying his face in my neck for a few seconds before murmuring, “One day, I’ll ask you to marry me. And when I do, you’re going to say yes, because you love me. Don’t overthink it. Don’t wonder what if. Be selfish for once and choose you. Choose me.”