I mean, I could. I have no problem lying when it suits me.
But lying straight to McKay felt like crossing a line.
I’m gonna be clear about this right now. I love Core McKay. My father didn’t need to lecture me on how much I owe McKay. He’s mine. Just like Indie is mine, just like Maggie is mine.
There is no future without McKay in it.
I didn’t want to lie to him. But I didn’t want to give him the whole truth in case Carter was tracking his phone. So I just told him it was over and tossed my burner just to be sure.
McKay doesn’t need a phone to find me. We are connected. If he wanted to find me, all he had to do was look a little harder.
And he didn’t.
So I didn’t call him again for almost two years. By that time, Maggie and I were settled in. I wasn’t going back until Carter made his next move.
I knew one day Indie would turn up. Carter is after me. I’m the one who ruined his life. I’m the one who fucked it all up when I helped James and Sasha take down the Company in Santa Barbara. I’m the one who took him away from Donovan.
But I am not an easy man to kill.
And if he can’t kill me, well, then he’ll just take my life. He’ll take my power, he’ll take my McKay, and my Indie, and my Maggie, and… well, I don’t know about Donovan. I have no idea how he feels about Donovan these days.
When Maggie was released from the hospital, I took her to my home in Baton Rouge. It wasn’t a great plan. Hell, I actually expected McKay to come looking for me. I figured… a week, tops, and he’d find us. And we’d figure shit out from there.
But McKay never came. And Donovan never came. And Indie never came. And Carter never came.
So hell, Maggie and I, we took off. There is only one way to escape the attention of Company assassins and that’s by boat. Yachts have always been the Company’s way of secretly getting from place to place. The ocean is deep, the world is wide, and there are plenty of places to get lost.
We got lost in many different parts of the ocean. We got lost on rivers too.
But I have eight-hundred leftovers doing my bidding. So I had twice as many eyes on McKay this whole time. I knew Indie popped back up almost two weeks ago. So Maggie and I flew home to Louisiana to wait and see.
Probably should’ve kept some of those eyes on Donovan as well, seeing as how Indie showed up at his place first. But it would’ve done us no good. She was still under Carter’s control back then. That visit was probably part of his plan.
I’m playing a long game of my own. One so twisted and perfect, the Admiral would shake my hand back.
That’s what really happened. And that’s why I did it.
But here’s the thing I don’t understand. Why did McKay do what he did with Nathan?
He knows I know.
Because he shut up real fast when I brought Maggie back to Old Home and neither of us has said a word about it since.
I want to tell him, It’s gonna come back to bite you, McKay. Right in your do-gooder ass. You watch.
But fuck it.
That’s his problem now.
And besides, today is Maggie’s birthday. So it’s not a time to bring up secrets.
Everything is back the way it’s supposed to be. Hell, better than I could’ve ever hoped.
Donovan stayed for two whole weeks after I brought Maggie to Old Home. Then he left, packed up his shit in LA, and came home for good.
McKay backed off Indie. Told us all that we’re in a complicated relationship and we all have to consider the consequences before we go upsetting the balance.
I can’t argue with that. But… the sexual tension around here… it’s palpable. So some kind of arrangement needs to happen soon.
I ache for that girl.
No, that woman. Because that’s what she is now.
But I ache for McKay too. And Donovan… whatever. I don’t mind him being around. It’s all pretty exciting. Things are about to get interesting.
Indie seems… fine. And while fine isn’t wonderful, or amazing, or hell, even half as good as great. Fine is not bad all things considering. She and Maggie have been inseparable. I wish I could give back the years she missed but I can’t. And I’m not sorry about that. If I had not kept my secret then we might all be dead.
Maggie—like me, like Indie—won’t be going to regular school. I tutored her for the last three years, but it’s summer now, so we can just think about tutors again in the fall.
Maybe Donovan will be her tutor? That asshole has more education than any one person should. But we’ll see. Because Donovan still hasn’t come clean about Carter. I need him to come clean with me about all that shit if he wants to stick around.
But the Indie problem—AKA the Carter problem—hasn’t gone away. It’s just on hold for now. Indie goes nowhere by herself. She doesn’t even sleep by herself. We gave Maggie Indie’s old room and now Indie sleeps with one of us. And we always have someone on watch.
If Carter ever shows up here, he’s in for a surprise.
It took me a long fucking time to get to this place.
To get McKay thinking about what comes next between us. To get Indie calm enough to trust her. To get Donovan to think about switching his loyalties.
It was a twisted road of fucked up shit.
But you know what?
I’d do it all again.
We’re in the pavilion right now getting ready to start Maggie’s sixth birthday celebration. We have the lanterns and candle boats all ready for when the sun finally goes down. But we’re gonna do cake and presents first.
She has a pretty new dress, just like her mama.
And McKay, Donovan, and I are all dressed up in summer suits.
Maggie is sitting on Indie’s swing surrounded by presents and birthday cards. Donovan is pushing it, making her giggle and smile as he jokes around.
McKay is drinking a bottle of beer, sitting on his swing across from Maggie. Indie is sitting next to him, her head on his shoulder.
I’m in charge of taking pictures.
Yeah. It’s pretty nice.
Maggie is impatient for the presents to start. “Can I open them now, Daddy?”
Yeah. She calls me Daddy. She always has and I’m not gonna tell her she can’t.
As far as I’m concerned, I am her daddy.
“Go ahead, baby. But open the cards first.”
“OK!” She picks up a big pink envelope and starts tearing it open. It takes her a minute to get the card out, and then she holds it up so she can read it.
It’s a cute card with a snake wearing a ballerina tutu on the front. I look over at McKay. “That your card?”
“Nah, not mine.”
“It’s not mine, either.” My head swivels to find Donovan’s face when he says this.
I know Indie didn’t get her that card. We shopped for cards together.
That feeling I get in my stomach when a job goes wrong is back.
And you know what?
I fuckin’ love it.
But I can’t be sure. So I say, “Hold up, baby—”
“Who is Nathan St. James?” Maggie’s face is twisted up in confusion. She probably doesn’t even remember Nathan.
But we do.
McKay is on his feet. But Donovan is closest. “Gimme that, Mags. Right now.” He snatches the card and reads it, then passes it to me.