Chapter 18

Kin

Dressed in the best outfit I had, a knee-length white dress that hugged my figure but didn’t flaunt it and a pair of strappy silver heels I’d bought with Lucy during all those hours of planning her wedding, I walked into one of the best restaurants in LA with Derrick at my side.

He was in slate-gray dress pants and a soft yellow pastel button-up with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, causing every female eye to turn and eat up the sight of him as he walked past them. I wasn’t unused to having the female population gawk hungrily at the man beside me. It was something that happened daily when I was with Jace. But where, with my ex, I was always consumed by jealousy, with Derrick, I was just oddly amused.

The hostess showed us to a table with a view at the back of the restaurant, overlooking the city below. With the lights starting to come on below us and the sun beginning to set in the distance, it made for a spectacular sight.

One that not every patron in the place was gifted a view of, I noticed. We were in a more secluded part of the restaurant, which was situated on the top floor of one of the posher buildings. The tables were spaced out more, with only three others getting the glorious view below.

I caught my breath at the beauty as Derrick held out my chair and I dropped down, my mind already floating with lyrics to describe this moment in time.

“This is why I bought this building,” he said, and I looked up to find his eyes on my face instead of the breathtaking view.

“You own the whole building?”

He nodded, glancing for a moment out the window before turning his dark gaze back on me. “I’m into real estate, but when I got a look at this view, I knew I wanted this place for myself. So I bought it and rented out the building to a few of my friends for a decent price. Which is good for me because I get to eat at this table anytime the urge strikes me.”

Touched that he was sharing this with me, I reached across the table, touching his hand. “Thank you for bringing me here.” Stupidly, tears stung my eyes, and I hurriedly blinked them away.

He saw them anyway, and his face dropped. “Did I do something wrong?”

I shook my head, swallowing hard. “No. I’m just not used to… Yeah.” Sighing, I picked up my water glass, taking a moment to collect myself before giving him a smile that I hoped rivaled the setting sun. “Thank you.”

He cleared his throat, glancing away for a moment. “They serve some of the best tequila lime chicken here,” he informed me when he finally met my gaze again. “And I have it on good authority that it’s one of your favorites.”

The breath whooshed out of me. “Who told you that?” I half whispered, half shouted. It wasn’t common knowledge that tequila lime chicken was one of my all-time favorites. It was one of my addictions as a child that followed me into adulthood.

His ears turned pink, but he held my gaze. “Scott told me.”

If I’d had a mouthful of water, it would have sprayed all over his face and chest. Nothing he could have said would have ever surprised me more. “My dad knows that about me?”

His eyes turned sad. “It hurts me that you have to question that, sweetheart.”

I glanced down at the table, my mind a whirlwind.

His hand caught mine, turning it over and rubbing little circles on my palm. “He and I sat down over the weekend and talked. I ripped into him about him being a shitty dad, and I told him if he and Shannon ever have kids—Lord help us all if that happens—but if they ever do, I will castrate him if he ever treats the kid like he’s treated you over the years. This was after a few shots, so I was feeling pretty good. But here’s the thing about Scott Montez. He’s a sad-ass drunk.”

The idea of my father having more kids was kind of disturbing. He was in his fifties. Shannon was only a few years older than me, and I figured she deserved to have all the babies she wanted. It was just weird to think the father would be my dad.

“The guy started getting all sappy, telling me about what a good baby you were, and that you never cried much. So sometimes, he would forget all about you.” Derrick grunted. “Which was when I punched him in the arm. Something my sister called to bitch at me about the next day because it left a huge bruise.”

I wrapped my fingers around his, stopping his circle drawing, and squeezed. “I think I just fell a little in love with you.”

He grinned, and I found myself returning it. “My bucket list is complete, then. I got the most beautiful redhead in the world to fall for me. I can die a happy man now.”

A giggle escaped me, and I released his hand.

“After I punched him and he whined like a little bitch, he started telling me all kinds of things about you. Like how you would get pissed at him and take your diaper off and hide it in his dresser. It was always his underwear drawer, and it was always a messy kind of diaper.”

My cheeks flamed as red as my hair, and I covered my face in embarrassment.

He laughed and went on. “Whenever your mom would leave you with him to run errands, you would always hide from him and only come out when he started screaming in panic.”

“I don’t remember any of this,” I mumbled behind my fingers.

“My favorite, though, is how one time your parents were arguing, and you ran straight at him and headbutted him right in the balls. He grabbed himself like he was remembering the pain, or maybe the pain was so bad it still lingered, from the way he described it.”

“He deserved it, I’m sure.”

“Agreed,” he said with a deep, throaty laugh.

A waiter appeared, and since I hadn’t even looked at the menu yet, I just ordered the tequila lime chicken. Derrick ordered the same, along with some wine to pair with our meal. But as soon as the waiter was gone, he was back to telling me more about what my father had drunkenly confessed to him. His face turned serious, though, the amusement fading from his eyes. “Scott told me all about you, things I think surprised even him that he knew about you, Kin.”

“Like?” I got out hoarsely.

“The chicken, for one. The way you always made up songs, for another. You would dance around the house, making up songs so easily he even wrote a few of them down. He says he still has them. He showed me one, actually. It was old and folded up on a piece of notebook paper. I was scared to touch it because it looked like it was falling apart, but he read it to me, and then he started crying.”

A lump filled my throat. “Why are you telling me this, Derrick?”

“Because I’m not sure he ever would have told you any of this himself. Hell, sweetheart, I’m pretty sure he never meant to tell me any of this. But I’m glad he did. It tells me he loves you. Yeah, he seems to have lost his way for a while and I still want to kick his ass for that, but he cares about you, Kin.”

It went against everything I knew about Scott to accept that, but for some reason, what Derrick was telling me was making my heart jump with hope. Maybe my dad did care. Maybe he did love me.

“How do I know you’re telling me the truth?” I demanded, glaring at him. “Maybe you’re just making all of this up in hopes I’ll be the first to mend our fences, or whatever bullshit metaphor you want to use here. You love your sister and want her to be happy. Maybe this is just to trick me into welcoming her with opening arms.”

He sighed heavily. “I get it. You’re stubborn, and you don’t want to believe me. But it’s the truth, honey. And as much as I love my sisters, I wouldn’t hurt you in any way just to make Shannon happy. Because, yeah, I do love them all. They’re crazy, and I wouldn’t change them for anything. But I would kill for my nieces, Kin. And you’re one of them now.”

“Not yet,” I grumbled.

He grinned. “As good as.”

“Whatever.” I leaned my elbows on the table. “I want to see this song.”

“Why would I lie about a song you made up as a kid?”

I shrugged. “Perhaps I don’t think you’re lying about it. Maybe I just want to make sure I’ve got my copyrights taken care of and he can’t profit from it.”

Derrick threw his head back, laughing hard and pulling others’ gazes to him. I leaned back in my chair, smiling a little myself. Begrudgingly, I believed him because I couldn’t figure out what he would have to gain by lying about anything he’d told me regarding my father.

“Are you normally the fixer of all your family members’ problems?” I asked once the wine arrived and was poured.

“Depends on the situation. We tend to take turns a lot. I just got lucky that this particular problem fell—almost literally—into my lap.” He winked, lifting his glass and taking a drink.

“I’ll believe you under one condition.” His brows lifted. “I get to call you Uncle Derrick.”

“No deal.”

I found myself giggling for the second time that evening, and it was my turn to wink. “It was worth a try.”

“It’s official. You are definitely one of my nieces now. You’re acting just like them.” He touched his wineglass to mine. “Welcome to the Stewart family, Kin.”