For hours, I watched Theo interrogate Forrest. Theo delved punch after punch like it was nothing for a man his age, it was impressive. Forrest, however, took it like the boss that he is. But in the end, he was telling the truth. He claimed that Judith asked and paid for his guys to threaten Murphy to leave town, but when he found out it was Cherry’s daughter, he pulled back. He said he would never do anything to hurt Cherry or her daughter. When asked about my mom, he said he thought he was doing her a favor, too, by helping get rid of the girl. He also said he has no idea who is doing the threats now. He guarantees it’s not him or any of his men.

We finally let him go on good terms. He understood what Theo did had to be done and appreciated that he did it and not me. He said it would have been disrespectful to let me do the interrogation. Everything in our world goes by a code of honor and order. Now, if my mother would have ordered me to do it, then he would have accepted it, but he’s glad it was Theo.

We leave in separate vehicles. I decide to go to Mom’s house and see all the action instead of being told about it later. I also message Gabriel, Liam, and Vin to make sure they’re all there. Liam can’t wait; he says it’s going to be interesting. Gabriel is a little apprehensive, and Vin never replies.

I help with Theo’s luggage once we get to the house. We open the door, laughing about the night. Then we see everyone in the living room. Mom looks shocked at first then gets pissed. I knew my brothers wouldn’t tell her anything.  

“Theo, what the hell are you doing here?”

“I am coming home. Isn’t it obvious? Oh wait, Zander, grab my suitcases, I had enough of a workout tonight.” He starts rubbing his shoulder and arm trying to act like he’s sore.

“Zander, don’t you dare bring that man’s suitcases in this house. Theo, you are not welcome here!”

I look at both of them as if I’m watching a tennis match. Fuck, what do I do? I decide to hell with it; I’m going to leave them where they are and take a seat. If he pulls this shit off, then I’ll move them in.

“Hello, Mom.” I kiss her cheek when I walk by to get to the sofa.

“Woman, I am telling you I’m moving in, and neither you nor your boys are going to stop me.”

Liam sits down with a big smile on his face, and Vin shakes his head. Gabriel jumps into the argument.

“Theo, what is this all about? Don’t you think you’ve put my mother through enough already?”

“Boy, you have no idea what you’re talking about. I don’t want to fight with any of you, but I will if you give me no choice.”

“I don’t want to fight you either, Theo, but if my mother wants you out, then I’ll get you out.”

“You can try, Gabriel. You all can.”

Gabriel nods and backs up to sit by Fallon. Both girls have now joined the show.

Theo addresses my mom. “Katie, there is no reason we have to be apart anymore. They all know, and Zander and I have talked. It’s a good start, baby.”

“I warned you, Theo, not to cross me. But you went ahead and told them. You didn’t care what I wanted.”

Theo starts walking towards Mom. He’s the one pissed now. She backs up with every step he takes. It puts us all on guard. I don’t care who he is; if he touches my mom, we will all go after him. But it’s Fallon who grabs Gabriel and warns all of us to stay out of it. We nod to her, we’ll just watch the show for now. Seeing her backing up, though, is something none of us has ever seen her do. It’s like she’s cowering to him, which has me very interested in what he’s doing.

“You warned me, Catherine? You say I don’t care about your feelings. I’ve let you control this whole relationship for way too long. I gave you the years you asked for, but not anymore, do you hear me, Katie?”

“Theo, don’t you Katie me!”

“You left me no option. Now shut your mouth, we’ll get back to us in a minute. I need to address the boys.”

The unbelievable happens: Mom shuts her mouth. She’s fuming, you can see the steam coming off her, but her mouth stays closed. What the hell?

He turns to all of us and says, “Now, I am here to stay. I have loved your mother almost my whole life, but I let her run the show. Not anymore. I want you all to know I would never physically hurt her, I’m not anything like William. You’re all grown men now. So, I’ll ask for your blessings, but if I don’t get it, I’m still here to stay. Do any of you have any questions?”

Mom goes to say something, but Theo holds up a finger and stares her way, making her freeze where she stands. Liam lets out a laugh but quickly recovers when he sees Mom’s face staring daggers his way.

Gabriel asks, “Did you know about my dad?”

Theo begins to tell them all the same story he told me. Afterwards, they look satisfied.

Then Gabriel asks about his wife and marriage.

Theo answers, “My wife knew about your mother from day one. She also knew about Zander when I found out. In our line of work, the older people in charge at the time demanded that I get married, they had their minds set on me marrying my wife. Beth was a fine woman, she was the daughter of another boss. Your mother and I hadn’t spoken in over a year. So, one day I called Katie and told her what they wanted me to do. She told me to marry her. Then she hung up. Remember that, Katie?”

Mom looks down at the floor, staying silent.

Theo goes on. “I loved my wife like a husband should, but I didn’t love her like a man should. If you can understand that. I got married, and we had Teddy. I never strayed until your mother called me. Beth accepted our relationship for what it was, and yes, I remained her husband and performed my husbandly duties until the day she died. I owed her the small amount of love I could give her.”

Liam jumps in and asks, “Are you my father, too? Any of ours?”

“I wish I were, boys. I would take each one of you as my sons.” He looks directly at Liam and asks, “Do you know, Liam, that when you were born, I was the first person to hold you?”

Mom shouts, “Enough, damn you!”

Dad turns to her; yes, I just thought of him as dad.

“Enough, Katie? You’re right, it’s enough.”

“Theo, don’t pull that Katie bullshit. Not in front of my sons.”

“But you are my Katie, and it’s time they all knew that.”

He walks up to Mom and throws her over his shoulder, then turns to us and says, “Boys, do any of you have a problem with me?”

We all shake our head no at him, and he says, “Good, now boys, grab my bags; things are about to change. If you will excuse us, we have some talking to do.”

He starts to walk off with Mom over his shoulder, kicking and screaming. Then he stops and says, “Boys, leave the bags in the foyer. You don’t want to hear your mother.”

Then he walks down the hall, knowing exactly where he’s going.

Avery jumps up first and says, “How romantic.” Fallon agrees, then Liam stands up and says, “Romantic, huh?” Then he throws Avery over his shoulder and yells goodnight.

Gabriel helps me bring all Theo’s luggage into the house and then takes Fallon upstairs.

Vin rushed out of here as soon as Theo dragged Mom out of here. So, here I stand by myself in a big, open room. It makes me think of Murphy and how I wish she were here. Then it hits me, Theo’s right, I need to tame my redhead. She might not want to see me right now, and I will honor that until I find who’s after her, but she will have to accept my men protecting her until I see her again. I call my guys and make arrangements for Murphy to have two of my best men with her constantly. Now to find out what’s going on.