The sound of giggles woke me up, but Cori was passed out. I couldn’t blame her. The poor woman had been in full wedding mode for a week straight, worked her job, took kids to school and dance, plus put up with me being sick. She had every right to sleep. I stared at her a few minutes longer before I tucked her in, kissed her shoulder, and went to start breakfast. Mom made coffee, opening the door for Tank to lumber out, quickly handing me a cup.

I kissed her head, grabbed a mug, and moved to the fridge. “I proposed to Cori last night.” Mom’s blue eyes shot to me from where they lingered on the patio. “I want them to move in. Soon.” I should have discussed it with Mom before making those decisions. Yes, it was my house, but it was her home too. It had plenty of space to grow and still have privacy, but I hated springing it on her.

“You’re getting married?” I cracked an egg to add to my batter.

“Yeah.”

“Is her ex still a problem? I don’t want any trouble for you and Celia. I don’t want trouble for Cori and Axel, either, but Celia’s been through enough.” Mom rested a hand on my arm. “That doesn’t matter, does it? You, Cori and those girls belong together. This is wonderful.” When I looked at her from the pancakes, I knew she meant it. Mom loved Cori and Axel just as much as I did.

“We haven’t heard from him in weeks, maybe he got the point. Maybe he’s off getting high again. I don’t care. He lost his shot. If it were my choice, his rights would be terminated and the guy would fall off the planet.” The thunder of little princess feet stopped our conversation. If it were up to me, Ax would be mine too.

“I’m so happy for you, Griff. You two need each other.” Mom greeted the girls on the stairs right as I plated our pancakes and I knew Cori wouldn’t be resting much longer. Celia and Ax couldn’t be quiet if they were paid to, but Mom shooed them to the dining room while I poured milk to go with the pancakes.

Cori appeared midway through breakfast, kissing both girls on the head then poured a cup of coffee. I nearly jumped out of my chair to get to her and pressed into her back. “Good morning.” I kissed my way from her ear to her shoulder.

“Morning.” Cori sipped her coffee. “We need to talk.” I kissed the top of her head and nodded for her to go on. A distinct dread settled in my gut. “Are you sure about this? Ax and I are a lot to handle, Griff. I don’t want you to make this decision without any thought.”

“Cori, I have thought of this for weeks. I love you and Ax. I need you here.” Her head fell back on my shoulder. “You just tell me what to do and when to be there. But you have a month to pick a date.” I kissed her head again then went back to refill milk glasses. Cori mumbled something about me being an animal and came in to sit with us for breakfast.

* * *

A week after my demand for marriage, Cori was helping Jovie move some things around at The Dog House while I was helping the movers load her big furniture into a truck. We didn’t need any of it, but Cori insisted that she wouldn’t feel like my house was her home unless her things were in it too. So, I supervised while Kurtis and a few other men loaded the truck. My personal trainer part-timing at a moving company made my life so easy. All of her clothes were packed, and Axel’s toys.

Everything was nearly loaded and I was packing dishes delicately into boxes when the phone rang. I swiped the screen without looking. “Yeah.”

“Griffin?” Mom’s voice came through the line, shaky and weak. I waved at Kurt and tossed him the keys, pointing at my Jeep.

“What’s wrong?” I cranked the key in the ignition and floored it. My girls were with her.

“A man just came, he tried to pick up Axel. I told him she wasn’t here and he tried to come in, Griff. They were coloring downstairs. I think the man was on drugs. The police are here now. Tank growled at him and he left, saying he would take care of her mother and get his baby. Where is Cori?” My knuckles turned white on the steering wheel and I changed directions. Mom had the police, the girls hadn’t even seen Richard, but my woman was alone with Jovie.

“I’m going to The Dog House. You talk to the cops, tell them everything, and I’ll be there in a bit. Kurt will be there with some furniture later. If they leave or Rich comes back, lock you and the girls in the basement.” Mom agreed and I skidded on to Broadway, running the red light. A horn honked and I got the finger from an old lady, but my foot wasn’t coming off the gas until I knew she was safe, until I had her against me. I didn’t go my whole life alone so Cori could be taken by some psycho. I squealed to a stop in The Dog House parking lot at the same time as Ewan’s car and a police cruiser. My stomach bottomed out and I tore up the ramp in time to run in behind Ewan. Jovie dove into his arms, red faced, screaming at someone on the phone.

“Cori!” I shouted, vaulting over the gate, and nearly tripping over Ewan’s dog. Her whiskey eyes met mine, and I could breathe. She was sitting on her grooming table, folded in on herself, knees tucked to her chest. I grabbed for her, but she swatted my hand. I growled like a damn animal, catching her wrist on the next swing. As soon as my fingers circled her arm, she melted and I caught her. The blood speckling the floor brought a whole new wave of panic, and I started searching her for the source. If the bastard hurt her, I would fucking kill him.

“It’s not hers.” Jovie wiped her face, pushing Ewan off her. “Rich came in, swearing he was going to kill her and get Axel.” Jovie had a bruise on her cheek that Ewan kept touching. “He cornered her while I was in the back. Cori hit him with a chair, but he acted like it was nothing.” The officer was taking notes and Jovie finally relented to letting Ewan hold her, taking a deep breath.

“Jovie hit Rich with my clippers, in the head.” Cori took a ragged breath against my chest. “I need a new pair.” I looked at the black grooming clippers in the floor in at least six pieces. “I hadn’t taken the blade off so they cut his face. When she mentioned the cops and threatened him with the scissors, he ran back to his car and drove off.”

I kept Cori close to me while she went over the restraining order with the officer, explaining the whole bullshit story with more calm than I had. He attacked my woman, endangered my figurative little sister, threatened my mother and my girls. If I ever got my hands on Richard Sharpe, Jovie’s attack on him would look like a fucking dream. The officer’s radio went off, and he adjusted the volume to listen to Cori, but she had stopped just as she was describing the car he drove. The officer glanced from his pad to the radio and immediately turned the radio back up.

“Plate number 6-3-alpha-8-beta-delta,” the crackled voice came through, “Black Grand AM, one male driver, no seen passengers. Witness stated it accelerated before hitting the partition and going over into the water.” Cori sagged against me and Jovie covered her mouth, hiding a gasp.

“What is going on?” Ewan cut in.

“He drove off the bridge,” Cori was whispering, clutching my shirt like I might let her fall. I tightened my grip. The officer finished writing, promising to stay in touch with Cori, but she didn’t acknowledge. She only stared at the door and out onto Broadway.

“You didn’t do this, Cori.” Jovie reached over, touching Cori’s arm, and squeezed lightly. “Rich was never stable, and he was high, Cori. You had no control over his actions, none.” Jovie kept talking, but Cori was zoned out. A sense of relief filled me but was dampened by Cori’s reaction. Rich would never come after anything of mine again. My woman would never have to be afraid again, but was acting like she lost someone she cared about.

“We should go check on the girls.” Ewan patted my back as I led Cori to the car and Jovie told me to call her later. The drive home was silent with Cori leaning against the door, not watching anything, not hearing anything.

“What am I going to tell Ax? She’s going to ask about him. It’s bound to happen. The kid can’t take anything at face value so I’ll have to tell her. I’ll have to look at my baby and tell her that her drug-addict father attacked me then drove his car into the Tennessee River.” She finally looked at me as the first tear ran down her face; I caught it with my thumb. I knew saying what I wanted was a bad idea, so I kept my mouth closed and nodded. I wanted to tell her that the fucker didn’t matter, because I already decided Ax was mine too. He didn’t deserve her little girl, but neither did I. I didn’t deserve either one of them, but I was a selfish bastard. I wanted to tell Cori that she never had to worry about him again, and wanted her to let it all go, but Cori felt everything, every loss, and my opinion didn’t matter, not at all.

I got Cori out of the car just as Kurtis and his moving truck pulled in. Once she was inside and in bed, the girls stood on the porch with Mom, completely unaware of what happened. Someday when Axel did find out about her father, Celia would be there for her, helping her through it just like Ax helped Celia come out of her shell.