The words had physically hurt to say, but I’d done it. And so far he’d kept his promise.

Reagan walked in humming.

“You seem happy?” I asked.

She gave me a grin as if I’d spoken the word, “cheese.”

“I am.”

The date she had with Tade had gone well. She’d even gone sailing with him the next day. Things were looking up for her. She strolled off, continuing with her melody.

I looked at the search bar for the millionth time. I hadn’t yet taken Gavin’s advice and reached out to my father. Closing my eyes, I took the plunge and typed in, Weber International Group.

It came right up and I clicked the link. On the about us page, a more recent picture of my father took up half the page. He hadn’t changed much. I could see why Mom had been so attracted to him.

His bio was sparse with details. Outside of his undergraduate degree from Harvard and a master’s at Wharton, I found out very little about the man. He had no social media presence and nowhere was he linked to Alonso Aparicio, the drug lord. I also couldn’t find out if he was married or had other kids. Either he was a ghost or he had people working day and night to keep him out of the public eye. I was betting on the later.

I closed my laptop, unsure how to approach him. There wasn’t an email listed for him. If I called his office, what would I say? Can I speak to Gregor Weber? And when they asked me who I was, the only thing that might get me to him would be to say I was his long-lost daughter. That was if they’d believe me. Gavin was right that springing it on him like that wouldn’t work.

I wanted to talk to Mom. Though she hadn’t told me not to contact him, I didn’t think I could talk to her about it. As it was, I worried day and night about her safety. The case that she couldn’t tell me details about put her life in jeopardy.

Lee had pulled me aside that night after dinner and told me protecting my mom was his number one priority. The fact that I believed him had earned him extra points in my book.

I also hadn’t talked to Reagan about it. How could I? She was so sweet and couldn’t lie to save her ass. If her parents ever asked her who my parents were, she’d cave and tell them. I didn’t want to be the catalyst that sent her mother over the edge and made her pull out of school.

Thus, I was stuck to bear the secret alone. Which brought me back to Gavin. It had been freeing to talk to him about it.

I took a cleansing breath. I had to stop thinking about him.

Not wanting to stay inside another minute, I went for workout clothes. My classes were done for the day, so maybe yoga would help clear my head. I checked my watch. There was a class starting about this time.

I jogged over, not needing any more time in my head.

“Megan.”

Silently, I groaned.

When would he leave me alone?

“Derrick, I’m running late. I don’t have time to talk.”

He snagged my arm. “Please, give me a minute. It’s important.”

I stopped and turned to face him, crossing my arms.

“I think you should be careful.”

What the heck was up with everyone worried for my safety? I held his gaze and said nothing.

“Your boyfriend is bad news,” he added.

I looked up in silent prayer, searching for calm.

“How many times—”

“I know.”

His tempered exasperation gave me pause.

“There’s a girl who knows him,” he said.

Ah yes, probably one of his card-carrying fan club members. As if I would trust something from some girl who probably wanted him, not that I could blame her. I reached for inner strength to not curse like I wanted to. He wasn’t worth it. I got a grip on my emotions before I spoke.

“Why would you be talking about me or him to some girl?”

“It wasn’t like that,” he exclaimed. “We were out and she saw him.”

He paused as if he realized what he just said. It didn’t bother me, but he waited for a reaction. I gave him one.

“Go on.” I spoke evenly.

“She said she went to school with him five years ago.”

Quickly, I did the math. “She’s a freshman?”

“Yeah, so. It’s not like you want me back.”

I gestured with my hand in a rolling motion for him to speed it up.

He sucked in a breath before speaking again. “She said that there were rumors he was with the mob or his family was.”

A giggle burst out of me. “And she lives here—” I pointed to the ground. “—in Maryland?”

“Yes. She doesn’t live far from the school. Why is that funny?”

I couldn’t stop—my eyes were watering. “And you believe that? The mob in nowhere Maryland?” His expression remained steadfast as he nodded. “Look, thanks for the laugh. I needed that. But I have to go.”

He stood stupefied at my continued chortles as I darted into class. Did I think organized crime existed? Yes, my dinner with my mom was proof that really bad people were in the area. But the mob? I highly doubted the “mob” was in Maryland. But something tickled the back of my mind, but I brushed it off. I would deal with that thought later.

That evening Reagan and I were discussing a text message Tade sent her when she got an urgent call from her father. As she hung up, all the color had drained from her face.

I jumped to my feet worried she would pass out. “What’s happened?”

“They’re here.”

I covered a gasp. “Let me help you,” I offered.

Reagan had dyed some of her blonde hair pink. Her mother would so stroke out if she saw it. We worked as quickly as we could to pull it into a bun that hid the offending colors.

“It will be fine,” I said as she left out the door.

Only I felt sick for her. I picked up the phone and called my mother.

“Meggie.”

Though I’d told her not to call me that, the truth was I loved it. Hearing it reminded me of home.

“I’m surprised to hear from you,” she said.

My steps ate up the floor as I paced.

“I just wanted to hear your voice.”

I could almost feel the hug she would have given me if she were here.

“Honey, is everything okay.”

“Are you sure you’re safe? Should you be staying in a hotel or someplace else?”

Her exhale came loud and clear. “I shouldn’t have told you. I don’t want you to worry. This is part of the job. I knew that when I took it. But I believe in our system of justice and I…”

“You trust Lee to keep you safe.”

“Yes. I do.”

I trusted her. She would be honest with me even when she didn’t want to.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure, honey. Anything.”

She probably wouldn’t have said that if she’d known my question.

“Does your case have anything to do with the mob?”

Her quick laugh gave me some relief.

“Do you mean like The Godfather or Scarface mob?”

I’d heard of those movies before, though I hadn’t seen either.

“Yeah.”

“No. I wish I could tell you more. But I can say that organized crime does exist in our state.”

“But not the mob?”

“Not as far as I know. But there are still bad people no matter where you go.”

Though I felt relief, I still had another question.

“What about those two guys? You knew them. Are they from around here?”

She blew out a breath. “We’re crossing tricky ground. But I can say that I was surprised to see them there. Had we been in Baltimore, different story.”

“Okay, thanks.”

That put my mind at ease. But Mom wasn’t stupid.

“What brought on all of these questions?”

“I don’t know. I heard something about the mob. I was sure the person was exaggerating and it sounds like they were. But with everything that happened, I wanted to make sure.”

She wasn’t appeased.

“What exactly did they say?”

There was no reason to hold back.

“She said five years ago when she was in high school, a boy there was rumored to be in the mob.”

Of course I’d heard that third hand, but didn’t think I needed to clarify that. It was a dumb rumor. Mom seemed to think so too.

“Oh, crazy high school theories. I bet the guy in question was dark and mysterious.”

I laughed because he was. “Well, kind of.”

We joked some more and she told me some of the crazy things she thought about classmates when she was in school. By the time we got off the phone, I felt a million times better. Except, I still wasn’t sure about what to do about my father. I opened up the computer and used the bookmark I’d saved to pull up the site. I found myself clicking the careers tab. I searched the available jobs, unsure if I were bold enough to apply.

When the door shut, I found Reagan with her back pressed to the door. I closed my laptop and went to my friend.

“How did it go?” I asked.

Her story had my head spinning. By the time I lay down that night, I’d forgotten about the T-shirt covered pillow I hadn’t yet disrobed. I tossed it on the floor, but immediately picked it up. I laid my head on it and remembered how Gavin’s touch had set my skin on fire. And as I closed my eyes, I promised myself I would remove the shirt and toss it in the trash in the morning. The same thing I vowed every night.

The next morning would be different because I could bet that Gavin wasn’t thinking about me.