I dream a lot that night. Of Kayden. Of my past. Of the girl in the photo that Evie showed me. Of a world filled with women who feel shamed into silence. I also dream about Caleb. Normally, when he enters my dreams—or nightmares anyway—I wake up sweaty and terrified. This time, though, when my eyelids open, I’m filled with a sense of contentment. Because I know.

Know what I need to do.

Since it’s his day off, Kayden is still fast asleep when I wake up, even though it’s well past ten. But after the stressful night he had, I’m not surprised.

Wanting to let him rest, I grab my phone, climb out of bed, and slip into the living room. Then I sit down onto the sofa and dial the number Evie gave me last night before I left.

She answers after two rings, “So?”

I smile at her directness. “I’ll do it.”

“I figured you would.”

How she knew is beyond me since I only made up my mind a few minutes ago.

Evie spends the next few minutes giving me a few brief details. But in order to really start the job, I’ll have to go down to the secret office and get the files on the victims. Easton will also be showing me the ropes and helping me while I work this assignment. I hope Kayden is going to be okay with that since I could tell Easton bothered him. Kayden isn’t controlling, though, so I don’t foresee it being a problem. But I also don’t want him burying his feelings away, like he does sometimes. And I need to make sure that while I put almost all of my effort into this job, I’m still here for him, especially with everything going on.

Once I make plans with Evie to go down to the office later tonight, I hang up and head for the kitchen to make Kayden breakfast. I’m not much of a cook, but I can make some pretty okay scrambled eggs. As I’m cracking the eggs apart, my phone rings and Violet flashes across the screen. Strange. She usually texts me instead of calling.

Wiping the yoke off my fingertips, I answer the phone. “Let me guess. Seth is putting up a fuss about having to drive.”

“Actually, I haven’t even got around to calling him.” She blows out a deafening exhale. “I know this is going to make me suck, but I can’t make it today. Do you think you guys would mind going next weekend? I know it’s breaking tradition, but some shit came up and there’s no way in hell I can make it.”

“That’s fine with me. In fact, I’m sort of glad. I’ve got a ton of stuff going on today that I didn’t know about until this morning.” I grab a whisker to beat the eggs. “Is everything okay, though? You sound stressed.”

“I’m fine.” But she sounds hoarse and upset.

“Are you sure?”

“Yep, totally cool. I promise. Luke and I just have some things to take care of today. That’s all.”

I’m nearly positive she’s lying. But since Violet is the sort of person that won’t open up to you until she’s ready, I let the subject drop.

“Well, let me know if you need anything,” I say. “And, if you want, I can call Seth and cancel.”

“God, yes. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I’m so wasn’t up for a bitch fest this morning.”

“No problem.”

We hang up and I go back to cooking my eggs. I can’t help but wonder what’s going on with her. While Violet has been known to occasionally bail out on plans, she rarely sounds upset. Not because she never gets upset. She’s just the sort of person not to show it.

“You’re cooking?” Kayden wanders into the kitchen right as I’m shutting off the stove. His hair is flattened on one side, his eyes are a bit bloodshot, and he’s only wearing a pair of pajama bottoms so I get a full view of his muscular chest. “Man, what’s the occasion?” he teases as he comes up behind me and wraps his arms around my waist.

“Hey, I cook sometimes,” I protest, playfully nudging him in the side.

He kisses the side of my head. “I know. I’m just messing with you.” He nuzzles his face into the crook of my neck. “You really didn’t have to cook for me, baby. I promise I’m okay.”

I relax back against his chest. “I know I didn’t have to, but I wanted to.”

He kisses the side of my neck. “You’re amazing.”

My heart flutters in my chest. It’s crazy how I still react to him this way. Crazy amazing. “You’re amazing too.”

We steal a few more kisses than pile the eggs onto two plates and snuggle up in bed to eat them.

A few bites in, I say, “I called Evie this morning.”

He glances up from his eggs, his expression cautious. “What’d you tell her?”

“That I’d take the job.” I stuff a forkful of eggs into my mouth. “I’m supposed to go down to the office later tonight, but I should be done by the time your game starts. Maybe after that we could go out to dinner or something. Maybe do something relaxing because I have a feeling I’m going to need it big time.”

He nods, absentmindedly stirring his eggs. “That sounds good to me.”

Sensing his sullen demeanor, I set my fork down and climb onto his lap. “Talk to me.”

Sighing, he folds his arms around my waist. “It’s nothing. My head’s just stuck in a weird place.”

“Is about me taking the job?” I hesitate, not wanting to upset him more, but feel like I need to ask. “Or about this dad thing?”

“The dad thing.” His shoulders heave as he exhales loudly. “I’m just not sure if I should call this guy and find out if he was telling the truth. I mean, what if he is and it turns out I have another dad out there in the world, but he’s even worse than the guy who raised me?” He swallows hard. “I don’t think I can take anymore shitty dad’s in my life.”

I take a moment to choose the right words. “I think if you don’t find out the truth, it’s going to eat away at you. But, if it turns out this guy was telling the truth, and you do have a father out there in the world, we don’t have to jump into meeting him right away.” I mold the palm of my hand against his cheek. “We can look into it some more. Do some research. Find out who the guy is and then decide if he deserves to be in your life, okay?”

He nods, holding onto me tightly. “You really are perfect, you know that. And I know I’m a little nervous about this new job, but I have a feeling you’re going to end up writing a fucking amazing story.”

“I sure hope so.” I also hope I can handle what I’m about to do.

What I really hope is that I can do what Evie expects me to do. That I can get the story. Tell the story. Breathe the story. Feel the story.

And somehow get the victims some sort of justice.