Family Bonds- Ava and Seth (Amore Island Book 5), Natalie Ann [world of reading TXT] 📗

else tonight,” Mac said. “And if you want to come back here, and I’m sure you do, then you need security.”

Her shoulders slumped. “Great. Just great. There won’t be any hiding this from anyone.”

“Don’t even think of trying to do that either,” Mac said.

24

More Important Things

“You’re staying with me tonight.”

“No,” she said to Seth.

He ran his hand through his hair. “Yes,” he said.

Ava had called him last night when she’d gotten out of work and told him what happened when she’d gotten home on Sunday, and that she’d spent the night at her brother’s house and was there when she was calling him. Today she got out of work early to take care of a few things and asked if they could meet for a late lunch with the two of them sitting in a restaurant now.

“I’m not putting you or Adele at risk. It’s the same reason I’m staying with my brothers because my parents are in Boston while my father is working for a few days there. No one wanted me by myself at my parents’ house even though that is what I preferred.”

“I don’t want you back at your place at all,” he said firmly. He’d hardly been one to get angry over much in life. When Ellen died and his world changed, he was just...there. Anger came a year later and didn’t last long. He had more important things to focus on and did so.

But for some reason he was ready to get up and start pacing in the restaurant around their table. It wasn’t even worth saying how annoyed he was she didn’t call him on Sunday night when this all happened. If he’d learned once, he’d learned many times, you can’t go back in the past to change a damn thing.

“Don’t be crazy. Griffin is putting in a high tech security system and Drew is paying for it since it’s his house. I argued he didn’t have to but of course this news went through the family fast enough. Mac told Sidney, Sidney told Amanda and, well, there is no hiding anything even though this didn’t go on public record.”

“When will it be installed?” Seth asked.

“By the end of this week. Some of it had to be ordered and then Griffin has another job. It’s not like he can stop what he’s doing to deal with my issue. He said by Friday it will be in. Drew will let him in the house while I’m working and when I get home he’ll show me how to use it before he goes back to the casino.”

He sighed, still not happy. “There is a security system at my house,” he argued. “Do your brothers have one?”

“I didn’t know there was one at your place,” she said.

“It’s the bank’s house. They’ve always had one. I’m surprised Mac didn’t tell you that since it’s monitored by the police.”

“But you’re at the north end,” she said. “Wouldn’t the State Police monitor that?”

He stopped for a second. “No. It’s local, though the State Police might be dispatched as they are closer, but it’s still through Amore Island Police because the bank pays for that service there.”

“I don’t know if Mac is aware you and I are dating,” she said. “It’s not a secret, but I didn’t come out and say it either. Though he does know you and Adele were at the house the other day because he asked who else might have touched things. Doesn’t matter.”

“I still think you should stay with me until the system is set up then,” he argued back.

“No. Adele is in the house. I won’t do anything to put her at risk. Second of all, what would you tell her? She thinks boyfriend and girlfriend means holding hands and kissing. Are you going to have her know I’m in your bed or do I sleep in a spare room? Did you even think of any of this?”

No, he hadn’t. All he cared about was Ava and her safety and the guilt of putting her before his daughter was slamming into him like an elevator plummeting twenty stories with no brakes. “Does it matter?”

“Of course it does. I haven’t even talked to Griffin yet about what he found in the house, which is nothing so far. There were smudges on the door handles and someone was in there. There was no damage or anything missing and if I didn’t have an eagle eye about things I wouldn’t have even known. Guess my OCD about doors came in handy.”

“What is the deal with the doors?” he asked.

“I have no idea. My mother always did that. She said it’s because when she wanted to check in on us as kids she didn’t want to wake us up opening the door since it made a noise. We lived in an older home with lots of creaks and squeaks. She used to shut it enough to not click it so it gave us privacy but didn’t lock us in. Guess it just stuck with me.”

He supposed he understood that. He always had Adele’s door open so he could walk by and see her or check in on her. He kept his own door open so she could get him anytime she wanted. But when he was married, his bedroom was always shut for privacy. Guess he lost all that privacy being a single father and Ava’s words started to sink in.

Where would she sleep? In the spare room? In his bed with the door shut, and how would he explain that to Adele when his door had been open for years? Just too many things going through his head right now to process.

“Hang on,” she said when her phone started to ring. She grabbed it out of her purse and answered. He listened to her talking to someone. He was guessing it was Griffin since she’d said she’d see him on Friday and thanked him again.

“So? Anything?” he asked.

“Griffin was verifying he had everything and would be