Page 40 of York

“Oh, right. Well, I always lock the doors. And windows, even though no one can scale them.”

“Babe, come on. You know I want to talk about the bruises. About Denali seeing a man hurt you.”

“Oh,” she said, exhaling hard. “That.”

“Yeah, that.”

“I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that. I mean, that was why I’d recommended the zoo in the first place. I thought we might be able to talk a little bit.”

“She’s got a sense for when you’re trying to talk and interrupting it,” I said.

“Honestly, she’s not usually like that. She has this innate ability to know when I need to have an adult conversation and just… occupy herself while I do that. I think it says a lot about how comfortable she already is with you that she constantly wants to talk to you.”

“That’s good to hear.”

“I always hoped she would have a good father figure in her life. I’d like to think I’m more than enough. God knows I have loved her enough for two parents. But I have been painfully aware of the fact that I am single, that I don’t have any close family, that if anything happened to me, she might end up in the system. I couldn’t stand that thought.”

“So, you are single.”

“Yeah. I mean, I’ve been single since I found out I was pregnant. That hardly felt like the time to get into some kind of relationship. And I never wanted to be someone who had a revolving door of men in and out of my kid’s life. Though, I guess I gave her a completely different kind of instability.”

“Moving around a lot,” I said.

“Yes, that. And financial instability.”

“Hey, I don’t know everything about your life, but I do know that you have shoes that are nearly worn through the soles, but Denali has an entire wardrobe of princess dresses, with matching shoes, jewelry, and tiaras. You might have had times where you wished you could give her more, but from where I’m standing, she hasn’t wanted for anything.”

“It’s not things she’s needed, per se. But I couldn’t take her out to eat, to the zoo, the arcade, the movies…”

“She’s young, Runa. There is plenty of time for her to have all the experiences you want to give her.”

“Yeah, that’s what I keep telling myself.”

“Can we circle back, though?” I asked.

“To the moving around.”

“I have a feeling you didn’t exactly do that willingly.”

“Not at all,” she agreed, sighing.

“Talk to me. I can’t protect you two if I don’t know what’s going on.”

“That’s the problem, though.”

“What is?”

“I don’t know what the hell is going on, either.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Runa

I told him about the men, about the shadows, about having a tail when I went places, about moving and hoping it might end things, that I’d just gotten the attention of the wrong men and needed to get away from them.

York was relaxed through all of that, getting the same false sense of security I had at the time.

But I watched him tense muscle by muscle as I told him about the shadows following me, about the break-ins, and the poisoned iced tea.