Rune The change in Kira’s features was damn near palpable after Isla revealed the truth, a truth that my former friend had evidently been hiding for a very long time. I wasn’t naïve enough to believe whatever relationship she’d had with him was new based on her reaction, but I was determined to learn everything I could about her involvement with my children’s father now that I was in the know. Derek hanging around could jeopardize what I was trying to accomplish with Roman and Isla, and there was no way in hell I was going to let that deadbeat delay my kids having a permanent stable home any longer. After years of back and forth with him stalling through the legal system, less than two weeks were remaining before he finally lost his rights altogether. He’d been nothing but a thorn in my side since Belinda had passed away, naming me as the children’s guardian, but I knew he didn’t give a shit about what happened to either child. I was well aware that he only wanted the government

Shane “So, are you guys going to tell me the whole story now?” I asked once Isla and Roman were tucked into bed, having already ensured the house was secure earlier in the evening with my shadow’s help. Roman seemed to have taken a real shine to me, and I was determined to be the best role model I could be for him, knowing I’d done a shit job of emanating that with my sister. I ran through the things I’d taken note of as I’d observed the kids’ and adults’ behavior since Rune and Micah had returned home as I waited for someone to start the discussion, recalling a few worrisome thoughts I’d put a pin in until later. Rune had given her son a brief rundown of why his sister was injured, but it was obvious at the time that her explanation had been missing quite a bit. Isla evidently had a broken leg and had a few nasty bruises and scrapes that I could see, but I didn’t believe for one second that her injuries had come from her falling down the stairs unless something had caused her to