Hard Love (Hacker #5)(13)
Author: Meredith Wild

“He got two and a half years.”

My throat went tight, and I closed my eyes. My body seemed to react to the news before my head had a chance to really comprehend it. A minute passed and I found my voice. “That’s half the maximum sentence.”

“I know,” she said quietly.

Nodding slowly, I straightened the papers on my desk that were already neatly ordered. “Well, that’s justice for you.”

“At least they’re going to put him away. Even if it’s not as long as he deserves.”

Max was losing his freedom, at least for a little while. I wanted to celebrate that small victory, but a part of me couldn’t trust that it would be enough to atone for what he’d done.

* * *

BLAKE

“Oh, I’ve missed you two!”

My mother clapped and went in for a hug. I bent to accommodate her shorter stature. One would think I’d just come home from war, but I could never blame her for loving too much. That was her way, and when she switched her attention to Erica, I was all the more grateful for it. The two women swayed side to side a bit, and any last-minute regrets I might have had about buying our forever home a few houses down from my parents’ disappeared.

Erica deserved a family, and I couldn’t ask for a better one than mine. I hadn’t always appreciated them, but that was rapidly changing with Erica in my life.

My mother glanced between the two of us, up and down, giving us the full assessment. “Erica, you look better than I’ve ever seen you. Truly. All that travel must have been good for your soul.”

Erica glanced up at me. “I think it was.”

My mother smiled, her eyes wrinkling in the corners. She was an attractive woman, full of a contagious kind of energy, even more so with my father at her side. My father joined us, wearing his favorite apron. He wore the house chef title proudly since retiring. I used to see my parents and take their easy manner together for granted. Now I saw a familiar version of Erica and me. I saw forever with a woman I wanted to grow old with.

Dad slapped my arm and hugged Erica. “How are the lovebirds?”

“We’re great, Dad.”

He nodded toward the dining room, where my sister, Fiona, sat next to an unfamiliar man. “You came back just in time to meet the new guy.”

“Oh! Yes, you have to meet Parker.” A second later, Catherine was pulling us into the room and introducing us to the apparent guest of honor.

He stood. “Blake, pleasure to meet you.”

“Likewise.”

We shook hands, and Erica and I sat down across from the couple. I sized up the man whose arm was draped around the back of my sister’s chair. Parker appeared to be my age, maybe slightly younger. Dark blond hair stylishly cut. He was dressed casually, in jeans and a button-down. He didn’t look particularly expensive, but like he’d put an appropriate amount of time into his appearance.

His and Fiona’s fingers hooked loosely together as my mother served up Dad’s famous homemade meatloaf. I would have been a little more excited about a home-cooked meal and catching up with everyone, but found myself distracted by Parker. He turned and murmured something in Fiona’s ear. She grinned and leaned into his touch.

I cleared my throat loudly, interrupting their moment. “So how did you two meet?”

Fiona’s eyes widened. The question had come out with less finesse than I’d intended, but I was eager to know more about this stranger who meant enough to her to introduce to the family. I was also hoping to get him to stop nuzzling her at the table.

“Um,” she started.

“We met at your wife’s bachelorette party,” Parker said, never taking his eyes off Fiona.

“Is that so?” I hadn’t been wild about Erica going out on the town in the very tight, very short dress she wore that night, but naively I hadn’t really considered Fiona being approached. My jaw tightened, a reflex to the unwelcome thought of Parker or anyone else getting physical with her after she’d been drinking.

“He was bartending, and he got my number before we left,” Fiona said, her voice sweet and light.

I relaxed a little, her words having amended the vision my mind had conjured. Fiona was my sister first, but she had also been a good business partner, always focused and on point when she was dealing with my properties. I wasn’t used to seeing her distracted, and while I’d always protect her as her big brother, she hadn’t given me too many opportunities to. Perhaps because our brother Heath had required so much attention for so long. Now her new love interest was sitting across from me, not nearly as uncomfortable as I wanted him to be considering he was very likely fucking my sister.