Family Bonds- Ava and Seth (Amore Island Book 5) by Natalie Ann (ebook reader screen .TXT) 📗

anything like that with anyone other than my mother and brother.”

“And you like it?” she asked.

“I find I do. I see how Adele reacts to it all. She never had it and maybe she needed it. She missed it in life without even knowing. But then I wonder, am I balancing it enough? Do you get enough? Does Adele get enough?”

“You’re balancing it perfectly,” she said. “And that’s the thing about family and life. Sometimes we don’t know what we are missing until we get it.”

He snorted. “I think you’re right.”

“I don’t plan on going anywhere, Seth. It’s easy to say the words, but so hard to execute a promise.”

“Very true. I’m not naive enough to blame myself for not protecting Ellen. There was nothing either of us could do or would have known. We followed orders. We did our own research and everything seemed to be in line. As you said, promises can’t always be executed.”

“No. All we can do is try. Is live the time we’ve got the way we can and enjoy it.”

“And that’s what I’m doing,” he said, kissing her lightly. “If you feel we are moving too fast, you need to tell me.”

“I don’t. I’ve told you from day one you held the wheel in this trip and I’m riding shotgun. If I thought you were going too fast, I would have grabbed the wheel. I worry that what is going on with me stresses you and I don’t want that to happen.”

“It’s not. I can see the support you’ve got and it helps. A lot. I trust your family in that if there was a serious threat or issue they’d have you locked away in a castle.”

She smiled. “Something like that. Just like you’d do the same for Adele.”

“It’s a father’s job.”

“And you’re doing a great job at that. I don’t expect you to put me first. I understand that. But I’d like to think I’m close to that top.”

It was funny she was saying that. “You’re at the top right with my daughter. You can share that spot without me feeling guilty because I know you understand. Or without the guilt piling too much.”

“I do and I always will understand.”

And the next morning, they were in the kitchen having breakfast. They’d indeed worn each other out more into the wee hours of the night and got up around nine. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d slept that late.

“Thanks for making breakfast,” he said.

“You did most of the work last night,” she said. “It’s the least I could do.”

“I probably should call Adele at some point. My mother told me not to worry last night when I texted. It was too hard to call from the casino and Adele was watching a movie anyway.”

“I’m sure she is up, go ahead,” she said.

“She’ll want me to come get her right now,” he said, not ready for their time to end.

“If you need to go, it’s fine. I’ve got a lot to do around the house and to figure out what to pack for next week.”

They were going on vacation next Saturday and he was looking forward to it.

“Then I’ll help you clean up after breakfast and get out of your way. Adele will be wound anyway. How about dinner one night this week?”

“Sounds like a plan. Tell me the day and I’ll be there.”

An hour later he was pulling out of her driveway and away from the street to get his daughter. There were people outside walking and doing yardwork and he thought to himself, this was the life he thought he’d have years ago. It just took losing one thing to find another.

33

See This Yourself

“Hello,” Ava said, picking her phone up. She’d just walked into Seth’s for dinner on Tuesday night when she saw Griffin was calling her.

“Sorry to bother you, Ava. But I went through to look over the videos from the past week. The weekend was nuts and I’ve got it set up for alerts, but there was a software update and I didn’t catch one.”

“What?” she asked. “What do you mean an alert? Someone was in my house?” Seth stopped to look at her and she waved him off from talking so she could hear what Griffin had to say.

“No. That would go off right on my phone. I’ve got other alerts if people step on the property too close. Not the mailman either. Common or repetitive faces etc. You don’t need the details. Anyway, on Sunday morning, there was someone trying to look into a side window by your office.”

There were chills running along her arms and down her back. “Can you see who it was?”

“I can. It’s a woman. I ran a face recognition, but it hasn’t come up with a hit yet. I’m going through a criminal database so she might not be there. But I’m wondering if you can swing over to see if you recognize her. After going back through all the videos to see if she was spotted before, she has been seen walking up and down the street a few times always looking at your house.”

“Maybe it’s a nosy neighbor,” she said.

“Could be. Again, I’d like you to come in and let me know and then we can give Mac a call.”

“I can be there in fifteen minutes. I’m at Seth’s right now.”

“I’ll let the front desk know you are on the way, just give your name and they will walk you to the penthouse elevators.”

“Thanks.” She hung the phone up and looked at Seth, then nodded her head to Adele who was in the living room watching TV.

He grabbed her arm and pulled her into the kitchen. “They found something?”

“Someone was looking into my office window on Sunday morning and Griffin said she’s been walking up and down the street looking at the house a few times. Nothing is coming up in a database he ran it through. He wants to see if I recognize the face. Maybe it’s a