Baltimore 03 - Did You Miss Me?

against him. Mmm . Curvy warm body. Pretty hand resting over his heart. Long leg buttressing his hip. Curls tickling his jaw.
    He’d always felt envious of men who woke with soft women in their arms who were meant for only them. Now he didn’t have to. Because I’ve got one .
    He hadn’t wanted to tell her about Jo. About what he’d done. But he was glad that he had. Many people knew the play-by-play of his story. Anyone who was fluent in French could read the police report, he supposed. His family knew, even Holly. And he knew they’d been afraid for his sanity those first few years. He knew they worried about his temper sometimes.
    He’d never told anyone that he still heard the snap of that man’s neck. That it still brought him . . . comfort. He liked that word a lot better. He kissed the top of her head and slid from the bed, reluctantly. He wished he could stay. Wake her with slow kisses and make love to her for hours.
    But he had a job to do and so did she. He needed to find three still-missing girls – Kimberly, her sister, and Heather Lipton, assuming any of them were still alive. He needed to bring Doug and Beckett to justice. But he had to find them first.
    She needed to confront a past over which she’d had no control. When they found Beckett’s cabin – and Joseph had no doubt that they would because Doug was driving them in that direction – she’d insist on being there, no matter how much it hurt her. And even though every bit of him screamed in protest at the very idea of letting her go there, he knew he couldn’t keep her from doing so. Nor should he.
    She was a grown woman, smart and logical, and the decisions she made would be wise ones. Necessary ones. He just needed to keep her safe through the process.
    He wasn’t sure which of them had the harder job.
    Joseph snapped a leash on Tasha, then left Daphne’s room, quietly pulling the door closed behind him. And then he froze as Simone came out her own door, across the hall. Their eyes collided and Joseph felt his cheeks heat. Busted , was his first thought.
    ‘Good morning,’ he said quietly.
    She studied him for a long moment. ‘Good morning, Joseph. Is she all right?’
    ‘Yes.’ She’s more than all right . She’s amazing . ‘ Yesterday was a hard day.’
    ‘For all of us,’ Simone said and he could see she was still angry. On one hand, he didn’t blame her. But as Daphne’s . . .
    What am I? he wondered. ‘Boyfriend’ sounded way too juvenile. Lover? Yes, but that didn’t begin to describe what he felt. Suddenly he heard Daphne’s voice in his mind from the day before, as they’d driven through the mountains. You want a mate . So do I . Warmth curled around his heart. He liked that. Very much.
    As Daphne’s mate , her welfare was top of his agenda. Daphne’s welfare would be improved if her mother could forgive what had never been intended as a slight.
    ‘May I offer my opinion as an outsider, Simone?’
    She lifted a shoulder. ‘Doesn’t seem like you’re an outsider anymore.’
    ‘Then I’ll take that as a yes. You’re angry and you have a right to be. But seems to me that the person you need to be angry with is Beckett. Not Daphne and not Maggie.’
    She closed her eyes briefly. ‘I understand why Daphne didn’t tell me, but Maggie wasn’t a scared little girl. She should have told me.’
    ‘I don’t know about that. I think that Daphne’s having someone she could trust with her pain, someone she didn’t think she was hurting in the process . . . it made a difference. And kids know when you betray their trust. If Maggie had told you, Daphne might never have opened up again. And particularly not to you. Not because she didn’t trust you or love you. But in telling you, she would have hurt you. That would have pushed her deeper into herself. You might never have gotten her back.’
    ‘I’m her mother,’ Simone said stubbornly. ‘I should have known. I could have helped her.’ Then her eyes filled. ‘You think I was unaware of her pain? I knew. Every goddamn day I knew she was in pain, but I never knew how to help. Maggie knew. She kept that from me. She kept me from taking care of my own child. Do you have any idea how that feels?’
    ‘No, because I’m not a parent. I would never discount your pain. But at the same time, don’t discount how difficult this was for Maggie.’
    Simone made a rough, scoffing sound in her throat and Joseph frowned.
    ‘Simone, don’t you think