Also by Grace McGinty

Hell’s Redemption Series: The Redeemable/The Unrepentant/The Fallen

Damnation MC Duet: Serendipity/Providence

The Azar Nazemi Trilogy : Smoke and Smolder/Burn and Blaze/Rage and Ruin

Dark River Days Series: Newly Undead In Dark River/Happily Undead In Dark River/Pleasantly Undead in Dark River

Black Mountain Mates: Hunting Isla

Eden Academy Series: The Lost and the Hunted (Prequel)/Heart of the Hounded (Prequel)/ Rebels and Runaways (Book 1)/Sweethearts and Savages (Book 2)

Shadow Bred Series: Manix/Frenzy/Feral

Stand Alone Novels and Novellas: Bright Lights From A Hurricane/The Last Note/ Inside The Maelstrom Part 1 and 2/Sticks and Stone

Omega Lottery: Tryst In The Dark

Dedication

For Pascal, who patiently answered all my questions so the hockey scenes were authentic.

For Amy Jo and Robert, who heard my call out and didn’t hesitate to help.

For Raewyn, gold medalist in badassery during the Covid Olympics. Thank you for being the best damn tortoise in the editing game.

Chapter One

NOVA

It had taken me three months not to have an anxiety attack every time the front doorbell rang. I’d tried everything: therapy, deep breathing—hell, I’d even changed the doorbell tone, and later took it away altogether. My friends knew not to ring it; they just called when they were out the front. Even the food delivery guys didn’t ring anymore.

Maybe I should have tried desensitizing myself to the doorbell instead, because apparently, someone knocking had roughly the same effect anyway.

Breathing in and out, I walked toward the front door.

It hadn’t always been this way, obviously. No one is born with an aversion to doorbells. No, my brain—the wonderful and complex piece of equipment that it was—now associated the doorbell with the worst day of my life.

Even as I walked toward it now, the present was overlaid with memories of three months ago. Opening the door, smiling. Feeling the expression fall from my face as I took in the two policemen in front of me, their faces solemn. Collapsing on the ground, wailing, as they told me that my parents had crashed on the freeway and died instantly. Continuing to wail until one of the officers stood me up, holding me in his arms until the neighbors appeared.

Then Rita, my neighbor and one of my mother’s best friends, held me as I cried for the next six hours. Her daughter Chloe—my best friend—arrived hours later and took over, so her mother could properly grieve without trying to hold me together too.

Rita took care of the funeral arrangements. Oscar, her husband, ensured I ate, using that Dad tone that I’d never again hear from my own father to make sure I swallowed every single bite.

Since then, it’d been the worst twelve weeks of my life, but I was moving through life, existing. It was getting easier. Not better, but easier.

Except for the fucking front door.

Sucking deep breaths in through my nose and out through my mouth, I dragged myself back to the present. Open the door. It’s okay. It’s probably just Mormons or something.

My stomach dropped when I saw it wasn’t Mormons. I definitely would have preferred that to the sight of my father’s lawyer and an unknown woman.

“Miss Stone. It’s good to see you.” Mr. Lief, my dad’s lawyer, didn’t say I looked well, because I really didn’t. I looked tired, exhausted both physically and emotionally.

“It’s nice to see you too, Mr. Lief. I’m surprised, though?”

We’d done the reading of my parents’ wills. They’d left me everything, but as their only child, it was pretty standard. I’d sold my father’s partnership in his chiropractic firm back to his business partners. My mom had been a customer service clerk at the DMV. They didn’t have much except this house and their 401(k)s, so the whole process had been reasonably simple, especially as we didn’t have any close extended family. All my grandparents were gone, as well as my Uncle Jerry. My dad had been an only child.

“Not as surprised as I am. May I introduce Mrs. Janette Fischer? She’s from Child Protective Services.”

Well, now I was super confused.

Mrs. Fischer leaned forward and shook my hand. “Nice to meet you, Miss Stone.”

Smiling tightly, I returned the gesture. “Please, call me Nova.”

She nodded, the shadow of a smile passing over her face. “May we come in?”

I frowned but nodded, standing to the side as they stepped through the doorway. I was kind of glad I’d just been floating through life like a ghost, because the house was still clean from the last time Chloe had come over and baked me cookies, hovering like a mother hen as she tidied my house for me.

Janette Fischer looked around my childhood home, still filled with my mother’s knick-knacks and family pictures, as if my parents were just going to walk back in the door again. It screamed undealt with grief, but screw it.

I’d be ready when I was ready.

“I’m not sure what this visit is for, but I promise you, despite the baby face, I’m actually twenty-four,” I joked weakly.

Mr. Lief gives me a tight smile. “Sorry for the intrusion, but after Mrs. Fischer reached out, I thought it would be best if I sat in on this meeting. A familiar face, and all that.”

Mr. Lief had been my father’s golfing buddy since I was ten. If he wasn’t here in an official lawyer capacity…

“I’ll get straight to the point, Miss Stone.”

“Nova,” I corrected weakly, because I could already feel my heart beginning to pound too hard in my chest.

“Nova. I’m not sure if you’re aware of this, but a child has recently come into the care of the emergency foster system. An infant. His mother, unfortunately, died suddenly of a postpartum brain aneurysm two nights ago. We haven’t been able to get hold of her emergency contacts.” She swallowed hard. “The child’s birth certificate lists your father as his parent, making you the infant’s half-sister. From what we can ascertain, you’re also his only living relative.”

White noise rushed into my ears. Just one long, loud buzz as she continued to speak slowly, but I couldn’t hear her over the sound any longer.

My father had a baby. Another child? Jesus, he was like fifty, and he’d been having an affair with someone? Having babies with them?

“Nova?” It was Mr. Lief’s voice that snapped me back to the conversation.

“I’m sorry. I had no idea…” I had no idea, what? I had no idea that my dad, who’d just died, was a cheater? I had no idea who this woman was? That I had a baby something?

Mrs. Fischer’s face was understanding. “I fully comprehend that this is a shock, Nova. Mr. Lief reacted much the same way when the Department reached out to him.”

Mr. Lief was shaking his head, like he was still in shock. That makes two of us, buddy.

Mrs. Fischer, with her gray and brown hair, sucked in a deep breath. “The Department always prefers children to go with a family member. The ties of blood and belonging are important. You’re the only blood family he has.”

My heart felt like it was going to explode in my chest.

“But I want you to know that you aren’t obligated to take him in. I understand this is a shock, especially on the heels of your parents’ deaths, so take some time to think about it.”

“If I don’t take him, what happens?” The words tasted like poison on my tongue, but I had to know.

She nodded her head gently. “He’s only six weeks old, Nova. He’ll stay in foster placement and will probably—most likely—be adopted. Babies have an easier time of it than older children. Although, he does have a congenital heart defect that may make it more difficult—”

“He’s sick?” I was going to throw up.

“He has a congenital heart defect, called an atrial septal defect. It’s nothing to be worried about just yet, but he may need surgery in the future if it doesn’t close on its own.”

“And people won’t want to adopt him because he’s what, bruised fruit?”

Mrs. Fischer shook her head. “I don’t think that will be the case at all, but adoption itself is a costly process, and most families can’t take on the added burden of a medically unwell child.”

I flopped back into the couch cushions, my brain reeling with the intrusive thoughts that were hammering me from all sides.

My dad had a six-week-old son.

My half-brother had a heart defect and was an orphan.

My parents were dead. Hell, I was an orphan.

Was this what my parents had been talking about when they’d crashed their car into a guardrail on the freeway? The police had said they’d lost control, but had it been because my parents were fighting over his affair?

An affair with someone young enough to have a baby?

I’d thought my parents had been happy. They’d loved each other for as long as I could remember, like a true kind of love. They’d often danced together in the kitchen. My dad still used to slap my mother on the ass when she gave him coffee in the mornings.

They’d loved each other. But this baby was proof that maybe they hadn’t, really. Maybe it had all been a lie.

“I understand this is a lot for you to take in, Nova. You don’t have to give me an answer now.”

I was mad at my father, which was odd, because fifteen minutes ago, I would’ve never thought I could picture his face without feeling grief. But now I thought about him and this orphaned baby, and I felt angry.

But not angry enough that I would give up a remaining piece of him. That I would set someone else adrift in the world when I could give them a past, a history. Not so mad that I’d forsake the last person in the world who shared my bloodline, let him go to a family who might not be able to pay for his heart problems, or let him sit in foster care because surgeries were too expensive and no one wanted him.

I shook my head at Janette Fischer. “I don’t need to think about it. Tell me what I need to do to adopt him.”

Chapter Two

NOVA

Preparing for a newborn was not an easy task. There was a reason you had to use the whole nine months pre-birth to get prepared.

Chloe had driven home after I’d called her in hysterics. We’d spent that first night drinking wine and eating ice cream, and I’d cried my eyes out. Bawled like a baby. Chloe had cried too, because she’d spent as much time at my house, with my parents, as she had her own.

The betrayal of my father cut deep, and still, I couldn’t wrap my head around it. It felt like a lie, but Mr. Lief had sent me a copy of the baby’s birth certificate, and right under the title of Father, was my dad’s name. His date of birth. This address.

There was no mistaking it.

So I packed away my grief, and my betrayed memories, and I got to work. I bought books on babies and had them overnighted to me. I found checklists on the internet and printed them out until I had a small tree’s worth of paperwork.

I went shopping. I wasn’t rich by any means—and I expected I’d be even less so with a baby around—so I tried to buy what I could secondhand, hitting up thrift stores and online marketplaces to find things. Except for a car seat. I bought a state-of-the-art, top-of-the-line car seat.

A week later, Janette Fischer returned to my house to conduct a ‘home study,’ which I’d prepared for like I did any other test: by panicking until I was a basket case. I’d put child safety locks on literally every single door. I’d boxed up all the small things I thought a baby could put in its mouth, even if I may have gone a little overboard.

I’d cried the whole time as I boxed up Mom’s things. This whole thing felt unfair to her. Like somehow, Dad’s memory got to live on, but she’d be the burned party forever. That hurt. But I also knew what Mom would’ve done in my situation, so it helped as I packed her things away and put them in the garage.

When Janette arrived, the place looked like Alcatraz, but at least it was as baby-proof as I could get it. She walked through the house, making notes on her clipboard, while I sat on the couch and fretted.

In my head, I made more plans, more lists. I’d found a place online that would sell bulk diapers, but I thought maybe I should get reusable ones. Fuck, I’d just get a mixture of both because who had time to wash dirty diapers all the time when they were learning to take care of another human being?

Janette returned, giving me a huge, reassuring smile. Thank god.

“You’ve done a wonderful job in the last week, Nova. It must have been hard work.”

You could tell she worked with children, because she had that gentle, encouraging tone of voice that may have been condescending if I’d been any less needy for reassurance.

“Thank you. I’m cramming every baby book under the sun in preparation.”

She gave me a tight smile. “There’s been a development that I think you should know about. A contesting petition has been filed for baby Huey’s adoption.”

I reared back. “What? I thought I was his only living relative.”

Janette nodded. “You are, but Miss Madison—Huey’s mother—was a foster child and had maintained some relationships with her previous foster siblings. These siblings wish to file for adoption.”

“Will they get it?”

She shrugged. “It’s my opinion, and the one that will be given in my report to the court, that you are the more stable option. But I can’t guarantee what the court will do. Mr. Lief will be informed, and he’ll figure it out for you, Nova. Don’t panic.”

The hearing was next week, and she was telling me not to panic for a whole seven days?

I gave her a tight smile and pushed down my anxiety. If Janette thought I was the better option, then that was that. Nothing would change.

I stood in the county courthouse with Mr. Lief on a random Wednesday in September. Mr. Lief was clear that family law wasn’t his forte, but he thought this would be fairly cut and dried, despite the celebrity of the contesting party.

“Woah, hold up… Celebrity?”

“River Cooper, NHL defenseman.”

“Football?”

Mr. Lief, bless his heart, kept his face impassive. “Ice hockey. He plays for the Ann Arbor IceCaps.” Well shit, I knew nothing about ice hockey, but that sounded impressive. “Take a seat and I’ll go see if they are running on schedule.”

When we walked into the courtroom, there was no doubt in my mind who the hockey player was. He was huge, maybe six-four, and dressed immaculately in a suit. If nothing else about him told me he was making good money as a professional sportsperson, then his suit would do it. Behind him were two equally big guys, maybe a couple of inches shorter.

Holy shit. They all looked like they should be on the cover of Sports Illustrated. One of the shorter guys met my eyes and nudged the behemoth. Then all three looked at me, and I felt like an ant.

I was dressed nicely. I had a sensible dress that I’d pulled out of my mom’s closet—then promptly cried for forty-five minutes after putting it on. We’d been roughly the same size and it fit perfectly. It was gray, with a pretty lace Peter Pan collar. I probably looked like a nun or a governess or something, but I wanted to make the right impression. I might only be twenty-four, but I was a responsible adult with a good job. I wasn’t out here partying every weekend like I was in college. I had a job I did from home, so I was perfectly fit to look after a baby full-time.

But after seeing this well-dressed man in a suit that would’ve cost more than my car, combined with the quick Google search I'd done on my phone for his contract pay after Mr. Lief had name-dropped him, I wasn’t sure why the old lawyer was so confident. This guy could pay for everything baby Huey would ever need. A nanny to look after him around the clock. He’d have opportunities I could never grant him. Surgeons who were top of their field. Gold-plated pacifiers.

I wasn’t an idiot. I knew that financially, he had me beat. But could someone who was constantly on the road give a baby the love he deserved? My mom had read me a bedtime story every night until I was eleven and was able to read my own. She’d picked me up and dropped me off at school every day. Had attended all my ill-advised sporting attempts.

Would a nanny and a part-time dad be enough for a kid to feel the same level of love and contentment I had?

So that’s why I lifted my chin and stared back at every single one of those men, my eyes lingering on River Cooper. I wasn’t here for a pissing match. I was here so that my brother could have a life filled with love and understanding. Safety and consistency.

After staring at him for a good ten seconds, I lifted my hand in a wave. We might be adversaries today, but I didn’t want to be enemies. They obviously cared for Huey, and his mother, and I didn’t want to cut Huey off from any family he still had, even if they weren’t blood relatives.

It didn’t help that they were stupidly good-looking, though. Honestly, River Cooper was gorgeous. A square-cut jaw, and light brown wavy hair that he’d styled back from his forehead. He had arms the size of my legs, and thighs the size of my whole torso.

He spun away without acknowledging my wave, as did the guy on his left. That guy was wiry, but just as tall and strong, his skin a soft tan that seemed to make the brown of his hair look even darker under the overhead lights.

It was only the last guy—a huge man with longish honey-blond hair and a clean-cut face—who lifted his hand back, his eyebrows raised.

Well, I guess he's the nice one.

I sat down at the table beside Mr. Lief, and the hearing got underway. The lawyers argued. CPS gave their report. Most of the legal jargon went over my head but it came down to this in layman’s terms:

1. I could provide a home and around-the-clock care for Huey.

2. I was his actual blood relation. His sister. That counted for a lot, apparently.

3. I was financially stable and would be able to provide for all of Huey’s needs.

But, on the other side, it was just as good.

1. River Cooper already knew Huey. He was his uncle in everything but blood. He had supported Alana, Huey’s mother, throughout her pregnancy as he’d considered her a sister.

2. He could provide a standard of living and opportunities that Huey would never get with me.

3. He could have the best medical care money could buy.

In the end, even I was almost convinced he’d be better off with River Cooper.

I’d tried hard not to think of Huey’s mother, Alana, over the last week. The woman who had seduced my dad into cheating on my mom. I mentally pulled myself up before villainizing her, though.

My dad had been a grown-ass man, not some innocent teen. He’d had a successful business and a mountain of life experience; he wasn’t lured unwillingly by some Jezabel, no matter what popular media would have you believe. He had a choice and he’d chosen badly.

Alana may or may not have known he was married. The point is, she wasn’t the one who had stood at an altar twenty-five years ago and made promises to my mom. The fault was firmly on my dad’s shoulders.

Still, when I saw the grief around River Cooper’s eyes, it was hard to hide from the fact that she’d been special to someone. Several someones, if the palpable sadness of their small group was anything to go by.

After a long hearing, the judge granted me full legal custody of Huey. My heart thundered, and my eyes misted over. Now it was real. I was the parent of a six-week-old baby.

What the hell had I done?

Chapter Three

RIVER

My hands curled into fists where they rested on my thighs as the judge ruled in favor of the girl. My heart twisted in my chest as I failed Alana one more time. I’d promised her that I’d take care of the baby if anything ever happened to her, and I’d lost him before I even had him.

I spun to look at Nova Stone as the judge finished his closing speech. She was looking at him as he spoke, absolute terror on her face. It was like she didn’t even want Huey; she was just fighting for him for the sake of it.

I squeezed my fists harder, and Rigby’s hand patted me on the shoulder from where he sat behind me. Rigby was my teammate, but more than that, he was one of my best friends. We were family. He knew when I was about to blow my shit better than any other person on the planet, except perhaps Devan. And Alana.

My heart squeezed like it did every time I thought of her death, and I pushed those feelings back down. Instead, I stared at Nova again.

She wasn’t what I’d expected, though I really didn’t know what I’d been expecting. Someone who was immoral, like her father, who’d knocked up my best friend and then ghosted her?

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