Holden's Resurrection (Gemini Group Book 6)

his muscles ached just from uttering the words. No one knew why he’d left Charleigh. No one knew he’d been exposed to radiation and he’d had to go to appointment after appointment to be tested and prodded.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold up.” Bobby took a step in his direction, her face red with fury. “You didn’t get to make that decision for her.”
Suddenly facing the happy, smiling people at Alec’s Christmas brunch didn’t seem so bad. Actually, facing a firing squad would be preferable to discussing his sperm count with Bobby.
“We’re not—”
“You know what?” Bobby exploded. “You’re right, we’re not…I’m so unbelievably pissed at you right now. I cannot believe you made an important life-changing decision by yourself. I cannot believe you’re that guy. I love you, Holden, and once I’m over the shock of you being a total asshole, I’ll be back. And when I am, we’re finishing this conversation, so you’d better find a pair of big boy underwear, Holden, because I’m gonna make you fix this. If for no other reason so you both can move on.”
With that ass-reaming, Bobby turned and stomped to the door. Her hand arrested in mid-air as she reached to push open the door. Her neck craned, and her face was bleached when she asked, “Do you still love her?”
Fucking hell.
“I’ll love her until the day I die.”
“Holden,” she grumbled, but it sounded strangled and full of pity. “You need—”
“That’s a hard no. And I mean that, Bobby. You do not go there. Not with me, not with Evie, not with anyone. I’ve fucked Charleigh’s life enough, I will not do that to Faith, too.”
“You owe it to Charleigh to tell her the truth. After all these years you’re still hurting her. Think about that, while you’re sitting in here stewing and suffering.”
That was all he’d thought about for years. Wondering. Questioning. Doubting. Yearning. Aching.
He heard the metal door slam. His shoulders slumped forward and he hung his head in shame.
Holden was damn near rock bottom. There was no farther he could go in his humiliation. He’d disgraced himself, he degraded Charleigh, and he’d thrown his future away. All because he was an asshole.
He’d left Charleigh unprotected.
Paul Towler had known exactly what he was doing that night.
Fucking bastard.
It was time to pay the piper.
The truth needed to come out.

5
I was taking the last ornament off the tree when there was a knock at the door. I glanced at the clock and only twenty minutes had passed since Kennedy had come to pick up Faith. I pulled my cell out of my back pocket as I made my way down the stairs. No missed calls. Maybe Faith had forgotten something.
I opened the door and was met with the most dazzling pair of soulful eyes.
Then I remembered I’d turned over a new leaf and was actively, painstakingly, falling out of love with Holden. I’d even deleted his number from my phone. I hadn’t seen him since the Saturday before Christmas, and even then I hadn’t laid eyes on him. It was now a new year and I was determined to move on.
He also wasn’t going to run me off. Faith liked her school, liked her new friends, loved McKenna and Kennedy like crazy, enjoyed the music lessons from Genevieve, and when Silver wasn’t working, Faith liked to hear about all the “big boats” she got to pilot. And my daughter had bonded with Macy’s daughter, Rory.
If Holden wanted me gone, that was too damn bad. He could eat a bag of dicks and choke on them.
“I’m busy,” I said and started to shut the door.
Holden’s hand shot out, preventing me from closing it.
“No, you’re not. Kennedy picked up Faith and you’re home by yourself.”
I rocked back, wondering how he knew where my daughter was. Something I would contemplate further when I wasn’t face-to-face with the man who’d inflicted the most pain I’d ever felt in my life.
“Just because Faith’s not here doesn’t mean I’m not busy.”
“I need to talk to you.”
Hell. To. The. No.
“You’ve got some brass balls coming to my door telling me you need to talk to me when the last time we exchanged words I told you I still loved you and you told me you didn’t care. I heard you, Holden. You don’t care. I get it. I’ve kept my distance and I’ll continue to do so.”
“We can’t go on like this, Leigh-Leigh.”
Good gracious, that hurt.
“Don’t call me that. And we can go on like this. You ignore me, I ignore you, and everything will be fine.”
“And what about Faith?”
The day was sunny, albeit as cold as a witch’s tit, but at that moment when he uttered my child’s name, I could’ve sworn bolts of lightning sizzled across the sky and thunder crashed.
“Don’t you dare bring my daughter into this conversation. You pretend she doesn’t exist and—”
“But she does exist.” Holden pushed the door open wider, forcing me to take a step back. My heels hit the bottom step and I started slowly walking up them backward. “And the Towlers are pulling their bullshit. She needs to be protected.”
No freaking way.
Not now.
“I can’t believe you.” My statement was barely above a whisper. “After all this time. With everything going on, you’re gonna do this now?”
“You’re misunderstanding me.”
The hell I was.
He was gonna try to take her from me.
He was gonna…I couldn’t even think about what Holden was gonna do. My stomach bottomed out and I pitched forward. Before I could lose my balance, Holden was in front of me. His hand gripped my biceps and it felt like I’d been zapped. For years, I would’ve done anything to have him close. Now I didn’t want the reminder of how his hands used to feel. Holden had always been into PDA—both public and private displays of affection. If I’d been close, he was touching me in some way. I used to live for those touches. Now his hands on me felt tainted. Everything we once had was poisoned and diseased. Ruined.
But