Page 123 of The Woman with the Handcuffs

“I even have a selection of colors!” Caitlin said, digging around for the markers.

We walked from room to room after that, me introducing Caitlin to everyone until, at some point, she was whisked away by one of the women, and I completely lost track of her.

And little by little, the sounds seemed to get louder, the lights got brighter, everything pinched and chafed.

Then, above the half-dozen of conversations going on, I heard it: Caitlin’s laugh—high and tinkling. And it was like the tightness in my chest loosened.

As if sensing me, Caitlin looked over and gave me a soft smile before excusing herself and walking over.

Her arm slid around my back, and she leaned into my arm. “You okay?” she asked.

“Better now.” The crazy part was, I was. Better. With her close. Like a fucking human security blanket. “You’re running out of room,” I said, reaching for her casted arm and checking out the signatures. “What’s this?” I asked, running a finger across a series of dots.

“The baby,” she said, gesturing over toward where someone was holding their one-year-old. “And the book is from that amazing girl, Charlotte. She gave me ten book recommendations. She even wrote them down for me,” she said, producing a note from her pocket.

“I ran into her in a bookstore right before you held me captive. I liked the book she recommended.”

“Who does she belong to again?”

“She’s technically the niece of my cousin, Christopher. But he’s her guardian now. Along with Liam,” I said, nodding toward where the teen in question was schmoozing up to the more senior members of the Family. Couldn’t even legally drink yet, but he was making sure he was securing his future place in the Family.

“That’s sweet. There are so many kids. I thought you were exaggerating.”

“Nope. They all breed like rabbits.”

“Do you not like kids?”

“I like kids. I think I’m just better when it’s not twenty of them all at once.”

“I get that. They’re a whole different sort of sensory overwhelm. I’ve never really been around kids much. I never held a baby before tonight.”

I was strangely sorry I’d missed that.

“How’d that go?”

“How are babies so big? He’s only a year, but he was enormous. And heavy.”

“Well, you’re down one arm.”

“True. I have my eye on that little one,” she said, pointing toward where a baby of no more than three months was being passed from one person to another.

I wanted to be there for that.

“Do you ever think about them?”

“Babies?”

“Yeah.”

“I wouldn’t mind one. Maybe two.”

“You wouldn’t need more than that with how many friends they would have in this family. They would never feel lonely.”

“It’s almost impossible to be lonely in this family. If you ever need someone to grab a coffee with, you can find someone at basically any time of the day or night.”

“I like that. I love your family. Everyone has been so warm and welcoming. And no one is mad at me for holding you captive. Actually, that woman asked me about fifty million questions. Like she’s writing a book about it,” she said, nodding toward the woman in question.

“That’s Alara. Christopher’s partner. Charlotte and Liam’s stand-in mother figure. She has always had a weird obsession with the Family.”