He will stop at nothing.
He’s taking back what was stolen from him.
* * *
We spentthe next three hours going through every piece of evidence we have.
After the first hour, we still had no concrete link until Ria noticed something.
Once again, none of us pieced it together until somehow, she did.
At first, she pointed out little things like more than a few of the runners had the same tote bag from an independent grocery store across the street from her café.
Then, she noticed some of the younger couriers were wearing her college’s school colors.
She asked us to check if any of the couriers or runners lived in the area at one point in their lives.
Turns out, every single one, even the ones who were doing drop offs and pick-ups outside the state had, at some point, lived in her neighborhood.
When we got to the information we had on her Mom, Ria shut down.
She may still have been there physically, but emotionally, she became a wall.
Mina helped her go through everything including what we found out about her Aunt Patty.
It turns out that her mom had met Patty a few months after she had Ria, at the same restaurant she had previously dined in with Santos.
After Ben determined an accurate timeline based on our evidence, we figured out Ria’s mom had lied about how she met Santos. The first time they met was in Washington State, not the Philippines. She went with him to the Philippines later, where it looked like they had a falling out.
No records show them meeting up again.
A year later, she befriended Patty.
If I was hazarding a guess, Patty was hired by Santos to keep an eye on his former lover and child.
I rub the back of my neck as I watch Ria busy herself in the kitchen. She cooks when she’s stressed.
After a few hours, Adrian started getting fussy and Gabe ordered us out of the basement.
Rolling my shoulders back, I approach her from behind as she stirs the wok.
I slowly wrap an arm around her waist, bending my knees to account for our height difference. I rest my chin on her shoulder.
Landing a gentle kiss on her cheek, I once again lay it all out for her.
“Please trust me? Trust that I can keep us safe. Keep you safe. This doesn’t change anything. He won’t touch a single hair on your head, Ria.”
Ria’s arms fall to her sides as she leans into my hold, her cheek turning to rest on my chest.
I turn the stove off and turn her in my arms. I wrap my palms around her cheeks and my thumbs gently brush her tears away.
“I am so sorry, Noah.” Her words come out wobbly as she fights against the current of tears streaming down her cheeks.
She bites her lip, fighting to control her emotions.
Using my thumb, I ease her bottom lip out from under her teeth and try a reassuring smile. No matter how I feel, making sure she’s okay is my number one priority.
“Baby, listen to me.” I tip her chin up so I can meet her eyes. “None of this is your fault. It doesn’t matter that this man is your father. You know why?”