The Little Dove #2 ✔️

59. Another Untamed Liar On The Loose

CHAPTER 59: Another Untamed Liar On The Loose

I stare into the photo.

For three years, I had known her.

Sarcastic. Sassy. Witty to the point where it was infectious.

I didn't want to believe the worst, but I had to.

I hadn't even noticed the familiar machine guns for arm muscles slide down my ribcage and rest home around my abdomen, his scent wafted through my nostrils as Marvin glares at my secret fiancé, who currently nods towards my Grandfather, "I already have Rodgers following closely to watch Thea's next moves. It appears she's been working with Charlize for quite some time. They planned this even during lemon's last year of high school." He says, he speaks-as though I'm not currently cocooned in his tight embrace as he presses a wielding kiss to the side did my head.

Grandpa Stevens smirks, "I like this kid." He gestures to Edmund above me.

Dad side glances him in annoyance, not to mention the radiating anger emoting from him, one Mom notices so easily as Dad huffs at Grandpa, "Just shut up, Stevens."

Grandpa snaps his head at Dad, "Don't you talk back to me, you bloody imbecile. I trained Rodgers and had already spoken with the boy who put a tracker on my car-which by the way, we still need to talk about, Creed, because that was some sneaky shit." He points at the chuckling man above me, while I'm frozen, too surprised by every angle of the room, but even more so as Edmund squeezes me closer.

"You picked up on the range of my motorcycle, didn't you?" Edmund asks, almost knowingly as he widens his stance around me, his warmth soothing through the cracks of iced glaciers surrounding me with the revelation of the woman I thought I'd thrown into the pit of fire was another decoy, another ploy in Charlize's plan. I felt ridiculed and so very fooled as I look towards Mom.

This would have been something she'd never let slide. She gives me a stern look, "Melanie." She says to me.

I bite the inside of my cheek, "You've always been so good at this, looking into every angle, every movement on multiple chessboards at a time. You'd been hurt and threatened by your enemies more times than most and yet every time-you come out more stronger than ever before." I whisper, staring at the photo as Edmund loosens his hands, gripping my hips in a hold that showed me his disagreement on my thoughts.

Mom steps forward, "You have been through far more than I ever have and I wish-to the lord-I wish you had not scraped the surface of what I have been through. You took on so much the second you stepped foot into that Academy. Those investigations, the threats, the clues, every scare, every lie and every attempt on your life, my darling, you kept going, but everyone, and I mean EVERYONE needs someone to lean on. I found that in your father and now you have found that in Edmund. I am so proud of you, my dear, and this-" She points at the photograph, "-is something we will deal with as a family." She promises, pulling me into a hug.

Bloody Mathias steps in from the kitchen, holding a spoon with Nutella falling off the edge, at the exact moment we all turn to him, he freezes in shock. Dad's chest rumbles, "You're the culprit who has been eating my Nutella?!"

I blink, as does Mom, who slowly turns to Dad, "Oh, so it's not my apparent delicious cooking that has been supposedly making you gain weight and turn it into muscle, it's the sweetened, sugar-coated hazelnut spread you sneak in every night?" Mom asks him, raising a certain eyebrow.

I step back into Edmund's awaiting arms.

Dad was in the shit now.

And, Grandpa Stevens looked like million dollars with a serenading grin that spread around us all as Dad pales at Mom's voice. I snuggle into Edmund's arms, closing my eyes at the lack of sleep I'd had, all on account of the bloody man holding me, who wore a black business shirt, long sleeved button-up and navy blue dress pants with leather shoes. He makes me raise an eyebrow, as he holds the side of my head with one hand, silently chuckling as he mumbles words of my 'adorable affection' when I am tired.