Finding Life | Finders Keepers #2 ✔️

39. Father-Daughter

Dean

I had woken up at seven in the morning under the sheets, my arm swung around Blythe's stomach just above her stitches while the other one, she had rested on, nuzzling just at the nape of my neck and lightly snoring. Pulling back a little, I watch as she shifts a little, wrinkling her nose at something, and then relaxing again. Even with all the wounds she's acquired and not being able to stand without anyone's help, she's still the most gorgeous woman ever.

I don't even remember getting up from the recliner and moving to the bed to be near her.

Her hair was tied up into the messiest bun ever. It's possible that she had woken up to get it out of her face. I thought I heard her talking to someone at the middle of the night and I'd just passed it off as my dreams messing with me from the tiredness. I guess she really was doing what I thought I was dreaming about.

The way her lips parted just to snore is so adorable, I can't help but smile. I made a note to kiss her right after she wakes up.

Slowly, I release my hold on her and make sure to not make any sudden moves. She mumbles something incoherent but then settles her head down on the pillow. You'd think that sleeping for a day would be enough rest for her but no, she's still extremely tired. It made sense considering that she just had been hurt.

As soon as my feet land on the cold floor, the door slightly open, revealing a very tired looking Antonio. Everyone was worried for her when she was rushed into the hospital and I guess Antonio and I were in the same level. Maybe for him, it's even a little higher than I had felt because when I saw him, he was covered in blood. I watched as the nurses asked whose blood it was and for him to answer that it was Blythe's, I felt sick to my stomach.

I press my index finger to my lips. "She's tired."

His eyes flicker down towards her sleeping body and I saw them soften. He really did look at her as a daughter. It was a nice knowledge to know that whatever happens, the two of them are family even if it's not by blood. "Has she told you yet?"

"That you told her to end things with me?" He nods and I do also. "I understood it. I'm also sorry if I had offended you for what I said back then. Watching how you guys somehow interacted with me and her initiation, it just put me a little off."

"The life of being with a gang isn't easy, son," he explains and I just nod again in understanding. "When I first met her, she was this angry little girl. Always wanted to get her way and didn't care if she would die in the process. Her life, back then, meant nothing to her. So, the gang became her life and she had grown to love it, I could tell. And when someone threatened her life, I felt all too overprotective. It didn't help when you said you were glad that she's leaving because I never really wanted her to leave."

"I'm sorry." Was all I could ever muster to say.

He gives a light-hearted smile. "I know. You already apologized. Nathan wanted her to quit just like what Rosalie did but I think that deep down, she doesn't want to. She just did it for Nathan's sake. If she still decides to go through with it, I'll be okay but if not, you have to understand that being with her will come with such dangers. Maybe even worse than this. She'll need you."

There was no doubt about it. I'm sticking by her side no matter what. "I told her already that I'll support her decision no matter what."

"Good." He takes a few steps towards me, placing his hand on my shoulder and squeezing it not so gently while staring at me in all seriousness. I gulp, suddenly feeling intimidated and scared by him. He was larger and taller than me, there was no doubt that he can knock me down on my ass with a flick of his finger. "You break her heart; I break your face and your legs. You got that?"

I knew very well that he wasn't kidding. It was a serious threat.

"Yes, I got it," I gulp again. Jesus, you'd think being a jock would give me at least confidence to face him but no, I'm turning into a little bitch.

He is the leader of the gang so it makes sense.

"Antonio, will you stop threatening him?" Our head snaps towards a yawning Blythe. "Let him go. You know damn well that if he hurts me, I'll hurt him first."

Antonio chuckles, letting his hand fall at his side and going up to her, placing that strong hand of his on top of hers. "How you feeling, sweetheart? Need anything?"

Stepping back, I sit by the end of her bed, watching the two of them interact with one another.

"No." She shakes her head. "Thank you for checking up on me."

He smiles at her. "Yeah. Anything for my daughter."

"Now tell me why you're really here." She cocks a brow at him. He blinks at her, feigning innocence. "You claim to know me well but you forget that you raised and trained me, I also know you like the back of my hand. You came here to check up on me and tell me progress of what you've found. Is she dead?"

I can't help but frown. When Blythe said that her sister was Rachel, the person who had stabbed her, and was going to die because she threatened to hurt me and had shot Castillo, I felt bad about it. Sure, the bitch was a psychopath and did kill Blythe for two minutes, but it was still her blood. It was obvious that the girl had a few lose screws in her head.

She needed help to screw it all back up not obliterate it.

"No. Not yet. Listen, when we were..." he stops, gazing up at me in unsureness right before glancing back at her again. I knew well enough that both of them were having a silent conversation with their eyes. Seconds pass and she nods at him. "Extracting information from her more, she told me everything she told you."

"Makes sense. Continue."

"Except for one thing," he sighs. "Listen kid, she found your parents."

The two of us freeze. Blythe's eyes widen at the information. Her biological parents. Her biological sister had found them and didn't even tell Blythe anything about it when she kidnapped her. How much screwed up can all this get?

I clear my throat, knowing that Blythe would need a minute to process what he just said. Grasping her ankle, I hold it tight, a way to let her know that I'm here. "Are they alive?" I ask.

Antonio shakes his head. Shit. "She killed them."

Double shit.

"H-how?" She pipes up, her voice breaking. It almost makes me want to hug her tight and never let go at the sound of it. "Tell me how she killed them."

"Blythe, I don't think—" Antonio starts, only to be cut off by her.

"Antonio, just out with it."

"Your mother got shot at the back of her head," he answers, holding her hand tight like I just did with her ankle. "She didn't even know what was coming for her. Your dad struggled with her, wanted to get the gun out of her hand. He succeeded but before he could do anything, she stabbed him four times in the chest. The neighbors that the police interviewed said that they were good people. She was sloppy with the kills so she made sure to clean every bit of her DNA from that place to render the whole thing a cold case."

She stays silent for a while, the two of us watching her. She was analyzing everything, I'm sure of it, because the next thing she says when she gazes up at Antonio was, "Don't kill her yet. I want to talk to her."

"Okay," he whispers to her. "Okay. We went up to the place, by the way. The real estate lady has been having a hard time selling the place because of what happened there so she let us in easily, thinking we were customers. I—" he pulls out a small, blue and red rattle "—snuck this out. I think you deserve to have something that belonged to your parents which they would have given to you."

Placing it in his hands, she holds on to it, shaking it and observing it well. "Thank you, Antonio."

He leans in, pressing a kiss on the top of her head. "Anything for my daughter."

I smile.