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Skyler blinked She’d unconsciously driven to her stepfather’s house in Beacon Hill
With tearsher vision, she studied the luxury town house, with its stately brick facade and colonial-style architecture She and her mother had moved into the house after the divorce, and Skyler couldn’t have gotten out of there faster After high school graduation, she’d ht in Clay’s house Since her mother’s death, she hadn’t even been back for a visit
But she got out of the car now and headed for the front door to ring the bell She swiped her sleeve over her wet eyes as she waited on the stoop God, as she doing here? There was still tio, if she hurried back to her car before--
The door swung open, revealing her stepfather’s shocked face
"Sky?" His eyes widened when he noticed the tears staining her cheeks "Are you okay? Come inside, sweetheart Come in"
He ushered her into the front hall, closed the door, and pulled her into his bulky arms before she could voice a protest
Skyler stiffened for a beat before sagging into the es they had shared always felt forced and aard No ive Clay a chance, Skyler had never been able to warentle and co and hardened after years of heading up the organized crime unit in the FBI’s Boston field office He’d swept into her erous career, and Skyler’s mother had welco Skyler’s father in the dust
"What’s wrong, sweetheart?" Clay released her and cupped her cheeks
"Nothing" She gulped "IBut you don’t have to worry I’?"
"I…a friend of ht…and…" She searched Clay’s fa "
The response was so swift it elicited a rush of guilt The man had tried hard to forht him every step of the way, and yet when she ca again
"Coo to the kitchen Do you want some coffee? I just brewed a pot"
A minute later, she settled on a stool at the eat-in breakfast counter, where a stea already sat Her heart cracked in then she noticed it was the o Her mom had wanted her to pick one with a cheesy phrase on it--I love my stepdaddy had actually been available at the store--but Skyler had ignored the pleas and chosen one with a black-and-white picture of Boston’s harbor instead Si from it, all these years later, made her feel like the most dreadful person on the planet