Pain slipped through his voice so quickly Elena nearly missed it.
“But they reached for you.”
“I don’t know why.”
“I intend to find out.”
“By stealing my medical records?”
“By obtaining the truth.”
“Those aren’t always the same thing.”
“No,” he said. “They aren’t.”
The answer was too immediate.
Elena studied him.
There was exhaustion beneath the authority. A grayness around his eyes. A faint milk stain near the cuff of a shirt that probably cost more than three months of her rent.
The most dangerous man in the state had walked into a diner wearing evidence that one of his children had spat up on him.
It should not have humanized him.
It did.
The kitchen door opened.
One of Caden’s men leaned out.
“Sir.”
“What?”
“They started again.”
The crying reached the alley.
Three voices, frantic and rising.
Caden closed his eyes for half a second.
Then he looked at Elena.
“Come inside.”
“I’ve been fired.”
“Not from being able to stand in a room.”
“I’m not going near those children until you explain who they are.”
The crying sharpened.
Something inside Elena answered it before she could stop herself.
Her body moved toward the door.
Caden stepped aside.
The diner remained frozen when she entered.
Gary stood near the counter with his arms folded, trying to arrange his humiliation into authority. Customers stared openly now.
The triplets were red-faced and trembling in the stroller.
The little girl saw Elena first.
Her crying broke into a gasp.
Then both arms lifted.
“Mama.”
Elena stopped.
The boys turned.
The smaller one kicked against his harness, reaching so hard his entire body strained forward.
Caden moved beside her.
“You can pick her up.”