Page 193 of Protecting You

“You’re not ugly, just a little…” She lifted a shoulder and let it drop.

“Battle worn,” Callan said. “Like a warrior princess.”

Alyssa started to shake her head but stopped, squinting. He’d bet that hurt. “Your dad’s a weirdo.”

“Heroes get hurt. Right, Daddy?”

“That’s right.” He forced himself to look at his daughter, though it took considerable effort. “And Alyssa isn’t just a hero, she’s a superhero.”

Peri liked that.

A slight knock, and Gavin stepped in. “The nurse just told me there’s a soda machine in the playroom.” He waggled his eyebrows. “You ever tried all the flavors mixed together?”

Her eyes widened. “Huh-uh.”

“Wanna?”

She gave Callan aCan I?look.

“Just don’t overdo it.”

She slid from his arms and took Gavin’s hand.

Before she stepped out, she turned to him.

He waved. “I’ll be right here.”

Satisfied, she walked away with Alyssa’s dad.

Callan returned to Alyssa, took her hand, and pressed a gentle kiss to the corner of her lips, the only spot that wasn’t swollen.

He backed away enough to see her face. “Are you okay? Really?”

“It’s just a concussion.”

He pulled a doctor’s rolling stool close and sat.

“Did anybody get hurt? Dad wouldn’t tell me anything, just kept saying I was fine, and that was all that mattered.”

“Your father didn’t hang around to find out what happened. I don’t think he could focus, knowing you were hurt.”

“Yeah. He was…” Her eyes filled.

“When he thought you were dead…” Callan could still hear the keening. The grieved howl. “He adores you.”

“Yeah. He said…” Her eyes narrowed. “Did you say something to him? About me?”

“Nothing I said affected how he feels about you, Alyssa. Those feelings didn’t just suddenly show up last night.”

“That’s true.” The admission seemed hesitant, as if she didn’t trust it.

The same way Peri’s faith in Callan still wavered. But he was going to fix it.

His daughter was not going to grow up hoping her father loved her. Wondering if he loved her enough. He’d prove it, and he’d keep proving it, every single day, if it took the rest of his life. He’d prove to her that he could be her dad. More than just the man who’d fathered her but the man who adored her.

“So what happened?”

He gave her a rundown on the attack, what they’d planned, and how it’d gone wrong.

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