Page 23 of Monster

I hugged him, letting my hand come down to his shoulder blades, feeling his solid form against me.

Fuck.

He was here.

He tightened his arms around me as Kai came into my line of vision, his eyes focused intently on his little brother as if he was afraid to look away.

I knew the feeling.

I patted Braxton’s head and directed him toward Kai, whose arms were already open.

I might not be an emotional man, but I made sure always to show my kids how important they were to me, how much I fucking loved them. I’d hoped they would grow up to be men who weren’t afraid of their emotions either.

I took a deep breath and turned to the girl, who was now on the ground, facing me. My breath caught.

Fuck. Me.

Who the fuck was this?

I felt blood roar in my ear, drowning out everything and anything.

She was tiny in every way. My two hands could span the entirety of her small back and then some.

She had small, delicate shoulders that were on display from the fitted black t-shirt, and dark gray jeans that hugged her legs.

There was something fragile about the girl that made me both want to be careful with herandtest her limits. See how far I could push her without breaking her.

Her big hazel eyes stared up at me, and I noticed one of them was darker than the other, a small face that only made her eyes stand out even more, and that mass of dark hair that came down past perky, small tits that I would be able to cover completely with my own hands.

But there was something untouchable about her.

Not in a cold way, but in an innocent way.

In a way that told men like me that we weren’t deserving of touching such sweetness.

“Who are you?” I asked quietly.

Her breath caught, and I noticed a hint of fear in her eyes.

“M-my name is Emmy Wilde. I, uh, I teach music at Braxton’s school.”

The music teacher?

She offered a small smile, but it looked more like a grimace, and she tucked her hands in her arms. I didn’t miss the slight shake to them.

“Tell me what the fuck is going on,” I growled, moving closer to the teacher.

Her eyes widened, and she took half a step back before she thought better of it.

“Dad, maybe we should head back home before we do any interrogating,” Kai said.

I looked at my boys before turning back to the teacher, impatience making me want to shake the answers out of her.

But fuck, Kai was right.

This wasn’t the place, and I didn’t know if the fuckheads that came after Braxton were still around. I didn’t shy away from a fight, but I didn’t want to risk Braxton—and now, the teacher.

I nodded and took hold of the teacher’s arm.

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