Page 72 of Forbidden Hearts
Brynlee looks to me. “Are you okay?”
No, I’m totally not okay.
“I’m just a bit emotional,” I confess, knowing that there’s no way I can lie as my lower lip trembles.
“Do you want me to stay? We can talk . . .”
“No, I just want to sleep, if that’s okay.”
“Of course. I’m sorry, Phoebe, for whatever has you upset. Just know that if you ever need me, I’m here.”
I appreciate that. Brynlee has always been nice to me, but since I started nannying for Olivia, she’s truly become a great friend.
“Do you need me to bring you home?” Asher asks his sister. “I know you have court in the morning.”
“Absolutely not. I am fine driving the mile to my house.” She gives her brother a hug and taps his nose. “I love you. Get some sleep.” Then she turns to me. “You too.”
“I will.”
Then the house feels too quiet, and I have the deepest urge to see Olivia. To know she’s safe and not talking to some random asshole who might be telling her all the things she’ll want to hear just so she’ll believe the lies.
So many lies.
So many men who will do or say anything to gain what they want.
As I start to move toward the stairs, Asher calls my name. “Phoebe? Where are you going?”
“I just . . . I need to see Olivia for a second.”
He nods once. “I’ll go with you.”
We head upstairs, and he opens her door, allowing me to walk in first. As soon as I see Liv, my emotions get the better of me, and tears drop from my lashes before I can stop them.
“Why are you crying?” he asks.
“I wish I could protect her from the horrors of the world. How do you do this? How do you love someone so much and know that, someday, something will break her heart?”
Asher looks down at Olivia. “I just hope that I’ve loved her enough that she’ll know she can get through it. People prey on the innocent, so it’s my job to protect her the best way I can.”
They prey on the foolish too. On people like Paige and me who are too naïve or too stupid to see the truth that is right in front of us.
“And what about those who aren’t innocent? What about the ones who just trust the wrong people? How do we protect against that? How do we help those people who need it?” A sob leaves my throat, and I hate myself.
I hate that I can’t control my feelings. I hate that I am falling apart in front of this man because I am better than this. I have worked for weeks to prove that, and now, I’m losing all that ground in one day.
Before I can do anything, I’m lifted into Asher’s arms, and he’s carrying me back downstairs. I bury my face in his neck, unwilling to look at him.
“Easy, sweetheart,” Asher says softly, his lips brushing the top of my head. “Easy. Breathe.”
He pushes my bedroom door open and then sits on the bed with me in his lap.
“Why are you truly crying?”
The soothing tone he uses has me so close to telling him, to unloading all the shit that has been weighing me down.
I wouldn’t be able to handle the censure in his eyes or withstand the disappointment in his voice, though.
It’s stupid, really, because Asher means nothing to me. I’m supposed to tell myself that he’s the grumpy asshole who works for my father or the untouchable father of the girl I look after.
