Page 36 of Secret Baby Daddies
“What about Luc and Jace?”
“Little one, Jace skipped all his work duties today to sit and stare at you. I’ve never seen Luc show any interest in a womanfor more than a night. I know my brothers and while I may find them to be assholes ninety percent of the time, I know they would cut off their own arm before hurting you.”
“What if y’all lose interest? What if you start to find me annoying? I talk to myself. A lot. Like…a lot. And I really appreciate a good, numbered list. What if I drive you crazy and you start to hate me?”
“We’ll talk about it. We’ll go to therapy together. I don’t know. We’ll take care of our relationship to make sure it doesn’t get to an unhealthy point. I can count on one hand the things my brothers and I have agreed on. You were the easiest and quickest.”
I let him pull me into his lap and hold me tight.
“You have all the answers.”
“Hardly.” He snorted. “I’ll tell you what happened to me today and I’ll trust you to understand that me telling you this means you can never leave the family. It’s that embarrassing.”
I smiled into his chest. “Tell me.”
“You swear you’ll take it to your grave?”
I looked up at him and he was smiling back at me so sweetly that it took my breath away. “I swear.”
“It all started when I found an unlabeled brownie in one of the employee lounges a few weeks back…”
CHAPTER 28
Maddox
I tucked Harley into bed and stood over her, watching her chest rise and fall. She’d passed out in the greenhouse and I’d carried her back. It was a challenge to stay relaxed enough for her to fall asleep in my arms when all I wanted to do was rage and rip someone’s head off. My hands shook like I was going through withdrawal. I was so angry I could barely see straight. Someone had hurt our woman and I wanted their blood.
Staring down at her, I could almost see the innocent little girl she would’ve been. It wasn’t hard to imagine her covered in dirt and mud from playing out in the garden. It made no sense how someone would willingly choose to hurt her.
I started to leave to find Jace and Luc but I stopped and watched in awe as Bubbles ran into the room and jumped up on the bed with Harley. He settled right next to her and stared at me like I was an intruder he wanted out.
“Watch over her, Bubbles.” I left the door cracked and then hurried downstairs.
I needed a drink and I needed to hit something. I passed Jace on my way to the bar.
“Meet me in the gym. Bring Luc.”
After tossing back a few shots of bourbon, I made my way down to the gym and found Jace and Luc waiting impatiently. Luc watched me with a scowl on his face which didn’t hold the same impact as it might have if I hadn’t just heard about what Harvey did to his daughter.
“What is it?” Jace met me at the punching bag and braced it as I went at it. “Jesus, Mad, wrap your fucking hands before you break them.”
I ignored him, slamming my fists into the bag over and over again.
“He drove her mother to suicide. Bought the judge, stole full custody, left her bereft and alone without her daughter. Then he had the nerve to never bother to spend any time with Harley. He just left her all alone while filling her head with negative shit about her mom.”
“Enough.” Luc gripped my shirt and dragged me away from the bag. “Look at your fucking hands.”
I looked down at them and shrugged. They were bruised and swollen.
“She’s terrified she’ll end up in the same position as her mother, that we’ll be able to do the same thing Harvey did. The money scares her because her dad weaponized it.”
Jace blew out a slow and steady breath.
“We would never.”
“I told her that. Of course, I told her. That doesn’t mean she’s just going to believe us. I’m sure Harvey told her mother the same thing.” I sank down on the workout bench closest to me and thrust my hands into my hair, tugging at it when frustration threatened to choke me. “He has to pay.”
“Without a doubt. We need to sit down and talk to Harley first. I can’t say I blame her for having her doubts about us. We haven’t done much talking. We’ve just come into her life and ordered her around.” Luc paced, a sign of his unease considering how stoic he normally was. “We have to show her that we trust her. No more bulldozing her. She goes to work alone tomorrow.”
