Total pages in book: 30
Estimated words: 29741 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 149(@200wpm)___ 119(@250wpm)___ 99(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 29741 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 149(@200wpm)___ 119(@250wpm)___ 99(@300wpm)
“I’m not worried about me!”
Well, he was. But then he was always worried about all of them. All the time.
But that was his job as the head of this small household.
Their protection rested on his shoulders.
“We don’t know that he’s coming for Zippy. There could be another reason he’s disappeared.”
“But you’re concerned.”
“I’m cautious,” he corrected.
“What shall we do?”
He brushed her hair back off her face. “We just need to be careful. I don’t want you going anywhere by yourself anymore. All right?”
“But this is about Zippy!” she cried.
“This is about the two of you,” he told her. “About keeping everyone safe. I’m going to talk to the school. It’s secure there or I wouldn’t let Zippy go there. But I think it would be better if I took her and picked her up or you had someone with you when you did that.”
“Will you tell her?” she asked.
“I don’t think it’s wise. I don’t want to scare her. Perhaps we can say that I’m worried about you driving with the changes in the weather.”
“I guess so.”
“The boys want to stay home and look after you both,” he told her. Mostly as a distraction.
She sat up straight, looking fierce. “Oh no, they aren’t!”
“Don’t worry, I told them that. It’s going to be okay, baby. I’ll take care of everything. I’m going to get Brody to see if he can track him through his bank account. We’ll find him. He won’t get near Zippy or you.”
“All right.” She slumped in against him and he squeezed her tight. “And I’ll check what’s going on with Baron and this car.”
“Dear. Lord.”
“Now, I just have one more question for you.”
“What is it?” She drew back so she could see his face.
“Were you texting while driving?”
Her eyes widened. “No, uh, well, I mean . . . I’d stopped at lights.”
“Betsy,” he said warningly. “That’s not good enough. That’s getting you a hot bottom when we have the house to ourselves.”
“Well, that doesn’t happen very often, so I’m guessing I’m safe for a while.” She managed a small grin.
“Brat.” Although she wasn’t wrong. He set her on her feet and then stood.
Grasping hold of her waist, he held her in place while he delivered several hard smacks to her ass. “Guess that will have to tide you over until I can get to the real thing.”
“That felt like the real thing!” she cried, rubbing her bottom.
“Afraid not. Now, how about a family movie night? Complete with pizza and hot cocoa.”
“With whipped cream and marshmallows?” she asked.
“Of course. Is there any other way to drink hot cocoa?” he teased.
7
Betsy felt like she was losing her mind.
It felt like everywhere she looked, she saw a threat.
“Betsy, do you want me to take you home?”
She gasped and looked up at Matthieu guiltily. It was a few days after Ink had told her that Leon, Zippy’s foster father, had gone missing and she’d had this shopping day already planned before then.
Still, she felt terrible that Ink was having to rearrange his guys so she could have someone to take her shopping.
Perhaps going home was the best idea. It wasn’t like she was getting anything done. She was supposed to be shopping for Zippy and the boys. But her brain was so scattered that she couldn’t focus and she hadn’t bought a thing.
“I think that would be a good idea.”
Matthieu nodded and gently took hold of her elbow guiding her around a post that she hadn’t noticed.
Yikes.
“I’ll just do my shopping online. Like a normal person.”
“That’s what I do,” he agreed.
“Do you spend the holidays with family?” she asked. She didn’t know much about him despite having known him for years.
“My father and one brother,” he told her. His gaze roamed the mall.
She felt like an idiot.
“This is silly,” she told him. “Leon won’t be after me. We don’t even know if he found out where Zippy is living. Ink is overreacting.”
“Ink is overprotective,” he corrected as they headed into the parking garage “Which is just how he should be. When you have someone precious in your life that you can’t live without, you do whatever is necessary to protect them.”
She glanced up at him in surprise. “I guess you’re right.” She would do anything to protect Ink and her kids.
Matthieu opened the passenger door of his truck for her and waited until she was in before walking around and getting into the driver’s seat.
“I just feel bad. You could be out doing an actual, proper job.”
“This is an actual, proper job,” he told her.
She guessed.
It still felt like she was a fraud. As they drove out of the underground parking lot, a man stepped in front of the truck and Matthieu had to slam on the brakes.
Betsy let out a small cry and slumped down, expecting something to happen. For the man to pull a gun on them. For an explosion.