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Yet this Little girl, with her pink hair, spunk, and sass, had reached a place in his heart he’d thought was damaged beyond repair. Hard times revealed true friends, or so the saying went. Maybe that was it. Whatever the reason, as a Daddy, he’d never felt drawn to a Little so fast.

The helicopter pulled back, but not before Boone spotted Midnight again, still standing in the open sliding door, staring down at him. He stepped back, and seconds later, his voice came over the helicopter’s loudspeaker. “That makes the second thing you’ve stolen from me, Boone. The woman I could forgive,women are a dime a dozen. The same with my men. If they can’t keep themselves alive, I don’t need them. But then you stole my ship. That was a serious mistake.”

Boone cursed under his breath. He’d gotten lax with their security. It never crossed his mind that Nico would attack them this close to United States waters. He should have had someone watching. Now Dutch was injured, and they were lucky he was the only one.

He wanted to let loose his rage and empty his magazine into the helicopter. But that would be a waste of ammunition. And there was no way Boone was letting Nico know he’d gotten to him. He’d wait. Nico’s death would come soon, and it would be at his hands.

Taking advantage of their attention, Midnight continued his rant. “Tell that bastard son of mine I’ll be having words with him about this latest betrayal soon. And when I get the woman back, I’m going to fuck her until she bleeds. Then I’ll pass her around to my men. If she isn’t dead when they finish with her, I’ll put a bullet in her head. It’s what I should have done to your last woman.” Finished with his threats, Midnight’s copter backed away.

The only one getting a bullet to the head would be Nico Midnight. Even though he knew he couldn’t make the shot, Boone raised his rifle and fired. The shot went wide, but he kept firing until he emptied the chamber.

Midnight ducked back inside the chopper amid the hail of bullets before stepping back into the doorway wearing a smirk. Still, one look at the man’s face as the copter turned back for land told Boone he hadn’t seen the last of the man.

“Until we meet again, my friend,” Midnight yelled over the roar of the blades. After he disappeared back inside his helicopter, it turned back toward wherever they’d come from.

After he checked on Dutch and Grif, Boone headed below deck to check on Tildi. He found her curled up on the floor of the tub, her knees tucked into her chest.

He had to give it to Sev. The man did nothing by half measures. It had shocked the shit out of him when Sev had offered to let him use theMidnight’s Mistress, even after learning Nico was Boone’s target.

It shouldn’t have. There was no love lost between Sev and Nico. There hadn’t been for a long time. Nico hated Sev’s mother. Sev had never shared why, but as the oldest of Nico’s four sons, Sev would inherit the Midnight throne whether the old man liked Sev’s mother or not.

That was good news for everyone. Nico used his organization to traffic everything possible, including guns, drugs, and women. He had connections throughout the Northwest, making him a powerful threat. Though he was no boy scout, Sevin wanted to take the family in a different direction. It might not be exactly legitimate or even legal, but it would be a far cry from the shit his father was doing. Sev realized his father was a threat to everyone, including the Cosa Nostra itself.

That was between the two of them, though. Boone knew better than to get mixed up in Cosa Nostra business. But with that look on the senior Midnight’s face as his chopper had turned back, Boone might not have a choice. He’d have to warn Sev that his father knew about the yacht. He’d need to be prepared for whatever retribution his father threw his way.

But that was a worry for tomorrow. Right now, he needed to have a discussion with one naughty little girl. She’d turned her body so her back was to him. “We need to have a chat, don’t we, Little girl?”

CHAPTER 3

Boone gave her time to respond to his question, not that he needed to hear it. Her body language said it all. His Little girl was miserable, and he needed to help her get rid of all the destructive emotions she had bottled up inside.

When she chose to ignore him, he removed her without a word, lifting Tildi from the tub and setting her on her feet. She shivered as she stood before him. Whether from cold, shock, or fear, he didn’t know. It didn’t matter.

She wrapped her arms around her waist and rocked back and forth as tears spilled over her cheeks. “Is Dutch okay? I’m so sorry. I’d never hurt him on purpose. Not ever.”

“Everyone knows you’d never hurt anyone on purpose, bluebell.” Well, except maybe herself. They needed to work on that. He made a mental note to have Maggie Maguire, a counselor specializing in PTSD and childhood trauma, come out to the ranch once they were settled.

His poor, sweet babygirl. How she still had such a tender heart after everything she’d been through the past year, he didn’t know. He just thanked God she did. She was soft and tender and so damn generous. She was everything he wasn’t. But she had to learn to control her impulses. If she was going to be with him,and that wasn’t up for debate, she had to be able to exercise some self control.

Today, her actions had terrified him. Stray bullets killed goodhearted little girls just as easily as meanspirited ones. He could have lost her so easily. He had to make sure she understood that.

But he could relieve her guilt about Dutch. “You didn’t shoot Dutch, bluebell. He was grazed by a shot fired from the helicopter.”

She stared up at him, studying his face to see if he’d told the truth. “Do you promise?” Her voice shook with emotion.

“Yes, I promise.” Had his girl ever been around anyone who loved and respected her enough to be honest with her? He put another mark beside the General’s name on his mental scorecard. Many more, and her father wouldn’t survive the conversation he planned to have with the man. “I will never lie to you, Tildi. In my line of work, there may be things I can’t tell you. When it happens, that’s what I’ll say. I will answer whenever I can. And I will never, ever lie.”

She continued to search his face but finally nodded. “Thank you. I understand now why you didn’t want me to help. I spent all that time practicing, but when the time came to use what I learned, you made me hide inside. It didn’t seem fair. Now I can see that you were right. I’m sorry I didn’t mind you, Daddy. I could have gotten you hurt or even killed. Or Grif. Or Dutch. I understand if you can’t forgive me. I was really, really bad. You’ve been so wonderful, and I keep ruining everything.”

She blinked in a furious battle to control her tears but lost. Hiding her face in her hands, she leaned forward and sobbed.

“Baby, no.” He pulled her up to face him, but she closed her eyes. With her face cupped in his hands, he wiped away her tears with the pads of his thumbs. “You could never ruin anything. Everyone is fine. We aren’t talking about what happened. We’retalking about what could have happened.” Her eyes remained closed. “Look at me, Tildi.”

She shook her head.

This girl. What kind of harsh judgment had she endured growing up? From what he’d learned, there were very few allowances made for failure. Now all he wanted to do was carry her to the bed and make her forget about everything that had happened. But that’s not what she needed. She said she understood, but Boone wasn’t convinced.

He lowered his tone and made his request a command. “Matilda Jayne. Look at Daddy.” Her gaze shot to his, lips parted in a silent gasp. “You’ve apologized, and I have forgiven you already. Do you understand?”