Page 126 of Broken Blood Ties

Shite. I don’t want to send her away, but I have to take care of this. Of Riku. I need to push back without fear of his retaliation. Everything I hold dear, love, needs to be far away from here.

I scoop the long blonde hair cascading down Aoife’s back to the side and lift her into my lap.

“I need to talk with ye, little love.”

“Do you like her dress?” Aoife holds up a doll with a pink tulle dress.

I smile and nod.

“I wish I could dance like they do at pretty princess balls.”

“Ye can. Here.” I lift her into my arms, moving behind the sofa. Deuce glares at me through slitted pupils, then hops down thoroughly disturbed.

I lower Aoife, her tiny feet balancing on top of mine as we sway together. The song isn’t something I know, but it fills the space between us, and she giggles as I spin her around and around.

Music be damned. Her laughter is the most melodious sound in the world, and before her, I never truly knew joy.

Her little hands grip my fingers, and those intense cobalt blue eyes that remind me of a vivid cloudless sky sparkle with wonderment as the room seems to spin around us.

Such innocence.

Her wilder than sunshine hair bounces as she allows me to spin her.

Such trust.

As the song slows down, so do we. I lift her back into my arms, her fragile arms wrapping around my neck as I hold her close. She rests her head on my shoulder, and I breathe her in.

“Listen, what do ye think about going to the cottage with Allie and Summer for a wee bit?”

She pulls back, taking in my face. “Really? Yes!”

I grin, grateful Aoife’s always loved visiting our lakeside cottage in Maine. It sits by a secluded lake in the northern part of the state, surrounded by woods. I purchased the property shortly after Aoife was born, knowing I wanted a safe house of sorts. A place of respite to give her away from this dank world full of slimy deals, selfish men, and harsh worldly reality.

“I won’t be able to join ye until a bit later, okay? But ye’ll have fun with Allie and Summer.”

She nods. “Daddy?” she whispers.

“Yeah?”

“I love dancing with you.”

My throat constricts as I press a kiss to the top of her head. “I love dancin’ with ye, too,” I whisper back.

For a moment, I hold her. Lost in my thoughts on how it felt to bring home this tiny bundle as a new dad doing it on his own. Utterly shattered by my responsibilities as a leader and drowning in the knowledge I’d eventually fail at this new title I now had.

There’s a timid throat clearing in the doorway that jolts me from where I stand with Aoife.

There.

Summer stands, cardigan wrapped around her chest as she pulls it together, her hands gripping the gray fabric as if to cocoon herself. Her head rests on the threshold frame from the main hallway, hair kissing the tops of her shoulders.

She grins at me, wide. She watches me with Aoife for a heartbeat before Aoife notices her lurking.

“Summer!” Aoife wiggles in my arms until I release her, and she runs for Summer, flinging herself around her legs.

I tuck my hands in my pockets, holding Summer’s gleaming stare. She’s back. Relief pours from me, and the heavy nagging weight I’ve been carrying around the past few days dissolves. There was a hidden panic she might not make the trip back. That perhaps she’d say goodbye to her sister and take off on the run again to avoid her father and this life, maybe me.

But she’s here.