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“Papa King, can we open presents now?” Charlie asked.

Fucking Jackass.

Fury’s girls had asked Shane Keller if he was their grandfather now that their dad had married Keller’s daughter. Charlie overheard and asked if she had a grampa. Jack pointed at me, and now I had all three girls calling me Papa King.

Well, the two that spoke, anyway.

“Yea, sweetheart, we can open presents now.”

Charlie and Chrissy squealed, and Tabby jumped up and down. Everyone gathered around the tree, and we started handing out presents. If I had to guess, it would take a few hours to get through them all. Every brother had taken it upon themselves to spoil the three little girls with presents. That, combined with gifts we had gotten each other, and we would be here a while. I had a special gift for each of the girls I would give them this afternoon.

It was late in the afternoon when I pulled the girls aside to give them each one more present. I hauled Tabby up onto my lap, and Chrissy and Charlie sat on the couch next to me.

I handed each little girl a gift and watched as they opened them.

“A puppy!” Charlie cried. She hugged the soft, stuffed black and white dog to her chest. “Thank you, Papa King.”

I held back my groan at the ridiculous name.

“A kitty! Look, Charlie, our stuffies can be best friends like us,” Chrissy said, throwing her arm around Charlie. “Let’s go.” The two little girls took off to play with their new toys. They set the stuffed animals on the floor next to them, already quickly forgotten.

I wasn’t offended, though.

The truth was, I bought them for the girls because I didn’t want to draw attention to the present I bought for little Tabby. I held the box while she unwrapped it. Inside was a light brown stuffed teddy bear.

Tabby lifted the bear out of the box carefully. She pulled it tight to her chest and then looked up at me with a big smile.

“Sweetheart, I need you to take extra special care of this teddy bear. Can you do that?”

Tabby looked at her bear and then at me.

She nodded.

“This teddy is special, like you. He carries secrets that no one else can know about. Do you think you can keep him safe?”

She looked at me solemnly and I knew that if Ryder ever found out what I had given his little girl, he might actually kill me. I was taking a chance, but no one other than me would know about what was hidden inside the stuffing of this bear, so Tabby wasn’t in any danger.

“You can’t leave him alone, Tabby. He’ll get really scared if he isn’t with you. It’s your job to protect him and keep him safe. Like Mama and Daddy keep you safe.”

I was a fucking asshole, manipulating this little girl and playing on her emotions. She was only three fucking years old, but I knew she wouldn’t tell a soul.

Tabby pulled the bear tight against her chest again and nodded, telling me she would guard the furry toy without question. She wrapped her little arms around my neck and kissed my cheek, and I felt about two inches tall.

I told myself I didn’t have a choice. The information Sypher trusted me with needed to be hidden somewhere no one would ever find it. And God forgive me, I knew not one single person would ever think to look inside a little girl’s stuffed teddy bear.

It was common as fuck for little kids to have a security blanket or toy. No one would think anything of her carrying around the bear everywhere she went. Especially given the trauma that kept her from talking out loud.

She climbed off my lap and ran to her mother. When Ellie tried to hold the bear to look at it, Tabby hugged it tight and shook her head. When Ellie picked her up and set the little girl on her lap, Tabby looked over at me and I winked at her. She rewarded me with a proud smile, letting me know she understood how serious our talk was.

Despite the possible consequences when her father found out what I had done, I knew it was the right thing to do.

“What was all that?”

I looked up at Grace and my heart broke at how fucking beautiful she was.

“What?” I asked innocently.

Grace sat down next to me, and I looked around the room to see if anyone had noticed us sitting together. The guys gave me shit about Grace constantly, but they didn’t understand the repercussions I would face by making her mine.