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I give her a soft grin. “Always. But it’s never a burden.”
Silence stretches on, but I let her speak when she’s ready.
“He promised he’d never let me go. It was a threat, Brody.”
Her breathing grows ragged, and I twist my body to hold her cheeks in my hands.
“Hey, breathe. Look at me, Harper.”
Her gaze meets mine, her eyes glassy.
“You’re safe now. He never had you, and I’ll be damned if he ever gets close to you again. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” she whispers.
I rub my thumb across her cheek, then wipe away a few tears that spilled. With each passing second, I grow more furious, remembering that vengeance for what he did is still mine.
Her eyes desperately hold mine as she battles with herself. “This is overwhelming.”
“I know, Harp.” I keep my tone calm and steady, anchoring her. “We’ll figure it out. Together. He will get what’s coming to him. For you and Billie. Enough is e-fucking-nough. He needs to be stopped because he will continue down this destructive path, and I’m so close to figuring out how to end him legally, even if I want to put a bullet between his eyes.”
“Death is the easy way out. He deserves to watch his life clock run out behind bars.” Harper’s breathing evens, and the panic leaves her eyes.
“If you ever need to talk through any of this, I’m a great listener.”
She laughs. “No shit. I’ve spent hours with you where you said no more than two words.”
I smile and shrug. “I’ll never judge you.”
“Thank you,” she says as she visibly relaxes.
A yawn escapes her, and I can see exhaustion on her face.
A long silence fills the room, and her breaths turn soft and steady.
“You should go to sleep.”
“You’re right,” she says, no longer fighting it.
Harper has been lost in her head all day, and I gave her space while she read one of the thriller novels from the bookshelf. But I was only at arm’s length from her the whole day.
I stand, and she follows me into the bedroom. She crawls under the blankets, and I sit on the edge of the bed.
“You’re not joining me?”
I shake my head. “I have work to do, unfortunately. I’ll stay with you until you’re in dreamland. Deal?”
“Okay. Will you tell me a bedtime story?” She smiles in the dim light, eyes half closed. “Something to distract me.”
A chuckle escapes me as I think about the innocence of her request. “A bedtime story, huh?”
She nods sleepily. “Make it a good one.”
I lean back against the headboard and clear my throat. “Once upon a time … there was a very stubborn princess. Her name was Little Miss Disaster.”
Her smile widens a little, her eyes fluttering closed as she whispers playfully, “Sounds familiar.”
I laugh, continuing in a gentle, teasing tone. “She loved napping so much that the whole kingdom called her Sleeping Beauty. But she had a problem—she snored like a baby bear.”