Page 18 of Kneeling for Them

He shrugs.“To us, it’s not a lot.”

“And that’s another problem with it,” she exclaims.Her eyes go shiny with tears, but she doesn’t cry.“You can just throw money at any problem and make it go away.”

Sebastian jolts as if he’s been slapped.“That’s—no, Ella.We just want to help you.We want you to be safe and happy.We want you with us, but if you won’t stay with us, we at least want you safe somewhere else.That building of yours is terrible.The front door is hanging open half the time, so anyone can just walk in, and you said your apartment door was kicked in.It shouldn’t be that easy for someone to break into your home.”

“I’m getting a new door.”

“And the front door to the building?”I ask.

“I’ve asked the manager to fix it.”

“How long has it been broken?”I ask.

She shrugs.“A while.”

I stare at her.

“A few weeks,” she admits.“Maybe a couple of months.”

“And he still hasn’t fixed it,” I say.“He must be aware, yet not doing anything.”

I don’t want to ask her why she hasn’t escalated the problem—because a part of me knows why she hasn’t.She’s tired.The poor girl is working two jobs and, from what it seems to me, barely staying afloat financially.

“Okay, here’s the thing,” Sebastian says, striding forward and kneeling in front of Ella.“We’re your daddies, princess.We take care of you.Right now, you aren’t able to care for yourself, and there’s absolutely no fucking shame in that.But we cannot let you couch-surf while your apartment manager sits on his ass and doesn’t fix the safety hazards of your building.”

“I’m handling it,” she says.

I arch an eyebrow and hold her gaze until she looks down.

“I’m not handling it,” she whispers.

“No, you’re not,” I say.

I take her hand and give it a gentle squeeze.Bash takes her other hand.

“We have some options,” I say in a quiet voice.“One: we find you an apartment and help you move.Two: you move in with one of us.”

She starts to shake her head.

“Let me finish, please,” I say.

She bites her lip and holds still.

“Or three: you let us apply some pressure on your landlord and on the building manager.I don’t love that you’re staying in the Bellefleur District, but it is your home, and this is your life, and you get to choose where you live.As long as it’s safe.That means functioning doors and locks, good lighting outside, and possibly some security monitoring.”

A tear leaks from the corner of Ella’s eye.She lets go of my hand to wipe it away, but I get there first, brushing it from her skin with my thumb.

“Can you tell us what you’re feeling right now?”Bash asks softly.

She’s quiet for a moment.“Just…nobody has cared this much about my safety since my dad.He would hate what I’ve been doing.”

“With us?”I ask, my voice sharper than I intended.

“No.”She gives me a watery smile.“He would’ve liked you—he would’ve liked both of you.But he would hate that I’ve been working late and coming back to that building.I’m not ready to move in with either of you, or accept your help in paying for another place.But if you could help me get the building manager and landlord to fix a few things, I would appreciate that.”

Outwardly, I give her an encouraging smile.Inwardly, I frown.It’s not the answer I want, even though it’s the answer I expected.

But it’s something, and I think it’s the most we could’ve hoped for.