Page 62 of My Solemn Vow

I nod dumbly and try to come up with an answer.

“Dad?” Kerrianne calls from somewhere nearby.

“In the range,” Valor calls, his fingers lingering against my skin before he slowly lets me go like he’s physically suffering for it.

“I need another snack,” Kerrianne says from the doorway as she looks at her toes, getting them as close as she can to the transition from the carpeted floor to the absorbent rubber under our feet.

“You gonna grow on me or what, little velociraptor?” Valor gives her the smile I wanted to see.

“I don’t know. Grandma says I’m gonna be big like you.” Kerrianne shrugs. “Royal says I eat more than he does, which isn’t possible. He ate a whole pizza all by himself, and I only had two slices.”

“He definitely eats a lot.” Valor agrees with her. “I’ll put these away, and then we can figure out an afternoon snack.”

“Okay.” Kerrianne nods and walks away from the door.

When she’s gone, Valor begins cleaning up, and I help carry safety gear back to the vault he got it out of. After putting it all away in silence, he closes the door behind us. I lead the way back toward the rest of the house, but his fingers wrap around my wrist, and he spins me to the wall.

His lips crash into mine, and the kiss is full of heat. An inferno brews in my belly, and I want more of the offerings Valor has pressed against me. After a nearly breathless minute, Valor lowers the intensity of the kiss between us.

“Thank you,” Valor says softly, his lips barely pulled away from mine.

“For what?” My voice is breathier than I’d like it to be.

Valor frees my wrist and then runs his hand up along my arm and around the back of my neck. I stiffen as he holds me on the rougher side of gentle. “For explaining us to Kerrianne. This wasn’t something I was expecting to have to explain to my daughter, ever.”

“Ever?” I bring my hand up to his chest, but I don’t know if I want to push him away. “I find it difficult to believe that you thought you’d never find a woman to marry.”

“I never wanted to bring a woman home to my daughter. She deserves all my attention, and no woman was worth ruining that connection I have with her.” His words sting, but he brings his other hand to rest on my waist.

It’s reassuring in contrast to the near accusation that I’m here to ruin things. In a few more breaths, Valor leans away. My eyes take a moment to focus, but I see him clearly.

Hard lines etch into his forehead as he’s stern with me, narrowing his eyes. “I’ll never choose you over her.”

“I would never ask you to.” I shake my head and then sigh, dropping my hand from his chest and casually letting it knock away the one he has resting on my waist. “Besides, I’m not sure I would pick you over her either.”

A smile tugs at his lips.

Hot and cold... Hot and cold... If only I could figure out how to navigate him.

29

VALOR

LATE NIGHT VIEWING PARTY

“So...” Antonella looks at the king-size bed in my suite as she comes out of the bathroom after her bed prep routine and changing into pajamas. “Which side is mine?”

“Take your pick. I get pushed around to whatever side has the most room when Kerrianne comes in if she has a nightmare, wants to snuggle, or wakes me up way too early trying to pull me out of bed.” I strip out of my shirt and yawn, releasing tension from my body.

“Alright, well, I’ve been sleeping in the middle of a queen, so aren’t we a pair.” Antonella sighs but then picks the side of the bed closest to the window.

Tactically, it puts me closer to the door and to Kerrianne, and I realized that I did have a preference after all.Works out, then.

Despite feeling like I could sleep for a good sixteen hours, my brain doesn’t turn off when I lie down. It’s filled with the buzzing sound of too many thoughts and situations that haven’t been sorted. Antonella’s still form is beside me, and I can’t keep tossing and turning. It’s not fair to deprive her of sleep because it’s eludingme.

I slip out of bed and go down to my office, where I open my laptop. Normally, I lean on my tech-genius brother, Royal, to handle a lot of things. But there is something I have unfiltered access to without needing his expertise.

The school’s security system feed filters right into my security company’s cloud. Only three people have access to view footage: me, Royal, and Doctor Thatcher. So, it doesn’t take me long to log in through a few firewalls and select the date files.