That’s a level of trust I don’t think I’ve ever had in any other human being. Ironic, given my career choice, but the thought of anyone gossiping about me makes my stomach churn.
“What if I say no?”
“Then you can stay,” Daddy says simply, earning him a sigh from Uncle Max and a scoffing laugh from Jasper.
“See? This is what I was talking about Maxwell. No discipline.”
“Don’t be an ass, Jasper,” Auntie Cat snaps.
Ignoring all of them, Daddy cups my cheek in one large, rough hand. “What are you afraid will happen if you go, kitten?”
To my utter humiliation, tears sting my eyes at the simple question. “I just don’t want everyone talking about me behind my back.”
“Ah. I see. What if I promise that nobody will be allowed to say anything mean about you?”
“Can you really promise that?”
“I’ve cut out tongues for far less, little one.”
From the corner of my eye, I can see Jasper raise a hand to his mouth, as if protecting his tongue and I can’t help but giggle. “Okay, Daddy. I trust you.”
“That’s my good girl. Let’s go find your Papa so you and your friends can go play for a bit while the grownups talk.”
Chapter Sixteen
Evander
As soon as Lucas whisks our Little ones away, I pin Jasper with a hard stare. “I promised my kitten I would cut out your tongue for one mean word against her. You should know I always keep my promises.”
His answering snarl might have been impressive if I thought he had anything to back it up. “You can’t just go around threatening to cut out tongues, Evander.”
“Why not? It’s worked rather splendidly for me in the past.”
“All right, you two.” Stepping between us again with a sigh, Maxwell holds his hands out, as if to symbolically keep us in our respective corners. “That’s more than enough of this. We’re supposed to be a family, and that means finding a way to work through our issueswithoutliteral bloodshed.”
I let my lips curve, baring my teeth at the men I’ve come to consider brothers. “That may be how you deal with things in your family but I can promise it isn’t how we deal with them in mine.”
“Fair enough. But I can’t let you cut out Jasper’s tongue, as much as he may deserve it.”
“What the fuck, Maxwell?”
Maxwell pins him with a glare. “You know you wouldn’t let anyone speak to your Little girl the way Juliet spoke to Natalie. She was unnecessarily mean and she owes Natalie an apology. As do you, for agreeing with her.”
“Nothing she said was untrue.”
“That isn’t the point and you know it. You’ve allowed your anger over being discovered to cloud your judgement when it comes to our newest little niece.”
“Maybe.” Jasper’s tone is begrudging, bordering on sulky. “But Evander needs to get her in line and keep her there. If she keeps getting away with disrespecting us, the other Littles will pick up on it and we’ll have a serious problem on our hands.”
Our fearless leader turns to me, one dark brow raised. “Evander?”
I’m not a man who makes apologies easily. But I can admit when I’m wrong. And as much as it grates, Jasper does have a point.
He’s still an asshole, though.
“I may have been a bit too lenient with her the other night. It won’t happen again.”
“See that it doesn’t. Because Jasper is right. We need to provide a united front when it comes to certain things and respect is at the top of that list. You want to let her have an extra slice of cake for dessert, I don’t give a flying fuck. But you know good and well if any ofourLittle ones called someone an asshole, especially to their face, they wouldn’t sit comfortably for at least the rest of the day. You cannot allow Natalie to think she’s above those kinds of consequences, or else it’s going to breed resentment. And I will not have this family ripped apart just because Jasper is an asshole.”
