But I didn’t have time to really appreciate it since I was trying to stop my children from barging into someone’s home like they owned it.
I guess they learned a whole lot from me.
Barging into Cash’s world like I had the right to it. Hijacking his life like I was entitled to it.
Cash only chuckled, and his low voice drifted over me from behind. “Think you’re going to find you don’t have a thing to worry about.”
I nearly made it to Addy and Colin by the time they hit the end of the massive hall.
“We’re here!” both Colin and Addy shouted as they burst through the opening.
I skidded to a stop behind them when I came face to face with the scene.
It was an enormous great room with a family area on the right and the kitchen to the left. Nearly the entire thing hadbig windows that overlooked a rambling meadow in the back. Gorgeous scenery with the lawn expansive and extending out from the wraparound porch.
A stream cut through the middle of the field, and a few towering trees were dotted throughout before the yard gave way to the woods on the other side.
But it was the people inside that made my ribs compress so tightly that I felt like I would implode.
Their conversations clipped off and every pair of eyes swung to us.
I started to inch backward. Needing to hide the way I did when I was young.
Only I backed right into a solid body.
Cash was right there.
Blocking my escape.
His presence holding me up when my legs went weak.
Heat flashed to my cheeks as I watched their mouths gape as they stared, my throat thick as I shifted my weight from side to side.
I can do this.
I can do this.
Cash edged around me and came to stand at my side, and their gaping mouths basically unhinged and clattered to the floor at the sight of Cash still holding my youngest daughter hooked to his hip while his free hand returned to the base of my spine.
Shock freezing them as they stared like they were witnessing the unfathomable.
My shock blazed right back.
Holy crap.
I wasn’t even close to imagining them correctly.
Four men gawked back from the other side of the large kitchen island. These terrifying beasts who oozed menace andperil. Completely covered in tattoos. So clearly dangerous that my stomach twisted in a fit of nerves.
Right then, I was registering just how deadly Cash must be.
Because that’s what these men looked like.
Deadly.
Different than Ethan, though. It wasn’t hidden behind perfect smiles and tailored suits.
It was clear and patent.
