He took another swig of whiskey to drive out the scornful voices.
Hinges creaked, and his head swung in the direction of the door. It had better not be Kitty. His temper simmered dangerously.If she wants me to fuck another customer—or fuck her…
“Andrew?” Primrose’s head poked around the corner.
At the sight of her tear-stained face, his anger receded.
“What’s the matter, little chick?” he said with concern. “Another nightmare?”
“Y-yes.” Her voice hitched.
At three, the tot was having bad dreams with increasing regularity. He’d told Kitty that the girl needed a nanny to watch over her at night, to which Kitty had replied:And I need a proper mansion in Mayfair, but neither of those things are going to happen.
He patted the place next to him. “Do you want to tell me about it?”
Primrose dashed over pell-mell, scrambling onto the bed and throwing her short little arms around his waist. “It was scary,” she sobbed. “I was scared.”
“Monsters again?” he said gently.
She nodded, her tears soaking through his robe. “Bigmonsters. Loud ones stomping through the house.”
He cursed silently. A brothel was no place to raise a child.
“There are no such thing as monsters,” he said.
Primrose looked up at him with glimmering jade eyes. “I s-saw some in the hall.Threemonsters. So ugly they had to wear masks!”
He choked back a laugh.Out of the mouths of babes…
Lips twitching, he said, “You’re safe in here. I won’t let the monsters get you.”
“I know.” Her smile temporarily chased away his own demons. “Andrew?”
“Yes?”
“Areyouever scared?”
He hesitated. “Yes.”
“What are you afraid of?”
He thought of the faceless customers, the perfumed hellholes, the poverty.
“That things will never change,” he said quietly.
He’d never given voice to his worst fear before. Didn’t know why he would do so in front of Primrose, a bantling who couldn’t understand.
“I don’t like change.” Her bottom lip trembled. “I don’t like new things.”
“Some new things are good. Don’t you want a new dress, a nicer house to live in?”
She shook her head—then surprised him by throwing her arms around him again. “I don’t want anything but you.”
With those words, she reached inside him and touched his heart. Unlike others in his life, she didn’t try to take it or rip it out or mold it in any way. She just… held it. The way a child holds an injured bird, trying to coax it to fly.
His throat thickened. “You have me, little one.”
“Promise?” Her head tipped back, her eyes searching his.
