ahead of time and thinks all I do is work or sit on my ass when Willow’s with her. I wasn’t the only
person who forgot to use a condom one fucking time, but you don’t see me getting pissed off at her, do
you? I do everything I can to make sure my daughter’s taken care of, but when someone else fucks up,
suddenly I’m the one who needs to get better about talking?”
“Vivvie, can you keep an ear out for Willow?” I recognized the deep rumble in Daddy’s voice.
“Yeah, I’ll text you if she wakes up,” Gen promised.
“I can’t leave her here alone,” I protested. Hell, I felt like shit because I hadn’t even checked on
her since coming in the back door. I’d let myself get distracted by Gen, and now Daddy was trying to
pull me away. I set down the knife and wiped my hands as I walked to the living room.
Her sweat-dampened hair clung to her forehead. I kneeled in front of her, pressing my lips to her
skin. She was warm, but not feverish, so either she was already on the mend or William had given her
some medicine before they laid down together.
“Let her rest, Corey,” William urged me. “She’s in good hands with my sister, and we’re not going
to be far away. We need to talk, and I think it’d be better done where we don’t have to worry about
her overhearing.”
“We can talk later,” I insisted, plopping down on the floor, ready to stay there until Willow woke
up.
“No, we’re going to talk while she sleeps because I know you’ll try putting it off again once she’s
awake,” he demanded. Daddy gripped my hand tightly and dragged me out the back door and toward
his apartment. “Vivvie, we’ll be back down shortly.”
“Sounds good.” She waved as if it wasn’t strange to see her brother dragging someone out of the
house.
“You do know she hates it when you call her that, right?” I’m not sure why I thought this was a
good time to lecture him about a silly childhood nickname, but the connections between my brain and
my mouth weren’t exactly working.
Daddy released my hand and I followed him up the stairs, leaning back while he opened the door.
The second it closed behind us, he had me pressed against the wall, the weight of his body holding me
captive. “I know you’re upset, Corey, but what would you have done if Willow heard you talking like
that? Now, she might not have understood because she’s young, but what if she did? Is that something
you want stuck in her head?”
