Mia Darling was a menace to my focus, and I couldn’t keep having her be that.
Case in point, every male within a fifty-foot radius was watching her smile in the sun at me in her tiny pink tank and shorts. Her lack of fear shined bright too, which was, frankly,impressive, especially after she revealed to me that a man in her past had tried to exert power over her. I wanted to know who. And why. Just for the record, nothing more.
Although, I’d admit, the idea that any man other than me had tried to hold her against her will didn’t sit well with me.
Even knowing all that, she still wasn’t cowering. She just kept pushing for her way, and I wondered how much it would take for her to wise up.
So far, she hadn’t.
And she needed to, considering she was a part of my daughter’s life now. My number one priority. And my little girl hadn’t even run to greet me with a smile today. She’d stayed by Mia’s side. That was a problem, since I was considering ending that nanny’s life because of the sheer fact that she showed no remorse or guilt about disobeying my specific direction.
Instead, she put her hands on her hips and waited for my response. Just stood there in that loose tank so thin that when the wind blew the fabric, it outlined her every delicious curve. “Well?” She lifted a brow as if I were wasting everyone’s time.
So, that’s how she wanted to die, her chin held high, and fiery hate for me in her eyes?
Yeah. I was going to kill her.
Or if I let her walk away now to go have their picnic, someone was going to snatch her and my daughter, and then I’d have to kill thembeforeI killed her.
Either way, she was dying.
I’d be the one to do it.
She didn’t seem to care though. She spun on a heel as if she’d won and stomped toward my row of cars on the brick driveway, making a big scene about which one to choose. “Franny, do you like shiny black or matte black or, hmm, not a lot of color options. Maybe this one? It looks very fast.”
“I know. I always wanted a pink car but instead they’reall black. Fuchsia is your favorite color too, right?” Of course it was.
“Yes. I love that it’s almost purple but still pink,” Mia answered, like she wasn’t concerned with me and my men waiting for her to move her sweet ass inside.
“We should tell Daddy to get one. But right now, if I could pick to ride on one thing, it would be—”
“Franny,” I cut her off, “go back inside.”
My daughter turned toward me, and I saw the devastation on her face. Not only was Mia directing her anger at me, my daughter was directing her sadness and disappointment. “We’re not going, Daddy?”
“Franny, it’s—”
“Just for an hour? Please?” Mia asked, sayingpleaselike she hated the taste of it on her lips but was willing to sacrifice her pride for my daughter.
It was reckless, idiotic, and completely troublesome that I even considered giving in when I’d just made another of O’Connor’s men disappear. I was picking them apart piece by piece after the incident that we knew they orchestrated now.
Everyone was waiting for a response from me. But both Mia’s pleading eyes and my daughter’s weighed me down. “One hour in town. The clubhouse, Franny. That’s it,” I bit out, but I don’t think anyone heard anything past my time constraint because both Mia and Franny squealed before Franny finally ran toward me.
Her smile was real, her excitement palpable, and for a moment, I felt like I’d done something right with her.
Was it because I’d kept Mia here, or that I’d given in to this one demand? I wasn’t sure, but that woman smiled at me and my freaking chest warmed too. The sun or her brightness. Something was blinding, and that couldn’t be a good thing. Blind spots were weaknesses.
I couldn’t figure out what the feeling was either. It wasn’t one I’d ever felt, and that was dangerous, risky, and somewhat adrenaline inducing. I shouldn’t have enjoyed it.
We got into the Rolls-Royce Phantom because Franny pointed and said, “Shiny black one, please.” I nodded at Hades, so he knew to have some men follow us.
If I was going to be an idiot, we’d need to be well protected. I opened the car door for my daughter, and she jumped in the back seat, but I held Mia’s door closed so she couldn’t open it until I shut Franny’s.
I turned to her. “You’re not following my orders, Ms. Darling.”
We searched one another’s gaze. I searched hers for fear or submission or maybe some sort of contrition. A fire of defiance sparked there—and maybe something more—before she blinked and looked away.
“I appreciate you overlooking that this once for Franny’s sake,” she murmured quietly and tried to open her door again.
