I kissed her head. “I will take care of you.”
She smiled against my chest. A moment later, she was asleep.
Chapter Eight
Neal
When I’d first woken up in Penelope’s penthouse a few weeks ago, I’d expected that as soon as the doctors excused me, the therapist gave me a thumbs-up, or whatever nonsense I needed to publicly be deemed free to resume my pitiful existence, I would’ve been out the door.
But here I was, fully healed, with a gold star from a therapist who had been the most significant impact on my healing journey and with no interest in going anywhere. And it was no secret anymore After the media caught wind of our relationship, I had practically moved into Penelope’s master suite with her.
Madeline had moved home from Adrian’s, and life had simply picked up where it had been left off the day before I ruined Madeline Media’s first ever corporate espionage attack. And while I was not a great warrior or protector like Church, tonight I was on full guard dog duty for Madeline as we attended a parent-daughter event at her school.
It was a formal event. I felt good in the suit I now filled out, and Madeline had gone all out with hair and makeup.
Only for the teen to go rogue a few minutes after we arrived.
I sensed something was amiss when Madeline had nervously moved around the edge of the crowded room. Church wasn’t here, and for the first time I wondered if asking me here was a strategic move on her part. That hurt, since I’d been trying hard to establish a baseline of a relationship with the kid. But I wanted her to like me on my own terms.
Maybe that’s why I’d been such an easy target. One minute I was grabbing her a drink from the snack table, and the next I was standing solo at the back of a dim school gymnasium.
Sighing I put the cups on a nearby table and scanned the room again. I’d been a teenager once, and I knew that being her age was hard enough without a nearly constant bodyguard, an extremely public childhood, and now a former street rat of a man taking you to a dance at your high school.
Torture, pure and simple. I was sure that was how she saw it at times.
“You’re Madeline’s guest, aren’t you?” a voice called out to me, and I turned to the young woman at my arm, clearly one of the teachers who was chaperoning the event. She blinked up at me, her kind expression welcoming.
“I am. I’m her mother’s…friend.” I actually flinched at how inadequate that word was, but she didn’t seem to notice. I had missed her name, but she pushed onward, chatting happily about how good of a kid Madeline was and how much she enjoyed having her as a student. I nodded along but startled when only a minute later, Madeline was gone from the nook she’d been hiding in.
My heart rate sped up, making my blood pulse in my veins. “Where’s Madeline?”
“Excuse me, Mr. Crowe. What did you say?”
“Where is Madeline?”
“I’m sure she’s right here.” The teacher looked around, her face puzzled either at my panic or at the realization that I was right. Madeline hadn’t come back.
I charged off into the crowd, scattering people as my bulk moved through and made room. The teacher followed behind, sputtering out assurances that I didn't believe. When I got to where Madeline had been, I turned, carefully taking in my surroundings.
“Mr. Crowe, hold on. We’ll make an announcement.”
“Save it. I know where she is.” There was a propped-open fire door to the side, and I ducked through with a harsh grunt. “Stay here.”
The teacher might have told me to stop or to wait, but I didn’t wait. Madeline already had a few minutes on me, and my shoulder was still sore as hell after my personal training appointment this morning. I wasn’t sure what I was facing, but I wasn't about to do it with another person to protect. My entire focus needed to be on Madeline.
Fear pounded in my mind, and instead of forcing it out, I focused on it, letting it sharpen my senses, thread strength through my body. My hands fisted as the cold Chicago air buffeted my face when I turned the corner of the building and into the small teachers’ parking lot.
A flash of red.
Madeline. She was fine, or at least she was structurally fine. But I could say one thing. The man talking to her—the boy… He was about to be very, very far from fine. Especially when he stepped forward, pinning her to the wall of the school as he loomed over her.
I must’ve growled, because both of their faces snapped my way. Madeline’s was pale with relief. The boy, maybe a few years older than her, blanched, his mouth tight with fear. Seeing me charging towards them, Madeline shifted towards me, and I felt an overwhelming wave of pride and possessiveness sweep over me. I may not be her father, but I sure as hell planned on securing the gig moving forward.
“You.” I pointed at him. “Get the fuck away from her.”
“Wait…wait… I—”
I opened my arm, relief warring with the fury that rose in my gut as Madeline tucked herself up against my side. “I don’t knowwhat the fuck you thought you were doing with my daughter, but you’re done. Get out of here.”
