Before I could stop myself, a broken sound tore out of me, and my vision blurred completely.
“Daddy—” I cried.
He leaned forward instantly. “Hey, cherub. Hey, hey, I’ve got you.” His voice cracked on the last word as he stood and gathered me carefully into his arms, mindful of the IV, the wires, everything. “I’m here. I’m right here.”
I clutched at his shirt, my fingers fisted in the fabric, my whole body shaking as sobs wracked through me, ugly and unstoppable.
“I thought—” I choked. “I thought you—Father said—”
“I know,” Daddy murmured, pressing his forehead to my temple. His hand moved from my hair to cradle the back of my head, steady and sure. “He’ll never speak like that to you ever again.”
“But—but you were with them,” I wept. “I thought you left me. I thought I’d done something wrong.”
“No,” he said immediately, his grip tightening just a little. “No. You didn’t do anything wrong. I would never leave you. Never.” He pulled back just enough to look at me, his hands framing my face, the one hovering just over my skin to not touch the wound there. “Do you hear me? You’re mine, Elior. None of this changes that.”
I nodded desperately, even as tears spilled down my cheeks and soaked into his shirt.
“You’re safe,” he whispered. “You’re safe now.”
I buried my face against his chest, breathing him in—soap and sweat and the familiar heady musk of him that made my limbs weak with relief. My crying softened but didn’t stop,the sound breaking into hiccuping breaths as my body caught up with the truth of him being there.
“I don’t understand anything,” I murmured brokenly.
Daddy rocked me gently, his thumb tracing slow, grounding circles at my shoulder. “It’s okay. You don’t have to understand. I’m going to take care of you, baby.”
Somewhere behind us, Patel cleared his throat, drawing Daddy’s attention. His eyes hardened, and his grip on me tightened as he turned his head to look at the man.
“What?” Daddy asked.
Patel’s eyes flicked from Daddy to me. “You should have a better understanding of what happened and what’s going to happen.”
Jace growled lowly, squeezing the back of my neck harder until I whimpered. His head whipped back around, and realizing his grip on me was too much, he released and began massaging the area gently. “Oh, shit. I’m sorry, baby. I didn’t mean to hurt you.” His eyes were full of concern.
“It’s okay…” I whispered.
“Agbayani, you asked to be the one to explain things to him. So explain, or I will,” Patel said from his place on the wall.
Jace’s jaw flexed.
He looked down at me, then back at Patel, and for a moment I thought he might argue. Instead, he exhaled roughly, like he was forcing himself to stand down from a fight.
“Give us a minute,” he said.
Patel didn’t move. “I’m not leaving the room.”
“Don’t trust me?”
“No.”
Jace’s lips thinned with displeasure, but he nodded once. “Fine.”
His attention returned to me, softer now. He shifted so he was sitting on the edge of the bed, close enough that my knee brushed his thigh. One of his hands stayed on my arm, warm and comforting.
“Okay,” he said quietly. “I need you to listen to me, cherub. And if it gets too much, you tell me, and I’ll stop, okay?”
I nodded. My chest felt tight, like I was bracing for a hit.
“I’m an FBI agent,” he said.
