“One more round,”I replied, refusing to acceptthata ten-year-old was kicking my ass.
She raised an eyebrow.“Do you not like money or something?”
I snorted. For the last two hours, the kid had given me nothing but attitude.“Deal the cards,Bilbo.”
She poked her tongue at me as she collected the cards. I’d given her the nicknameBilbo Bagginsafter I’d suggested we watchThe Lord Of The Rings,my favorite movie, only for her to tell methatshe thought it sucked.
Dealing the cards, the front door slammed. Billie’s panicked gaze shot to mine, but before I couldevenget out of my seat, Kiera walked into the living room, freezing at the sight of Billie and me sitting on the floor with poker chips spread out between us.
“What on earth is going on?”Kiera hissed, looking from Billie to me, disapproval written on her face.
Noting the panic still on Billie’s face, I offered her a reassuring smile before getting to my feet and crossing to Kiera.“Let’s talk.”
I nodded to the kitchen, not waiting for her reply as I headedthatway. Kiera followed, and the second she closed the door behind her, she rounded on me.“What the fuck do you think you’re playing at, Jackson? There’s one thing using Alec to get to me, but I willnothave you using my daughter.”
My brow quirked as I leaned against the island, crossing one ankle over the other.“Are you finished?”Her reply was to glare daggers at me.“If you must know, I came to see you and found Billie here on her own-”
“On her own? Alec was supposed to be looking after her.”
“Yeah, well, he decided work was more important.”
She muttered a curse, her eyes hardening.“You should have phoned me,”she snapped, accusation heavy in her tone.
In three strides, I crossed the kitchen, gripping her chin between my thumb and finger and making her look up at me.“Watch your tone, Kiki. I have no problem teaching you respect, regardless of whether Billie is here or not.”
I glowered at her, silently daring her to challenge me, and kinda hoping she would. I had a number of ideas rolling around my brain as to how I would teach her respect, and all of them involved her ass getting a damn good spanking.
She yanked her chin free, her shoulders slumping.“I’m sorry. I didn’t think Alec would leave her. He’s never donethatbefore.”
“That you know of.”
Her eyes closed as she released a heavy exhale.“ThatI know of.”She fell silent for several long seconds, and when she finally opened her eyes, tears shimmered in them.“Thank you for being here for her. I…I appreciate it.”
Unable to resist, I reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.“It was my pleasure. She’s a good kid, Kiki. You’ve done a good job with her.”
A thick tension settled around us, and I realized I hadn’t taken my hand away from cupping her cheek. Not meaning to, my gaze dropped to her lips, andfuck, every single part of me ached to kiss her.
To wrap her and Billie in my arms and claim them so Alec could never hurt either one of them.
The kitchen door creaked open, and I jumped back. Kiera wiped her palms down the front of her jeans as Billie poked her head in.“Mom, can we carry on playing poker now? Jackson owes me fifty dollars.”
Kiera chuckled as she met my stare, her brow raised.“Did James not tell you he’s trained a master poker player?”
“No. Must have slipped his mind,”I huffed, before grinning at Billie.“Come onthen, Bilbo. Deal the cards and maybetryto give me a shot at winning my money back.”
As the afternoon rolled on, all thoughts of Alec leaving Billie alone, or himevenreturning from work, had disappeared from my mind. Kiera and Billie’s too, if their carefree laughter was anything to go by.
I’d long since given up trying to win my money back, reluctantly acceptingthatBillie was a darn good poker player, and encouraging her to keep at it because one day, she’d be good enough to play professionally.
With the poker chips packed away, I was about to leave when Billie begged me to stay so we could playMonopoly. Remembering how Kiera used to have tantrums whenever she lost at the game, I decided it was too good an opportunity to miss.
For the last hour, we’d been moving our pieces around the board, andfinally, I was winning at something, much to both Kiera and Billie’s dismay.
“That’s mine!”Kiera squealed when I landed on Baltic Avenue with two houses.
“Chill, woman. It’s like four dollars.”
“Sixty with two houses, actually,”she replied, grinning like she’d won an Olympic gold medal.
