Physical pain clutched his chest.
“He said he was going home to get the car seat so we could be released. He said he’d be right back to pick us up.” Her voice cracked slightly despite how controlled she tried to sound. “He disappeared.”
Jesus Christ.
His fingers clenched into a fist. If he ever set eyes on Summer’s ex the guy would be whistling through his asshole.
“I had to call Granny Helen to come get us.”
For a second Pope honestly couldn’t speak because he could picture it too clearly. Summer sitting there alone after giving birth, waiting for a man who’d decided not to come back.
No wonder she didn’t trust promises. No wonder she looked terrified every time Pope got too close to Ben.
Summer wrapped her arms around herself against the cold. “I won’t bring men into Ben’s life if they won’t stay.”
He’d spent weeks assuming Summer was worried about who he used to be. Worried about the things he’d done. The damage he carried.
But that wasn’t it.
She wasn’t afraid he’d hurt her.
She was afraid he’d forsake her when things got hard.
The realization sat heavy in his chest.
Because life had taught her that eventually everyone left.
Pope moved before he fully thought it through—he took her hand gently and pressed it flat against his chest over his heartbeat.
“I’m here.”
Her breath caught, but she looked down at their hands and whispered, “You’re here to protect us.”
Pope lifted his hand and placed it softly over her heart. Warm. Fragile. Guarded.
“I’ll protect your heart too.” He searched her eyes, bluer behind the tears swimming in them. “You’re safe with me.”
* * * * *
Summer curled into the corner of the couch beside Vander, wondering how the life she’d fought so hard for had tilted sideways in a week.
Cameras monitored the outside of her house now. Black Heart Security had taken charge of her problems.
And Vander sat beside her scrolling through live security feeds on his phone like guarding her family was his only job.
None of it made sense.
And sitting next to him without touching him didn’t make sense to her rioting emotions either.
She had hours to kill before her evening shift, and suddenly she couldn’t think of a single chore she ever did to kill the hours before Ben got home from school. Instead, the only thing on her mind…was climbing into Vander’s lap.
Light streamed in through the curtains, highlighting his profile as he checked the camera app with the same serious focus the man brought to everything.
The entire situation was such a huge departure from their normal routine—and yet it felt so right at the same time.
She watched Vander’s big thumb move across his screen as he sent someone a text. Everything about the man made her ache for things she shouldn’t want.
He set aside his phone and stretched an arm along the back cushions behind her shoulders, not touching but close enough that his body heat tingled along her skin.
