Page 207 of Guardian Daddy

No, no. She didn’t like blood.

You could pinch yourself.

Oh, she liked that idea. She sharply pinched her forearm.

Yep. That worked better.

“Where’s Cate?” Rhodes asked as Ethan walked into the living room.

Fuck.

He’d told her to wait for him. Maybe she’d been busting. What was he thinking? He should have taken her to the toilet before going to talk to Butch.

But he’d been gone three or four minutes at the most.

“She was supposed to be right here.” Ethan turned toward her bedroom. “I’m just going to go find her.”

“Fuck! You left her? You can’t leave her like that. I’ll go find her!”

Ethan turned to him. “I thought we’d settled this. You know I’m not going to hurt her. I care about her. I want to look after her.”

Rhodes sighed and looked away, but Ethan knew he was listening.

“I know you want to take care of her. I get it. I want to do the same. But Cate has her own mind. Her own feelings. She can make her own decisions.”

“I know that,” Rhodes said. “I’m just trying to stop her from getting hurt.”

“We have more in common than you know, since I want that too.”

“Fuck. Fine. But I’m coming as well. I have to make sure she’s all right.” Was that fear on Rhodes’ face? Why would he be scared?

Not for the first time, Ethan wondered if there was something he was missing. He understood Rhodes being protective, but he often seemed over-the-top.

And this was coming from Ethan.

Ethan followed Rhodes to Cate’s bedroom. He knocked twice, then walked in.

Ethan frowned. They needed a lock on the door if that’s all the warning Rhodes gave before walking into her bedroom.

Rhodes strode to her closet, which wasn’t a surprise. Then he knocked again. This time, though, he didn’t just barge in.

“Cate? It’s me. Can I talk to you? Cate?”

“I’m reading,” she called back in a fragile-sounding voice.

“Cate,” Ethan said. “Let us in, please. Or come out here so we can see you.”

“I need to see you, Cate,” Rhodes added. “Protocol.”

Protocol?

What did that mean?

There was definitely something going on here that he didn’t know about. Which didn’t make him happy. He needed to know everything about Cate.

But then the door opened, and Cate was staring out at them, her face was white and her eyes were wide.

His poor baby. This had all been a lot for her. Ethan wanted to gather her up into his arms and hold her tight.

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