Page 142 of The Broken Aztec Princesses

“Yep,” I answered and turned around, finding him close behind me. “You’re very quiet when you want to be.”

“And yet, somehow, you saw me every time I was trying to protect you.” He frowned, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.

“I didn’t. Not at first, but I saw you sleeping outside my room a few nights ago, and then I started looking for you.”

“I was trying to give you the distance I thought we both needed, but I couldn’t stop myself from needing to see you and trying to keep you safe,” he whispered.

I leaned up and gave him a small kiss on the cheek. “Let’s go have breakfast, then you can walk me to the daycare.”

“Ca-can I stay with you there?”

“You want to help with the kids?” I asked.

That was not in his job description at all, though he was good with Adam.

“I—Yes. I do.”

“You know you’re on vacation right?”

“I don’t need vacation. I just want to be near you.” He winced suddenly. “That makes me sound pathetic, doesn’t it?”

“If it does, then so am I, because I hate being away from you.”

We went downstairs and met with Cade and Bells who were deep in a heated conversation in a corner, while Adam was already digging into pancakes.

“Hey,” I said as we entered to make sure they knew we were there.

“Hey, Adrien is arriving this afternoon,” Bells said, glaring at Cade one last time before coming to the table.

“Everything okay?” I asked.

“Yeah.Someoneis trying to back out of the agreement we had is all. I have to put Adrien in your old room. It’s the only one available besides the original Alpha room, and that one isn’t ready for guests. Will that work for you?”

“I—Yes, but did you check with Adrien?” I asked, looking at the tense posture Cade had as he sat down.

“Why would I need to?” Bells cocked her head in confusion, and I felt uncomfortable voicing my suspicions.

“I haven’t seen Adrien since I was kidnapped. Aunt Kassie said he doesn’t blame me, but why wouldn’t he come to see me otherwise?”

“Vi, what happened wasn’t your fault,” Bells said right off the bat.

I shifted a little more, closer to Chris so I could get some comfort and courage from him.

“If she hadn’t been trying to cheer me up, nothing would have happened,” I replied.

“Bu—”

“I don’t want to talk about it, Bells. I know it’s not technically my fault. I didn’t ask for what happened any more than Tori did. It doesn’t change the fact that he can’t even look at me anymore. Just make sure it’s okay for him to be that close to me. I can always go to a hotel for a few nights.”

“You’re not going anywhere. If he’s not comfortable, I can put him in one of the empty houses. I’m sure I can find one that’s livable.”

“Why is he coming, anyway?” I asked, trying to change the subject.

“He’s coming to help Elim catch the chupacabra.”

“The what?” Chris and I asked at the same time.

“Shit. I didn’t tell you yet, did I? The demon dog thingy. Uncle Helios recognized it as a chupacabra.”

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