Page 141 of Daddy's Wild Girl

“I might have. Ari was different, though.”

“Why?” Corbin asked in a dark voice.

“Why does it smell in here?” Hayes asked, stepping into the room.

“It hasn’t been aired out in a while,” Kent explained. “Clint won’t let anyone in the house to clean or to help with the baby or with Charlie. He seems to think he’s got to do it all himself. He’s not sleeping, barely eating or bathing. Honestly, he’s a mess.”

Hell.

He sounded like he’d gotten worse.

“Why aren’t you with Bebe?” he snapped at Hayes.

“She’s fine. She’s got someone with her.”

“No one will get to her here,” Kent added.

Nonetheless, he wasn’t going to let Kent avoid answering him. “How is Ari different from Bebe?”

Kent shrugged. “I suppose there are some similarities. You’re her bodyguard. And Ari had an awful mother too. But Ari was quiet and shy, without the, uh . . . presence that Bebe has.”

“Is that your way of saying she has a reputation? Because people watched that fucked-up show about her and judged her without knowing her?”

Corbin was getting mad. He didn’t think he’d ever been angry at Kent before, but he honestly expected better from his boss.

“Yeah, who’d do that?” Hayes drawled.

“Urgh. Point taken.” Kent rubbed his hand over his face. “Sorry. I can’t believe I even said any of that. Her mother told me some things and I guess it colored my perception of her. She made her sound like a troublemaker. Manipulative and selfish.”

“Trust me, she’s not the manipulative, selfish one,” Corbin told him. “Her mother has either neglected her or tried to dictate her whole life. If Bebe doesn’t do what her mother wants, then Barb finds a way to punish her. And there is no way in hell she’s doing that show again. Barb is crazy to believe that. Nor will I let her punish Bebe for not wanting to do it.”

Kent shook his head. “Unbelievable. I can’t believe that Benton doesn’t see what his wife is like. I trust you, Corbin. I trust your opinion and your judge of character.”

“This is my girl, Kent. I expect everyone here to treat her well,” he warned.

“I’m sure they will.”

Yeah. They would. No one here would be rude. But would they welcome her? He didn’t want her to follow the same pattern of doing reckless things to work through her pain rather than talking about it.

So everyone better bloody well treat her like a queen or they’d have him to answer to.

Kent slapped him on the back. “Let’s go meet your girl.”

Wait.

He turned to Hayes. “Who the hell is she with?”

36

Corbin gaped at his girl in shock.

She was sitting next to Clint on the couch. A sleeping Clint. Who had his feet up on an ottoman and a blanket over his legs.

Oh, and he also had a baby strapped to his chest.

This was who Hayes had left his girl with? Clint, who was likely sleeping the sleep of the dead?

He glared at the other man.

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