Page 123 of Daddy's Naughty List

Raleigh nodded, reading the paper again. “That’s what I thought. There are some pretty serious allegations here. I’m going to need a list of the places you’ve taken them, and the names of anyone who talked to you while you were out in a way that questioned your care of the twins.”

Bliss began to tremble, so Connor pulled her closer. This time she didn’t even struggle. “You need to tell us what’s going on, Raleigh. You’re scaring Bliss.” His words came out sharper than he’d intended, and Raleigh broke into the same kind of knowing smile Reid had the night before.

“Sorry. Allegations of abuse and neglect have been made. Wait, who watches the twins at Bundles of Joy?”

Bliss groaned. “Her name is Sandy Wainwright. She does a good job with the twins, but I’ve always gotten the feeling she didn’t like me very much. Nothing I can point to really, just a feeling. It’s weird because I’d never met her before I started working at the daycare. Why, do you think she had something to do with the allegations?”

It was Connor’s turn to flinch. Sandy fucking Wainwright. He’d dated the woman on and off for the past year, but she wasn’t worth the effort. The woman was petty and vindictive and didn’t have a Little bone in her body.

Her being the one that made the allegations explained everything. This whole situation was his fault. He wanted to rip something into tiny pieces. When Bliss realized he was the one who’d brought this whole mess to her door, it was going to be that much harder to mend the bridges he’d burned the night before.

But when he thought about it, maybe this was a good thing. If it was Sandy, he could go talk to her and get her to rescind the allegations. His jaw clenched at the thought of talking to her again. He’d shut that door for a reason. But he’d talk to her in a heartbeat if it would clear all this up for Bliss. He wished he’d known she was the viper looking after the twins. He’d have warned Bliss to be careful.

“Connor.” Raleigh called his name, drawing him out of his head. “You recognize that name?”

“You could say that. Sandy and I dated on and off for about a year and a half. I broke it off with her—shit, I broke it off with her three months ago.”

“So, a few weeks before Bliss moved back to Darling.”

Connor ground his teeth before snarling, “Yeah.”

He couldn’t even look at Bliss. Even though she had no right to feel betrayed, he couldn’t take seeing it in her eyes.

She leaped off his legs. “That witch! Do you mean to tell me she’s trying to get my children taken away from me because she’s jealous? Argh! That makes me so freakin’ mad.”

She paced the room, never looking at Connor. It was like he wasn’t even there anymore. He tried to take comfort in the fact that she was angry at Sandy instead of him, but he wanted her back in his lap.

Raleigh held out a hand. “Calm down. You’re going to wake the girls. Worse, Mrs. Talon is going to hear you.”

Bliss froze, hand over her mouth, eyes wide. Her gaze shot directly to him, then darted away. He might be grasping at straws, but he took that as a good sign. When she was afraid or needed comfort, she looked to him first. She might not want to, but she did.

Raleigh stepped closer to Connor and motioned for Bliss to do the same. “I think I have a solution to your problem. It’ll work, but you both have to be all in.”

Bliss answered first. “Of course. Anything. Just tell us what to do.”

Connor took that as another good sign, too. In her mind, they could be a team, if only for the time it took to deal with Child Protective Services.

He nodded at Raleigh. “I’m in. Just tell us what to do and we’ll do it.”

Raleigh grinned. “I was hoping you’d say that. I’m going to go talk with Mrs. Talon. She’s going to do a walk through the house and have a look at the babies, but not touch them. You two are going to sit on the couch, too consumed with your love for each other to worry about her. When she’s gone, I’m going to my office to set up a plan because I’m relatively sure she’s going to be able the get a court hearing out of this, which we are going to win?—”

Bliss broke in, protesting. “But it isn’t true. How can they get a hearing if it isn’t true?”

Fuck it. She was getting upset and she was too far away. He reached for her, snagged her wrist, and pulled her back onto his lap. She struggled for a few seconds, then calmed and relaxed onto him just like before. The tightness in his chest released and he could breathe again.

Raleigh continued. “They can because this is a small town at heart and it’s more about who you know than what you did. I’m on this, Bliss. I promise. We’ll go to court, and we’ll win. Then this whole unpleasant situation will disappear. Isn’t that right, Connor? We know exactly what we need to do.”

Raleigh stared at him like he was missing the obvious. Connor wasn’t missing anything. He’d give anything for his girl not to be in this ridiculous situation. But since she was there, he was going to be the one to get her out of it. And hopefully rebuild the trust he’d lost.

He knew what they needed to do, and doing it didn’t upset him at all. The only thing he didn’t know was how Bliss would react. But after he found the perfect ring, he was going to find out.

Chapter Eleven

Bliss

Bliss struggled down the street in Darling, Sadie and Sophie in a stroller in front of her and Nori wrapped up in a baby carrier and nestling against her chest. It should not be this hard to find an outfit to wear to a hearing. But she’d been to five stores so far and found nothing.

Every piece of clothing she owned was either stretched, stained, or plain worn out. If she went before a judge wearing anything she owned, Child Protective Services wouldn’t even have to argue their case. She’d make it for them.

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