Page 161 of Filthy Savage

“Arthur. He’s mean,” Fia volunteers.

“Is that so?” he asks.

Adora nods, her bottom lip puckering.

“If he ever touches you again, you push him harder, okay, baby? You don’t let anyone do that to you.”

“Don’t worry, Uncle Tynan. I pushed him back.” Fia grins.

“That’s my girl,” I whisper in her ear, and she curls her arms tightly around my neck.

“I swear, I’m not ready for this.” Tynan sighs.

“Tell me about it. I don’t know what the hell I’m gonna do when some asshole…” I whisper. “…breaks her heart.”

“We’ll break his.” A short laugh escapes. “Permanently.”

“Sounds about right.”

“Oh, I forgot to tell you…” He opens the back door of his SUV and places Adora inside, strapping her in while glancing over. “I need you to fly to New York City to meet some new investors for that property we were talking about buying in SoHo.”

“When?”

I hate leaving my girls, but work is work.

“Tomorrow. I’ll message you the details once I confirm with them.”

“Sure.”

“So, how’s Amara dealing with her new family?” He shuts the door and makes it around to the driver’s side.

“As well as she can. But I regret not killing that father of hers after the way he spoke to her. It fucking eats at me.”

He clasps a palm on my shoulder, staring straight at me. “If you did, you might have lost her. I think you did the right thing. Though no one says his car can’t hit a tree two months from now.” His mouth jerks.

“You’re right. Those trees, they really come out of nowhere.”

He chuckles, getting inside his car. “Now you’re thinking, brother.”

As soon as Amara got home from school, I knew there was something wrong. She tried to hide it when she greeted me, but her body was tense. I could feel it when I held her.

As Fia eats her pretzels in the kitchen, I walk up to her while she pours our daughter some orange juice.

“Come here,” I tell her.

She places the carton down, swallowing nervously while biting the corner of her lower lip.

I tilt up her chin with a finger, searching those beautiful eyes. “Is everything okay?”

“What?” Her gaze bounces to me. “Oh, yeah. Sorry, just thinking about all the work I have to do. I have a test in bio next week, then a quiz in my business class the following day.” She smiles uncomfortably.

“You’re smart. You’ll do great.”

“Thanks.”

I know she’s lying, but I’m not gonna interrogate her. I’ll find out what happened on my own.

“How did the meeting with your professor go?”

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