Page 104 of His Greatest Treasure

I’ve worked too hard to pick up his slack all these years to let him do more damage simply because he’s feeling threatened.

“Why can’t Nova hear about it? She deserves to know the truth just as much as I do.”

I ignore my fear and stay firm. “Don’t do that. This isn’t about her, and you know it. Don’t bring her into this pissing contest of yours under the pretense of wanting more time with her.”

“It’s not a pissing contest!” he shouts, face red as he takes a menacing step toward me.

Oliver’s between us before he can get any closer. “I highly suggest you don’t yell in her face again and leave. Now.”

“Mom?” Nova calls, standing at the bottom of the ladder with her feet in the thick grass.

My smile is wobbly when I say, “Why don’t you get your towel and go inside to dry off, okay?”

“In Ollie’s house?”

“Yeah, baby. Make sure to stand on the rug while you’re still wet so you don’t get drip on the floor.”

“Don’t go inside that house, Nova,” Chris snaps at her.

I nudge Oliver out of the way and step into my ex’s face. My chest pounds hard and fast with the adrenaline that comes whenever I stand up for my daughter. It’s an instinct as natural as breathing.

“Don’ttalk to her like that. She can’t go to our house because you’re currently pitching a fit in front of the way out of here.”

He takes a wide, dramatic step to the side, making more than enough room for us to leave the backyard.

“Nova. Home. Now,” he commands sharply.

She scurries past us in a blur, her green-and-yellow towel wrapped around her neck. The first sniffle I hear . . . I need to find something to hold on to. Oliver would be my first option, but also the worst one. His closeness doesn’t help like it usually does. Not right now.

I need Chris gone. Away from my safe place before it loses that quality.

“Follow her, then. We’ll finish this discussion inside.”

He juts his chin in the direction Nova took off in, and reluctantly, I force myself to leave him behind with Oliver. My man can handle himself, but fuck, if anyone could get him to decide I’m too much work and not enough reward, it would be Chris.

My priority is Nova, and right now, making sure she’s okay is the only thing that matters. Even if that means I risk losing the second-best thing that’s ever happened to me.

34

OLIVER

This guy is a fuckingleech that’s sucked the light out of Avery right before my eyes.

He watches her chase after their daughter with a deep-rooted possession that has me bristling. His presence is all wrong. A stain on an otherwise perfect day.

I knew a conversation had to happen between Chris and me, but I wasn’t expecting it to be today or in a situation where Nova was bound to get hurt. The last thing I want is to see that little girl with tears in her eyes. Her sniffle hurt to hear and called to a protectiveness that I now know has been dulled my entire time.

I’ve never felt it as strongly as I do right now. Like I could push myself over the edge of every one of my limits to make her smile again and would do everything to succeed. It’s an instinct.

“You talk to the women in your life like that often, Chris?” I ask, stepping into his face to block his view of my girls.

I’d call them that to his face if I didn’t think I’d be sporting cuts and bruises that I’d have to explain to Nova later.

“It’s not any of your business.”

“I’m making it my business. It has been for a while now, and you’d be smart to start accepting that it will be for the foreseeable future.”

His laugh is short and angry. “Avery tell you that?”

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