Page 76 of Broken King

When I walk back out to the bedroom, Marius is standing there like he can’t believe what’s happening. “What the fuck is going on? Theo can barely crawl. How could he have gotten away? Snails fucking move faster than he does.”

Already tired of listening to him, I snap, “How the fuck should I know? What do I know about babies? All I know is he’s gone. Not where he’s supposed to be. Now suit up and help us look for him instead of asking me stupid questions!”

I don’t give my brother a chance to say another word before I run out to the hallway. Sabrina leans against the wall with her hands over her face crying. Feeling like I should say something comforting, I walk over to her on my way to the nursery.

“It’s going to be fine. We’ll find him.”

Behind her hands, she sniffles. “I don’t know what happened. How could he have gotten out?”

“I don’t know, but he’s here. It’s not like someone walked in and took him.”

Even as I say that, I have to wonder if that’s a possibility. Matthias refuses to have any serious security at the front gate of the estate. They simply open it with a damn button to anyone who wants to drive in. None of us worry about locking the doors here either. We never have. The estate has always been safe, so why would we? And most of the bedroom doors are wide open since nobody’s using those rooms.

Sabrina drops her hands from her face to reveal utter horror in her eyes. “Took him? How? A house like this has to have the best security in the world.”

We don’t have time for me to explain that’s not exactly the case, so I say, “Yeah. Well, go look in the nursery one more time while I check Matthias and Ava’s room.”

She nods and hurries off as I see Marius walk toward the stairs while he finishes slipping a green t-shirt over his head. “I’ll look down on the first floor.”

“Eleanor’s doing that, so find her and see where she’s looked already,” I say before running to the master bedroom.

It only takes a few seconds for me to find the little guy. Lying on his back on the floor in front of Ava’s closet, he stares up at me and then smiles as if to say, “It’s okay, Uncle Ronan. I’m just relaxing for a little while. No need to get all upset. I’ve been here the whole time.”

I scoop him up and set him on my left hip, checking to see if he’s got any bruises or cuts. He seems fine. In fact, he seems sort of confused why I’m carrying him at all. I guess that’s not surprising since I don’t think I’ve held this nephew since last Christmas.

Calling out to everyone in the house, I let them know I found him. “Got him! He was in the master bedroom just hanging out.”

Sabrina comes running out of the nursery and stops dead right in front of me. “Oh my God! He’s okay! How did you get out, Theo?”

Of course, he doesn’t answer. All he does is stick his entire fist into his mouth and then pull it out again covered in baby spit.

As she takes him from me, she smiles. “I can’t thank you enough. I don’t understand how he got in there. I’m so happy you found him safe and sound.”

I nod, just relieved he’s okay. “No problem.”

Marius and Eleanor rush up the stairs, and just as they reach the second floor, Sabrina steps forward and hugs me, wrapping her one free arm around my body as little Theo presses against my other side. “Thank you so much, Ronan. Thank you.”

Perhaps she’s just overwrought about the thought of the baby missing, but she seems really emotional right now. I want to pull away after what Marius said about her liking me. I don’t want to encourage her to think I feel the same way, but that feels shitty to do to someone who’s so upset.

So I put my arm around her and softly pat her back. “It’s okay. He just likes to roam, I guess. We’ll have to keep a closer eye on him from now on.”

Just as I finish, I hear Marius clear his throat. I look up at see it’s not just him and Eleanor standing at the top of the stairs.

It’s Kate too, and the expression I see on her face tells me what my brother said earlier about what she told him last night was one hundred percent true. And here I am with Sabrina in my arms and the two of us looking like some happy in love couple.

Fucking fabulous.

Gently, I push Sabrina off me and tap on the tip of the baby’s nose. “Time for this little guy to get a nap,” I say, hoping to God Kate isn’t thinking what I think she’s thinking.

“Thank you so much, Ronan. You’re a hero. Really,” Sabrina says, sounding more like a fan than someone working for my brother and sister-in-law.

I wave that whole hero thing off and turn to walk over to where Kate is standing so I can explain what happened with little Theo, but Sabrina stops me and plants a kiss on my cheek. I look down at her, stunned for a moment, and then out of the corner of my eye, I see Kate turn away and disappear down the stairs.

Fuck! Now I know she’s got the wrong idea.

Eleanor follows her, leaving Marius standing at the top of the stairs giving me a look that screams, “Told you so.”

As I pass him smirking at me, I grumble, “I don’t need whatever you want to say right now, okay? I need to find Kate.”

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