Page 12 of Fiery Romance

My daughter is hurt.

I’m running before I even realize it, and Cody is right beside me.

“Regan, are you okay?” I scoop her into my arms. There are tears in her eyes, but a quick check shows she hasn’t broken any skin. She’s probably more shocked than anything.

“Does anywhere hurt?” Cody asks, his fingers skating over Regan’s arms and checking to see if she flinches.

“Oh my gosh!” The nanny comes flying towards us. Her eyes take up half of her face and her bottom lip is trembling. “I just… I just glanced at my phone for a second. She’s so fast.”

“Are you saying this was her fault?” I bark. My voice has so much heat that it could peel her skin away from her bones.

Regan starts whimpering.

Cody frowns.

I hand my daughter over to my brother. “Can you take her to the car?”

“Sure.” Cody accepts Regan who goes willingly to him. She wraps her arms around her uncle’s neck and the two hasten to the vehicles parked near the curb.

The young nanny stands in front of me, tears gathering in her eyes. Her head is tucked to her chin and her left knee is bobbing.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

My heart is hard. My eyes, cold. “Sorry? Do you think sorry can bring back someone’s child?”

She shakes harder.

“I should make it so you never work in this industry again.”

“Please don’t.” She looks seconds away from falling to her knees and begging me. “I was wrong. It was my fault. My… I shouldn’t have looked away.”

The urge to crush her entire world like a bug is strong. On the battlefield, there is no room for forgiveness. An enemy is either terminated or your entire squadron could be wiped out.

What is mercy? What is grace in war?

But I am not at war.

And I must remember that.

With a deep breath, I relax my fingers until they are flat against my pants. “Go.”

She lifts her head, eyes widening in surprise.

“What?”

“If it’s not obvious already, you will not be filling this position. Get out of my sight.”

She scrambles off, her hair flying behind her and her knees kicking up to her chest.

I remain in place, taking a few short breaths and trying to curb my fury. Once I’m certain that my murderous expression is gone, I stalk to the SUV where Cody has Regan in the backseat eating animal crackers.

My daughter is no longer crying. Her strained pout has been replaced with a sunshiny smile.

“Is she okay?” I ask roughly.

“Of course. She’s with her favorite uncle,” Cody says, running a hand over Regan’s braids. She has him wrapped around her pinkie finger.

“You’re my only uncle,” Regan points out.

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