Page 96 of Protector

“Why the fuck are you smilin’ at me like that?”

Celia tried and failed to move her mouth into a solemn line. “I’m not—”

“You are. You think this shit is funny? Because I gotta be honest with ya, princess. He rolls over on the club, and we’re all in for a world of hurt.”

“Jamie, you’ve never had to deal with a rebellious child. The closest I think you came was when Mikey was eleven, but even then, he went home, and it was no longer your problem. And that’s not the reason I was smiling… well, it was partly—”

“You gonna enlighten me or just keep pointing out how I wasn’t a real parent?” I growled.

“I’m not telling you that you weren’t a real parent!”

She crossed her arms over her chest, pulling my attention to the deep v of her dress. Momentarily distracted with thoughts of hiking up her skirt and fucking her up against the elevator wall, I was pulled back into the argument with a muttered, “Jesus Christ, Jamie. Focus.”

“Oh, I am.”

She swatted my arm. “I’m serious. I wasn’t trying to make you feel bad. It’s just that all children push back to see what they can get away with. They’re impulsive—”

“He’s twenty-seven,” I noted dryly.

“Exactly.” She began ticking points off on her fingers. “They’re impulsive, prone to emotional outbursts, and just generally looking for a way to outsmart their parents.”

Holy shit.

“You mean we have to deal with this the rest of our lives?”

She pursed her lips. “Well, when they become adults, they typically begin cleaning up their own messes. Look at Kate.”

“So, you’re sayin’ our twenty-year-old is an adult, but our twenty-seven-year-old ain’t? I’m confused.”

“I’m saying that one of them is constantly testing the limits, and the other is holding down a job while taking college classes and checking in on her little sister. Take from that what you will.”

He hadn’t had an easy childhood.

Hell, none of us had.

I’d seen things no kid should ever be forced to witness. Celia had been ripped away from her parents. Mikey hadn’t lived in fear of the monster under the bed, but the one who walked through the front door every night.

For the longest time, it had eaten at me that I hadn’t been able to give him the same life as the girls. Every time I’d tucked them in and read a bedtime story was just another reminder of what my son was going without.

I didn’t see the damage I’d caused until later though. My girls hadn’t been given some unfair advantage. They’d been forced to grow up thinking their father was dead. Sure, Angel had stepped up and filled the role as best he could, but he wasn’t their daddy.

Kate had lost the first man she’d ever loved at seven, but instead of seeking that connection out in another man, she’d closed herself off. Maybe deep down she knew that nothing good would ever last. Maybe she didn’t want to go through the heartache of losing someone again.

It wasn’t as if I’d ever be able to ask her the reason.

Dakota had gone the opposite direction, completely immersing herself in her comics, and setting the bar so damn high that no man would ever measure up unless he was Thor himself.

“Celia?” I asked as the doors opened into the lobby. “How do you handle the one who still acts like a kid?”

“Easy.” The smile returned to her face. “You remind them of who the parent is.”

Slim and Lou stood by the front doors, practically bouncing with excitement.

“Can you believe she said yes?” Slim asked, bumping me with his elbow.

“Who said yes?”

“I did.” Celia grinned up at me, looking like a cat who’d just caught a canary.

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