Page 81 of Shattered Secrets

Fuck.

“Do you think someone found out you were pregnant? You said you were pregnant at the trial, right?”

Scarlet paled. “But I wasn’t showing too much, and I purposely wore loose clothes.”

“But it’s possible someone could have figured it out?”

She squeezed her eyes closed. “I never said anything during my testimony, but my lawyers and handler knew, so it’s possible.”

“If this guy was able to find you,” Gavin said, “then it’s plausible that whoever ‘they’ are did, too. They could have seen you with Daisy and done a rough estimation of her age.”

Matt pushed past his simmering anger. “Bean, can you find out who the family members and close relations of Steele MacBride are? The same for the three club members he killed.”

“On it,” Bean said.

Scarlet looked at him in question.

“‘One for one,’” Matt murmured, squeezing her hands. “What if whoever this is wants to hurt Daisy as... payback... for one of theirs being taken away? The guy said they blame you. If we assume it’s for someone’s death—either Steele or one of the three—then that possibility makes sense.”

She sucked in a breath and shuddered. “Ohmygod, that’s terrifying.”

Matt lifted her chin with his fingers and waited until she met his gaze. “No one is getting near Daisy.No one.”

“Agreed,” Gavin said, tone curt. “Consider Xander Daisy’s personal security officer from here on out.”

“Thank you,” Scarlet whispered in a shaky voice.

“Nothing to thank me for. We take care of our own.” Gavin nodded at Matt. “You and Daisy are his. That makes you ours as well.”

The surprise on Scarlet’s face had Matt pressing a kiss to the top of her head. Because Gavin had told the truth. She and Daisywerehis. And he’d do everything in his power to protect them.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Scarlet was a freaking wreck. There was no other way to describe it. Sleeping in Matt’s embrace, enveloped in his strength, had helped. Until she’d woken up. Then reality had crashed down all around her.

It was Saturday, and she’d never been more grateful to not work the weekend shift. The last place she wanted to be was the diner where that man had?—

Nope. Not going there.

She was home with Daisy and Matt, and she was focusing on that.

Her daughter’s high-pitched giggles filled the air, along with several deep rumbles of laughter. It wasn’t just Daisy and Matt, she reminded herself. Xander was here, too. As were a couple of techs from Hudson Security, who were upgrading Matt’s already extensive security system. Apparently, there were “blind spots,” but additional cameras would fix that problem.

Following the voices, Scarlet came to a halt as she turned the corner to the great room. All the furniture had been pushed to the edges. In the center were various cushions, chairs, books... All sorts of things that made zero sense to her. Matt and Xanderwere in the middle of the mix, arranging pillows and placing more items among the cushions.

“Mama!” Daisy exclaimed, bouncing up and down at the far edge of the room. “Matty and Xandy are making an ossticyle course for me and Mr. Slothy and Baby Unicorn and my new Squishys!”

“And your other stuffies,” Matt chimed in. “You want to make sure they all get a turn, too.”

Daisy’s answering nod was sage, her blue eyes big. “I don’t want any stuffy to be sad.”

“That’s right,” Xander said. “I’ll help you and the stuffies. That way, they get to know me better and aren’t scared of me. Because, you know, I’m kind of a scary guy.”

“You’re not scary, Xandy,” Daisy said, giggling. “You have a bun on top of your head like Mama!”

Xander chuckled and shot Scarlet a wink. “That I do, kiddo. That I do.”

Scarlet’s heart squeezed at what the men were doing. She knew Daisy recognized Xander from Rebecca’s, but the man was still quite intimidating. He stood just as tall as Matt’s six-four, was stacked with muscles, and gave off a serious alpha vibe. But evidently, building an obstacle course and sporting a man-bun negated all that in the eyes of her four-year-old daughter. The tough personal security officer had even been dubbedXandy.

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