Page 81 of Steel

She tilts her head in the way she does when she’s silently asking what something means.

“It means instead of you coloring your hair this color, he lets you do something, say like, the colored hair spray. That way, you still get the color you want, but it won’t be as permanent as this is.” Bailee looks up at me. “Is that right?”

I stand there staring at her, dumbfounded, because no one has ever been able to understand the silent way Lyric and I communicate. For her to pick it up in such a short time is absolutely amazing and signals to me that I’m doing the right thing by introducing them.

Clearing my throat, I nod, reluctantly dragging my eyes away from hers to look at my daughter. “She’s right. They got that stinky hair spray shit that you usually find at Halloween. Saw some kind of chalk bullshit you can use on your hair that can easily be washed out. See no issue with either of those.”

Lyric squeals, bouncing on the bed, and she does the one thing that makes me want to promise she can color her hair any fucking color she wants—she makes Bailee laugh.

“Right. Lee, grab a bag. Comin’ with us, baby girl.”

Her head whips my way. “Um, no, I am not.”

My eyes narrow. “Get your bag packed or I’ll pack it for you. Either way, your ass is goin’ to my place. You’re goin’ to be with me and my girl tonight.”

“Yup. Daddy broke your heart, and he has to fix it,” Lyric states.

“You’re playing dirty using your daughter,” Bailee grumbles, climbing from the bed, careful to not touch me as she passes.

Before she gets too far out of my reach, I anchor my fingers around her wrist, causing her to freeze, and step up against her back. Leaning down, I whisper, “Baby girl, I wouldn’t be Road Captain of the fuckin’ Dirty Mavericks if I didn’t enjoy playin’ filthy sometimes.”

A shudder runs through her, and I smirk, loving the fact that despite everything, there’s still this between us.

Releasing my hold on her, I step away and get serious. “Lyric is right. Broke your heart and it’s up to me to fix that. We have a hell of a lot to talk about, and now that everything isn’t so fuckin’ fresh, you’re goin’ to listen to me. Grab your shit so we can go.”

She stares at me blankly for a few seconds and then glances over to Lyric. “He’s so bossy.”

Lyric groans, rolls her eyes, and drops back to the bed dramatically like a typical almost seven-year-old would. “Tell me about it.”

“Suddenly don’t think this was a good idea,” I grumble playfully, shoving my hands into my pockets.

Lyric giggles, and Bailee smiles even though it’s tinged with a hint of sadness.

“No take backs,” Lyric hollers.

Bailee looks at me, and despite the pain swimming in them, her eyes are filled with warmth. “No take backs, dad,” she teases.

Turning on my heel, I head out of the bedroom. “I’m outnumbered. I’ll be waiting in here.”

If I’d had known that all it would take was a meeting between my Princess and my Hummingbird to bring me the most happiness I’ve had in the last seven years, I’d probably have saved us all a hell of a lot of heartaches and done it so much fucking sooner.

Leaning against the wall, I close my eyes and listen to whispered words accompanied by quiet giggles between the two of them, recording the sound in my mind so I’ll always have it with me.

Chapter twenty-two

If someone unfamiliar withour lives was observing us now, I’m sure they’d assume we’ve always been a family. There’s just that comfort, that bond that you normally only see between people who have known each other longer than a day or a couple who’s been together longer than a few weeks.

Not that Bailee and I are together.

Not in any official capacity or anything.

Not yet, anyway.

I was gonna grill out for supper, but on the way to the house, Lyric and Bailee tag-teamed me for pizza and cheese bread. Not even ashamed to admit that I only held strong for a few minutes before I was aiming the Bronco toward the nearest pizza shop.

I’m in so much goddamn trouble with these two together, but I’m strangely looking forward to it. Hell, I can’t believe I’ve missed out on all this for so long. Probably not the smartest fucking move to have my daughter around Bailee while someone is after her because it could put Lyric straight in the line of fire, but it also means I have the ability to protect her better because she’ll be with me instead of somewhere I can’t reach her in time.Plus, what no one knows and I’ve demanded to be kept secret is that Emmy Lou has a couple people watching over my girls when I’m not able to be with them. The only thing she’s told me is that I’ll never know they’re there unless they’re needed. Said something else about Killer Kitty Inc. being the best female assassins you’ll ever find. How the fuck she came across them, I’ll never know because she doesn’t talk a lot about her cases.

“Horror trivia?” Bailee repeats back to Lyric, not sure if she heard her correctly.

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