Page 84 of Love Me Fierce

“Good. Let me know if you need help scrubbing that paint off.”

“Thanks.”

Back inside, Vivian is with Mateo in the family room. Logan is on the floor with Mateo, helping him build a multicolored Lego contraption, but the instant Zach and I walk in, he shoots me an anxious glance.

Guilt digs into my gut. I hate that he’s been worried. “What’s going on, Dad?”

“Vivian’s car got vandalized,” I say. “Everything’s okay though. Whoever did it is gone.”

Matty looks up, both hands grasping green Lego blocks. “What’s vandalized?” He articulates the word slowly, like he’s processing the sound as he speaks it.

“Someone put paint on it,” I say.

Mateo frowns, then goes back to building, while Logan’s eyes flash with confusion. He sees that I’m armed and Zach’s here, two things that don’t fit with this being something as benign as a paint spill.

“So, like to be mean?” Logan asks.

“Yes,” I say. I’ll have to give him more later, when I can talk to him alone.

Zach sends Vivian a pointed glance. “Think we could chat a minute?”

By the timeZach returns with Vivian, it’s almost eleven o’clock. I send Logan upstairs to get ready for bed. “Thanks for hanging with Mateo, bud,” I say.

He gives me a pleading glance but stands up and does as I ask.

Vivian is crouched down with Mateo, talking in low tones.

“You okay to stay here tonight?” I ask her.

She glances up, surprise in her expression. “Can we?”

“There’s a queen-sized futon in my office. It doubles as the guest bedroom. Will that be okay?”

“Yes. Thank you,” she says in a weary tone.

“I’ll wait for you outside,” Zach says to me, and heads down the hallway.

“Where are your keys?” I ask Vivian once he’s gone. “I’m going to put your car in the garage.”

“In my purse.”

“Okay.” I walk to the hall closet and grab sheets, then step into my office. I always put away my case files and anything else I bring home before I leave this room, so the desk is bare. I don’t want Loganor his friends to ever get accidentally exposed to the ugly parts of my job.

While Vivian and Mateo disappear into the bathroom, I quickly make up the bed, pulling down a comforter from the closet, and the pillows.

When Vivian reappears, her hand on Mateo’s shoulder, backlit by the hallway light, the distress is clear on her face.

I pull her into my arms. She sighs against me, resting her head in the crook of my shoulder for an instant. “We can talk in the morning, okay?” I say in her ear. “You’re safe here.”

She nods and I kneel down and pull Mateo to my chest. He wraps his arms around my neck, his warm breath on my cheek. I rub his back, grounding my emotions in the knowledge that they’re both secure in my house tonight.

I stand up and rub the top of Mateo’s head.

“Need anything else?” I ask Vivian.

She shakes her head. “We’ll be fine.”

“Sleep tight,” I tell them. Then I slip from the room.

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