Page 57 of Maddox

"Home," I said simply. "Our home."

She looked up at me then, her eyes still damp but with a hint of determination in them. "For good?"

I brushed a strand of hair from her face, careful to avoid the bruise on her cheek. "For as long as you want, princess."

"Forever," she whispered. "I want to stay with you forever."

My heart swelled at her words. "Then that's what we'll do."

When we finally pulled up to the house, I carried Clare inside despite her weak protests that she could walk. I wasn't ready to let her go yet, not even for a moment. Once inside, I took her straight to the bedroom. Xavier had driven us and was organizing patrols just in case.

"Bath first, then bed," I said, settling her gently on the edge of the mattress. "You're safe now, princess."

"The women? Are they okay?" she asked softly when I returned from the bathroom after starting the bath and putting some bubbles in.

I nodded, touched by her concern for others even after what she'd been through. "They're safe. All of them." I studied Clare’s exhausted face, then reached over and picked up Mr. Snuggles. She needed a bath and sleep, and she desperately needed some Little time.

Clare hugged her stuffie tightly to her chest. "I was so scared, Daddy," she whispered, her voice small and vulnerable. "But I tried to be brave. I knew you were coming and needed a delay." Clare had told me what happened, and I was in awe of her. Most people would have panicked, understandably, at being back with that monster.

I knelt in front of her, gently brushing away the tears that had begun to fall again. "You were more than brave, princess. You were amazing."

When I helped her undress in the bathroom, my jaw clenched at the sight of bruises forming on her wrists where the zip ties had cut into her skin. I would make Rice pay for every mark on her body, every moment of fear she had experienced.

"I don’t want my teddy to get wet" she said, and I reached up to remove it, even though I knew the specially made necklace was waterproof.

"Of course, princess. He can sit right here and keep watch." I placed the bear on the sink where he could "see" the tub.

The bathroom was warm and steamy, the tub filled with sweet-smelling bubbles. I got in first and held my hand out for Clare. She sighed as the warm water enveloped her, and she lay against my chest while I soaped her body.

As I gently washed her hair, Clare's eyes began to drift closed. The adrenaline was wearing off, leaving exhaustion in its wake. When she was clean, I got out first, dried myself, then lifted her out, wrapped her in a fluffy towel and carried her back to the bedroom so I could dry her hair.

"Step in," I instructed softly, helping her into one of the new onesies I’d bought for her, then I gathered all that beautiful red hair and quickly plaited it. She was practically falling asleep by this time, so I simply got her in bed, and slid in next to her, pulling her into my side. She snuggled in and never opened her eyes.

I barely slept. It had been too close, and when my phone lit up with Eric’s message, I slipped out into the hallway and shut the door behind me and called him back.

“Thought you might want to know that Rice is running scared.”

“What? How?” My heart picked up.

Eric huffed but it was a satisfied sound. “Eagle Reserve is owned indirectly by the Bratva. When I unearthed that, I thought they might find it interesting that an invited guest had arranged for their so-called merchandise to be stolen.”

“Fuck,” I breathed out, knowing he didn’t mean us. “That’s genius.”

“There’s a chance that they might get rid of Rice themselves as punishment, but the important thing is he’s going to be too busy for any kind of revenge, so you can take some time with Clare.”

“Is this ever likely to come back on us?”

He chuckled. “Nope. I made it look like Rice organized the raid. Incidentally, when I say indirectly owned, I mean that while the property is owned by Boris Sidorov, the local Boss, his younger son decided to branch out into trafficking, and guess what?”

I had to swallow heavily before I could speak, but Eric continued. “Boris is a Daddy.”

I blinked. “A Daddy as in—”

“Yep, he has a Little girl. So does one of his sons, and I’m sure you can imagine how they’ll react if they know how Rice treated another Little.”

“You’re a genius.”

But all Eric said was that he was filling in the others and to have a good night. I stared at my phone for a good minute after Eric had hung up, relief coursing through me.

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