Page 46 of Torn Souls

Which she is.

“Little bee,” I murmur.

When her gaze comes over and meets mine, the glimmer of pain there has me reaching for her and pulling her onto my lap because I know she needs to be close. The monitoring room is right next door, but they don’t have access to the cameras in Kirill’s office; they don’t even know about them. It’s better that way.

“I’m okay,” she whispers.

I hate the lie coming from her lips and I won’t stand for it. Not a fucking chance.

“Don’t lie to me, Oaklynn,” my voice is hard and filled with a warning.

Her eyes turn glassy with unshed tears, and she blinks a few times trying to get her emotions under control. “It shouldn’t still hurt,” her voice breaks.

“But it does?” I ask her softly.

“He’s never been a good father to me. Even before my mom died, he was more than happy to put all of his time and effort into work without caring about me. I’m not even sure he cared about mom. He was only focused on making money and appearances. That’s how he’s always been.” One tear slides down her cheek and I reach up to capture it with my thumb. “How can I possibly think he’ll change? I know he won’t.”

I lean forward and kiss her forehead, wanting to give her comfort. Maybe she can feel the love I have for her.

Already.

To someone else, it may not make any sense, but it’s right for me. For us. Time can be taken from you so quickly andwhen something is right, when you have a connection, it’s worth holding onto it and fighting for it.

“It’s okay to have hope, Oaklynn. If you didn’t then you wouldn’t be you. The fact that your father never saw the benefit of being the man you needed him to be, the father you needed him to be, is not on you. It’s on him.”

“Maybe it is on me,” she whispers, her voice full of so much pain I can feel it reverberate through me.

“No,” my voice is firm and insistent, “it’s not. Do you know what is on you?” She shakes her head slowly, a plea in her eyes to not shatter her further. “That you survived. That you found ways to hold onto the freedom you could. That you stayed strong and were brave in a way no one can take away from you, not even him. You did nothing wrong.”

She swallows hard and nods, but I can see how she’s struggling to deeply believe my words. I’m not worried, we’ll keep showing her how strong she is.

“You don’t need to stay here and babysit me you know,” she tells me. “I can tell how much you want to be in there,” she nods toward the monitor where we can see the guys waiting for Chambers to show up, “for when my father shows up.”

I smirk and run my hand down my woman’s back in a soothing motion. “The guys can manage themselves. Your father will be walking into a room with three of the most dangerous men in the city. I’m more than happy to be right here with you.”

“You’re just saying that because you like to bug Maxim,” there’s a tease in her voice that makes me smile.

When I nuzzle into her neck, I take a deep breath and feel myself relax just a little bit more. She’s no longer steeped insadness, even though I know it’s still there. There’s nothing like having our woman in my arms.

“It does help,” I shoot back and wink making her giggle softly. “But that’s not why I’m happy to be right here with you. Protecting you is the most important job there is in this family now. Do you know why?”

Oaklynn’s dark brown eyes are wide and full of wonder as she shakes her head. “Why?”

“Not only would Kirill kill me if anything happened to you,” I wink and she giggles even though I’m not kidding, “but having time with you alone is getting under Maxim’s skin.”

She throws her head back and laughs. The thrill that goes through me when I listen to her laughter is something I’ve never experienced before.

“He has been very pouty today,” she jokes, “it’s kind of cute.”

I snort out a laugh thinking about what Maxim would say if he knew our woman called him cute. He would not be amused, but I sure as fuck am.

Before I can tease her more and take her mind off what is happening in Kirill’s office, the door slams open on the monitor and Chambers strolls in like he owns the place. He’s clearly found his balls while making his way to the office, but his misplaced courage has made him stupid.

Kirill doesn’t flinch, just arches his eyebrow at the man of the hour.

“Showtime,” I mumble.

Oaklynn readjusts slightly on my lap to be able to watch what is happening better. Her body is coiled tightly as if she’s waiting for the inevitable crash.

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