Page 63 of Papa's Bébé
“I don’t think much of the neighborhood you live in,” he said sternly.
“Wh-what?”
“I've never been to this area, but I can tell it’s not a safe place to live.”
“It’s fine.”
“You shouldn’t live in a place like this.” He was deliberately prodding at her, trying to get to that temper to stop her looking like her cat had just died.
For some reason, he didn’t like her being sad or upset.
“Hey! You can’t tell me where to live!” she fired back.
There she was.
And just as he’d thought, the horror had been wiped off her face and she was even glaring up at him with a scowl.
Then she seemed to realize what she was doing and glanced away, a hint of red entering her cheeks.
“This area doesn’t look safe to me. And you have no alarm system. Nothing except a gate that wasn’t even locked. Would your neighbors come if you needed help? If you started screaming?”
“Urgh, well . . . um . . .”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought. We need to move you somewhere safer.”
“No!”
Oh, her fiery side was back. It didn’t bother him, though. He simply crossed his arms over his chest and stared down at her.
“No?” He made sure to infuse plenty of sternness into his voice with that word.
“I’m not moving. Don’t you think I would if I could? I would probably leave and not come back.”
“You want to leave Billings?”
Her head was bent as she stared down at her feet. “I don’twantto leave. I like it here. But it isn’t always that . . . safe here.”
Matthieu immediately grew more alert. Was she talking about the fact that her father had been threatened? The general state of Billings at the moment?
Or something else?.
“What do you mean it’s not safe?”
She blew out a breath. “Well, obviously because . . . my father has enemies, right?”
Yes, that was true.
But he still thought there was more.
“You wouldn’t be lying to me, would you? Because that is a rule.”
“Two rules already and we haven’t even gotten inside,” she said dryly.
At least she could talk more to him now. Even if she still couldn’t look at him. It was progress.
“I need to let the girls out,” she said suddenly.
“Your babies?” he asked, unable to keep the amusement out of his voice.
