Page 119 of Down Knot Out
“Quinn feels safe with you, too.” I slip my arm around her body. “And no one is asking you to be her mom. Just keep doing what you’re doing, being the best Aunt Chloe she could ever ask for.”
She laughs, the sound watery. “Well, that’s not hard. She’s fun to be around.”
“And she loves being around you.”
She shifts and whispers, “I heard you get the text last night.”
I tense. I guess she hadn’t been as asleep as I thought.
She lifts her head. “Was it about the visitation?”
“Yeah.” I swallow past the sudden lump in my throat. “Thursday. Two p.m. She’s bringing the housekeeper as a chaperone.”
Chloe rubs her thumb over the knuckle of my hand, tracing the scar I got in high school when I tried to break up a fight between two construction workers. “How do you feel?”
“Terrified. I want her to be better, but…” The words jam in my throat, but I force them out. “I don’t trust her. I don’t trust myself to protect Quinn if Sadie slips up. And I know that makes me a shit brother?—”
“Stop that.” She shoves my shoulder, gently, but hard enough to give me pause. “You are not a shit brother. You’ve kept Quinn safe and loved. You did that. Not Sadie. Not the courts. You.”
“Doesn’t feel like enough.”
She shakes her head, her expression fierce. “It is.”
I lean into her, letting my cheek brush her temple, breathing in the sweet scent of her hair. “I also worry about my dad. If he finds out Sadie’s coming, he’ll use it. He’ll find a way to drag us all down.”
She lifts her head. “How could he? You’re not even talking.”
A bitter laugh escapes. “He always finds a way. And he’ll dig up whatever leverage he can find.”
A flash of anger crosses her face. “He doesn’t get to touch you or Quinn, not while your pack is here.”
The conviction behind her words knocks loose the self-doubt riding me, and for the first time in weeks, I believe it. Maybe we can outlast the old man. Maybe we can rewrite how this family works.
Quinn blinks awake, hair wild, smile slow to dawn but bright when she finds us together. She burrows closer to Chloe, wrapping slender arms around her waist with the kind of force only a six-year-old can muster.
As Chloe wraps Quinn up and holds her close, I see our future in that moment, messy, imperfect, but ours.
“I love you,” I breathe into Chloe’s ear.
She squeezes my hand. “I love you, too.”
“And I love you, too,” Quinn announces, proving I wasn’t quiet enough for the little eavesdropper.
I pat her on the back. “Go get dressed. You’re going on an adventure.”
She perks up. “I am?”
“You’ve been begging to go on a fishing trip with Kyle, so?—”
A high-pitched squeal cuts me off, and Quinn bolts from the nest, racing out of the room. “I’m going to catch the biggest fish!”
Nathaniel groans as he sits up. “I’ll make sure she packs enough for three days.”
Instead of following after my niece, though, he leans across me to kiss Chloe and rumbles, “I won’t be gone long.”
A pretty pink blush stains her cheeks. “Okay.”
Once he’s gone, I pull Chloe to me. “You know, nothing needs to happen if you’re not ready. I can go fetch the tentacle dildo, and— Ouch!” I clutch my chest where she smacked me. “Sure, abuse the Alpha who just wants to ensure you’re taken care of.”
