Page 178 of Beat of Love
“Thankfully, no.”
“We need to get Connor and Sinead here. Keep them close. And I need a weapon.” Her gaze swung to Stas. “Preferably a shotgun. I’ll blast her ass into oblivion if she dares come near us.”
Truth ran deep in her voice, and Rafferty gawked at her.
“What?” she snipped. “I will, too. I told you before, Rafferty — I’ll kill to protect what’s mine. That covers Connor and Nadie.”
“You’ve never even met them,” he pointed out.
“You’ve claimed them. That’s enough for me.”
“As simple as that?”
“As simple as that.”
Two things hit him, hard and fast.
First — if this thing between him and Brandy-Lyn played out the way he was beginning to hope it would, she wouldn’t just be his partner — she’d be their mom.
Connor’s. Nadie’s.
And she already seemed good with that. She spoke like they were hers.
The second hit deeper — Charlie had shied away from violence. She’d never have so much as pointed a gun at someone, let alone pulled the trigger. That wasn’t weakness. God no. She’d lived a full, vibrant life despite her diabetes. But he’d always been the protector. The shield.
Brandy-Lyn didn’t need shielding.
She was strong.
Fierce.
Willing to stand beside him. Not behind.
He’d never had that before.
And he wasn’t entirely sure what to do with it now.
Stas’s phone chirped, and he retrieved it to read the message. “Sheriff Stirling’s arrived with the kids.”
*
“It’s Nadie’s turn, Dad!” Connor’s yell echoed around the solarium as he shook the water from his skinny body after clambering out of the pool.
Brandy-Lyn grinned at his exuberance. Her position near the entrance gave her the opportunity to quietly observe the trio without drawing attention to herself. The sheriff’s wife, Rae, had accompanied the children and suggested keeping them occupied in the hotel pool while they waited for the legal documentation allowing Rafferty to take the children out of state. At least something good had come from that awful note, speeding up the legalities. And a private jet would take them back to Texas, ensuring as much security as possible.
Rafferty swam to the edge of the pool and focused on the little pipsqueak observing her brother and Raff with wide eyes. “You wanna come in the water, Nadiebird?”
The girl vehemently shook her head, taking a step back. And stuck her thumb in her mouth. Connor rushed to her side and tugged her arm down while saying something to her. She jerked away from him and shook her head again.
“Connor,” Jack, the sheriff’s son, called out from the opposite side of the pool. “Let’s make the biggest cannonball splash ever. You go from that side, and I’ll go from this side.”
Connor looked across at his friend and grinned. “Epic,” he called back, turning away from his sister.
Brandy’s focus moved from Rafferty to the two boys lining up for their epic splash. Rae raised her voice and counted down from three. The boys sprinted the few yards to the edge of the pool and took off, hugging their knees close to their chests. And yeah, it was an epic splash, causing a surge of water up and over the sides of the pool in addition to the high splash.
An almighty wail rose above the boys’ raucous laughter, diverting her attention from the high-fiving champions to the origin of the heartrending cry.
Sinead, utterly drenched, stood ramrod straight with her arms as close to her sides as the inflated arm bands allowed, bawling at the top of her lungs.
