Page 26 of Victorious: Part 3
“… I’m small, which means I can get into places you can’t, like a stealthy miniature ninja. Fourth, I already know about all the bad stuff anyway, so it’s not like you’re protecting my innocence or whatever. Fifth…”
“Poppy.” I try to gain her attention, but she still continues her rambling.
“… I’ve already been kidnapped by these assholes once, so I know their tricks, and I can outmaneuver them. Sixth, you’regoing to need all the help you can get because—”
“Poppy!”I yell, more forcefully this time.
It finally stops her mid-sentence, and she looks up at me with those big, beautiful eyes that are so much like Livvy’s, it makes my chest ache.
But the determination in them?
That’s all her own.
I take a deep breath, trying to find the right words. This kid has been through more than any child should have to endure, and she’s still fighting. Still trying to protect the people she loves, even when it means putting herself in danger.
“Baby girl…” I say more gently, “… the answer is no.”
Her face falls, her defiant little arms crossing over her chest like she’s ready for a counterattack, but before she can launch into another argument, she shifts on the broken bed, and her knee comes down hard right on my cock. I let out a strangled yelp, my whole body curling in on itself as white-hot pain shoots through me.
Haven bursts out laughing,actually laughing, for the first time since this nightmare started. The sound is so beautiful and unexpected that even through the agony in my balls, I can’t help but smile.
“Oh, shit! Sorry, Daddy!” Poppy scrambles off the sensitive area, but doesn’t seem deterred from her mission. “But did you hear my list? I think if you really consider all the points…”
I sit up carefully, pulling her into my arms, and look directly into her eyes. “Princess…” I groan, the laughter dies as the weight of what I need to say settles on my shoulders. “I just lost your mom.Do you understand that?Livvy is gone, and she’snevercoming back.”
Poppy’s face crumples slightly, but she nods.
“I’m going into this fight, and so is Haven. And that’s already dangerous enough. I already lost you twice, Poppy. Once, whenI thought you were dead because of the Cartel, and then I got you back, but your mom took you away from me…” I can’t help it as my bottom lip quivers a little with the memory of it all, and Poppy’s face drops seeing me hurting. “I-I couldn’t stand it if I lost you again. Especially when I had the chance to stop it.” My voice breaks slightly. “Especially when the Cartel just took Livvy from both of us. Ican’tlose you, too, baby girl. I just can’t.”
The fight goes out of her all at once. Her small body slumps against mine, and she nods once, slowly cuddling into me with every ounce of strength she has, which for an eight-year-old is so much more than she should have. “Okay, Daddy. I understand. I’ll go to the safehouse with Ingrid and the others.”
Closing my eyes, relief floods through me so powerfully that for a moment I can’t speak. I pull her closer, burying my face in her curls and breathing in that uniquely Poppy scent of strawberry shampoo and mischief.
“Thank you, Princess,” I whisper against her hair. “Thank you for understanding.”
She hugs me tight for another moment, then pulls back with that resilient energy that never fails to amaze me. “But when I’m older, I’mdefinitelyjoining the club… just so you know.”
Snorting out a laugh, I roll my eyes at her. “We’ll discuss that when you’re eighteen,” I tell her, though privately I’m hoping she’ll want nothing to do with this life by then.
“Deal!” She scrambles off the bed with the same enthusiasm she entered with. “I’m gonna go tell Ingrid that I’m going to the safe house with her and be her protection detail.”
Haven smirks as I shake my head, and just like that, she’s gone, leaving Haven and me staring after her in bemused silence.
“Jesus,” I murmur, running a hand through my hair. “That kid is going to give me a heart attack before I’m fifty.”
Haven stands from the bed, reaching for her clothes, a softsmile still playing at her lips. “She’s going to grow up to be someone special, Alpha. I can feel it.”
I watch her pull on her jeans, admiring the graceful way she moves even in the aftermath of the best sex I have ever had. “Yeah, she is. It scares the hell out of me, but… yeah.”
We dress quickly, both of us knowing that we need to get moving.
The final meeting is tonight, and after that,everythingchanges.
After that, Defiance goes to war.
As we make our way out of our destroyed bedroom to the clubhouse, I catch Haven’s hand in mine. The familiar weight of her engagement ring presses against my palm, and I squeeze her fingers gently.
“After this is over, the first thing we’re doing is getting married. I don’t care if we have to do it in a hospital or a jail cell. You’re gonna be my wife.”
