Page 57 of The Ruthless and the Strong

I let out a sigh. “I know. I haven’t forgotten. But I’m fine. You don’t have to worry.”

“Good. Then I won’t. I know you. I know you weren’t… careless.”

He said it slowly, and I knew a part of him was paranoid that the phone was bugged. Hell, I might be a little as well. I hadn’t considered myself a paranoid man, not until I’d met Nicholas.

“I wasn’t careless.” Briefly, I thought I had been, but even when I found those recent pictures Lorenzo had kept of Olivia, I didn’t act on my anger. No, I waited and I planned.

And everything had gone according to plan.

I could hear my front door clicking open, and I knew who just came in without seeing him. “I have to go,” I said quietly. Then, “Thank you.”

“Not at all,” he said, before the line clicked off. Nicholas was an unusual man. One of the most intelligent men I had ever met, definitely the most paranoid, and not very social. He kept his circle small and within reach.

I put my phone back on my nightstand just as Mason walked in with a sleeping Emma in his arms.

“I didn’t want to leave her at home alone.”

“Lizzie?” I asked, because I was sure Lizzie was there. She hadn’t gone anywhere, and the thought that she might be spending the night with someone else made me want to ram my fist to the wall.

Mason shook his head. “Sound asleep, with Hunter. It’s been a really long day for everyone and I didn’t want to disturb her.”

I nodded as he placed Emma in my arms. “Can you watch her for the night?”

“Of course,” I said. He didn’t even have to ask.

Mason shot me a small smile. “Thanks, man.” He paused then, and took me in. “Max?”

“I know,” I told him softly.

“I’m sorry.”

I shook my head. “Nothing to apologized for.”

“So we’re good?”

I took in my little brother. He was a grown man. He didn’t need me. Not anymore. But sometimes, I still saw the little boy he had once been. The one who had followed me around. The one I had grown up protecting. Or tried to, at least.

“Always,” I said. His shoulders sagged a bit in relief, before he turned around and walked out of my room.

I watched him disappear down the hall. I knew he would spend the entire night holding Olivia close.

And I would spend the night protecting Emma. I ran my finger over her chubby cheek, smiling a little when she wrinkled her nose, so much like her mom had done.

“I will always protect you. I won’t ever let anything happen to you,” I vowed. It would kill me if Emma went through the same thing Olivia did, and the worst part about this whole thing was that bad shit happened all the time, and to everyone. I could try to protect her as much as I liked, but life always happened, and I couldn’t protect her from every little bad thing in this world.

I lifted her up, and placed a kiss on her forehead. “Sleep, little angel.”

As if she had heard me, she slept soundlessly throughout the entire night.

---