Page 71 of Scarlett Thief (Criminal Underground 2)

As Wolf pulled into a parking spot and shut the car off, I sucked in a breath. "One more thing," I said. "Before you go, I was wondering if I might ask a favor—a bonus, perhaps, for taking the job in the first place."

This time, Gaven didn't chuckle, he outright laughed. "You had no choice, if I recall correctly," he pointed out. "But fine, I'm curious. What is this favor of yours?"

Hadrian turned in the passenger seat and looked back at me, waiting. My breath shuddered in my chest as the door to the apartment building opened and an older woman came out with a small child. I needed to hurry up and get this over with.

"I need you to arrange something for me," I said, and then proceeded to tell him.

"My dear," he said after I was done. "I believe I'll do that for free. I'll get to work on it, but you'll be hearing from me quite soon. Have a lovely evening with your family. I suspect you'll be out of the business before too long."

I blinked at the statement as he hung up and then pulled the phone away, staring at it for a moment more.How the hell could he have guessed?I wondered as I glanced from the phone to the little girl quickly approaching the car with a little sunshine yellow book bag strapped to her back.

It didn't matter, because he was right. Wolf, Hadrian, and I all got out of the vehicle as the older woman stopped at the front of it.

"Daddy!" the little girl screamed, ripping her arm out of the woman's grasp and rushing forward. My heart clenched as I watched her throw herself into Wolf's arms. He picked her up and swung her in a circle as if it were something he did every day—and soon, I knew it would be.

We'd talked about this a lot in the last few weeks. A lot of this job had changed each of us—and for Wolf, an even bigger change was about to happen. Perhaps it had been realizing that no matter how far or for how long he stayed away from this precious little girl, she would always be in some sort of danger. So why not stick close? Why not keep her in his arms every night and protect her? Why not keep her inourarms?

"Mirry," Wolf said gently as he turned to Hadrian and me. "I want you to meet someone."

The little girl's face was as cute as a cherub’s and for a moment, I wondered if I'd ever been that young, if I'd ever been this loved. My eyes moved up to Wolf's and he smiled at me as he brought her closer. "This is your Daddy's friend, Scar—"

"Rose," I interrupted him as I bent toward the little girl looking up at me curiously. I didn’t want her to hear the other name. Scarlett wasn’t real. She was a figment, a role that I’d played for far too long. I wanted this little girl to know what no one else but now her Daddy and Hadrian did—I wanted her to know the real me. "My name is Rose."

Miranda stared openly at me, her little mouth gaping open as she shoved her thumb into it. Around the digit in her mouth, she spoke. “You’re pretty,” she said.

I chuckled. “Thank you. I think you’re very pretty too.”

She grinned, her cheeks swelling with the movement before she leaned out of her Daddy’s arms, reaching for me. My eyes widened, but I didn’t hesitate to move forward and let her wrap her little toddler hands around my neck as I tucked my arms under and around her.

My heart pounded in my chest. She was so small and fragile and sweet in my arms. It was hard to think much less talk, but I forced words out anyway. I wasn’t the only one waiting to meet her after all.

"Do you want to meet one of your daddy’s other friends?” I asked gently as she cuddled closer and reached up to touch a lock of my hair.

She nodded and Wolf moved around us. “Miranda,” he said. “This Hadrian. Your … uncle.” It was the best we’d come up with. If we were going to be taking her and living with her, we needed to explain Hadrian’s presence because there was no way I was living without either of them. Wolf had agreed, after all—Hadrian had become as much of a brother to him as he would be an uncle to Miranda.

“Hi there, little princess,” Hadrian said with a smile. I watched as Miranda’s eyes bulged as he approached and her head dipped into my neck.

"Hi," she replied shyly. Hadrian grinned, but before he could say anything more, Miranda pulled her thumb out of her mouth and looked up at her father.

"Daddy? Are we going somewhere?"

Wolf swallowed and opened his mouth for a moment. I could see the emotion struggling over his face. It seemed like such a simple thing to say, but I knew what this was for him. This was a choice he was making, and as a parent, he wasn't yet sure if he was making it because it was safer for her or because he was selfish in his need to love her and care for her on his own. When several moments passed and Miranda had waited patiently for an answer, but one still hadn't come, I leaned down and pressed a sweet kiss to her temple, capturing her attention.

Miranda's head turned back toward me. "Yes, sweetheart,” I said. Then, with a full heart and the heat of Hadrian when he moved even closer, as if realizing I needed him too in that moment, I told that little girl what I’d always wanted to say to myself. “We’re going home, love.”

---