Page 168 of Mad Love

“I miss him,” she whispered, huge tears suspended on the edges of her lashes. “Daddy left and now Grandpa left.”

Fuck you, Beckett, I mentally snarled.

“Cori, your dad left because…” Well, I couldn’t give her the real reason. “Because he needed to take a break.”

“From me?” She looked crushed.

“From choices he made,” I said carefully. “But none of that is your fault, and it isn’t Ryan’s either.”

“But Ryan always fought with Daddy,” she added.

“He did,” I agreed, not willing to lie to her. “But they’re adults, and sometimes adults fight. I fight with Ryan, too.”

Her eyes got big. “You do?”

I nodded, my hands going to her waist. “I do. And I promise, I’m not going anywhere.”

“Then why did Daddy leave?”

My lips mashed together. “Because your dad had a lot of problems, and he thought the best way to handle them was to go away. But none of that is because of you, Corinne.”

She stared at me, looking helpless and lost. “But who will take care of me now?”

“Ryan will,” I promised. “And so will I.”

“Me, too,” Royal commented from the doorway.

Cori turned and her face crumpled again before she ran to Royal for comfort. He caught her easily, swinging her up into his arms. Her sobs were muffled against his massive chest.

“Shh,” Royal soothed, rubbing her back. “I’ve got you, princess.” His dark blue eyes flicked to me. “Ryan’s in Grandpa’s office.”

I stood up and wiped my hands on my jeans. As I left, I touched Cori’s back.

“Does Ryan hate me?” Cori asked, her voice trembling.

“Never,” I swore, linking our pinkies and squeezing hers. “Ryan loves you more than anything.”

“I didn’t mean it,” she whimpered, surprising me when she shoved her thumb in her mouth and started sucking. “I love him,” she added around the digit.

“He knows that,” I assured her. “Are you good with Royal for a few minutes?”

She nodded, her head looking so tiny against his massive chest. “I wanna see my puppy.”

“Okay,” he agreed easily. “We’ll go see your puppy. Then maybe we can get a snack from Mrs. Beechum, deal?”

She nodded once more, sucking her thumb harder and closing her eyes.

Royal flashed me a tight smile. “I’ve got her, okay?”

“Thanks,” I murmured before going to find Ryan.

He was in Grandpa’s office, as Royal had said. Sitting behind the desk, he was looking at a stack of papers while Court sat across from him with an open laptop.

Ryan’s gaze lifted when I came in. He dropped to the papers. “Court was telling me that you’ll have to sign some forms, since Brookfield is yours now. There’re other things that—”

I laid a hand on Court’s shoulder. “Give us a minute?”

Court nodded, looking a little more than grateful as he hurried from the room and closed the door in his wake.

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