Page 40 of Break My Fall

“No. I likes them all,” Willow shrugged.

“I think in that case, the rule is, that you should always get the biggest one,” Hunter laughed as he pulled down a huge lion from the top shelf. It was big enough for Willow to sit on its back and ride it.

“That one is gigantic!” Willow cried as her eyes bugged out when Hunter placed it on the ground before her. She instantly climbed on the back and laid her face against the fluffy mane.

“You like that one, Willow?” Kai asked, a huge smile on his face as he looked at her adoringly.

“Yep. He’s so soft and cuddly,” she sighed.

“That settles it then. He’s coming with us. Who else shall we have, munchkin?” Hunter asked as he grabbed her hand to pull her up, scooping up the huge toy in the other arm.

“Who else? You means I can get more?” Willow asked, clearly shocked.

“Hunt,” I sighed.

“Let us spoil her, Maddie. She deserves it,” Kai stopped me.

“Just remember we have to get whatever you buy home with us,” I sighed, giving in. I knew it was pointless to argue with them, They always got their way. I had never been able to tell them ‘no,’ plus they were right, Willow deserved to be spoilt a little.

Thankfully, my daughter was more sensible than the men leading her astray, and she only picked out a giraffe to go with what she already had, assuring them that was all she wanted for now.

She was ecstatic as she sat in the back of the car with me on the way home, her gorilla, aardvark and giraffe lined up in the seat between us and the huge lion on the shelf behind her, blocking the entire rear window.

She’d had the day of her dreams and she was happier and more excited than I had ever seen her.

Up front Hunter and Kai were smiling too. They had been all day, I realized, and I was pretty sure they’d had just as much fun as Willow had. They really seemed to love spending time with her. They never got sick of her endless random animal facts or shushed her when she got a little too over excited. They just indulged her and gave her their time and patience. That, to me, meant everything.

I must have dozed off on the drive home, because I jolted awake when the car came to a stop. I looked up and realized we were back at the guy’s home. I glanced to Willow and smiled when I saw she too was passed out, clutching her new gorilla to her chest, along with Mr. Roar.

“You okay, sunshine?” I looked up and found Kai turned in the passenger seat, watching me.

“I’m great. Thank you for today. It made me so happy to see her enjoying herself like that. It’s all I’ve ever wanted for her,” I admitted.

“Get used to it, Maddie. We’re going to do all we can to make you both happy from now on,” Hunter told me.

I smiled at his words, but I refused to acknowledge them any more than that. I needed to tread carefully. I was glad we were starting afresh and that we could be friends again, but I needed to keep my guard in place. I couldn’t allow myself to just give in and trust them as my heart was pleading for me to. I had so much more than just me to consider, and I needed to start being way more cautious with the decisions I made.

Every decision I made moving forward would be based on what was best for my children. They were, and would always be, my very top priority. I had to use my brain to make decisions, not my heart.

CHAPTER 11

NICO

I slammed closed the file, which I had been pointlessly staring at for the last hour. I was supposed to be working on the staffing for the jobs we were currently working, but that wasn’t happening. In fact I had gotten very little done in the four days since Maddie and Willow left on that plane.

Even though I had spoken with Maddie each day on the phone and also with Hunter several times since they left, I still couldn’t stop worrying about them. Maddie had been badly beaten and exhausted when she left me, not to mention the fact she hadn’t seemed so happy to be going with Hunter at all.

Hunter had told me why Maddie was angry with them – because they had all ditched her when they were kids, but he had also told me a little about why they had been forced to do that and I got it. My own childhood had been filled with my father’s violence and I knew how much it could mess you up. For years I trusted no one except my four brothers who I met in the military. They were all I had for years, but they were also all I needed. I knew I could count on them to have my back no matter what. Then Emilia came along. She was the little sister I had never known I had. My mom had abandoned me and my dad when she was pregnant and we never heard a word from her again.

Emilia, or Mia, as I called her, came searching for me when our mother died and I was so fucking grateful she found me. In the four years she had been in my life she had changed me. She showed me that it’s okay to let people in – better than okay actually – vital. She showed me that I need to allow people into my life to be happy. And I was happy. Having my sister in my life gave me family and someone to look out for, which I had come to realize I needed. She also took care of me in return and gave me that feeling of being loved and of truly mattering, that I wasn’t sure I had before. Yes my brothers relied on me, but they never truly needed me.

Then, a year ago, Maddie walked into my office for an interview, and I just fell for her. It wasn’t just her looks, though she is truly beautiful, but it was the strength I saw within her. I could see the darkness and pain in her eyes – both of which I recognized from my own reflection, and yet she was so strong and brave. The more I got to know her, the more I saw the fight she used each and every day to get not just herself, but Willow too, through the crappy life they were trapped in.

For months I had been forcing myself not to step in and pull them both out of that crappy home life. Every time I saw her husband I had to fight with everything I had not to smash his smug face against the nearest hard object. I held myself back because I knew it wasn’t what Maddie would want. She was a strong woman and I knew the only way she could get away from the hell she was trapped in was to walk out of there herself.

And she had, finally. Not only that, but she also called me when she got up the courage to escape. She had trusted me just as I hoped she would.

I hated that she was so far away from me. I had this feeling deep inside that she needed me, and yet I couldn’t go to her. Not yet anyway. Our business, Milite, was already going to shit because I had been pretty much ignoring my responsibilities all week. I couldn’t just walk away from it and leave it rudderless.

---