Chapter 41
41
Reuben was worried about how tired Faith seemed.
She’d fallen asleep while he was paying. Which was a good thing since he didn’t want her to see how much everything cost.
One of the store workers had packaged it all up and he’d wheeled Faith down to the car, getting her settled without her waking up.
She had barely stirred when he’d carried her up to his apartment.
Now he was sitting on the rocker in her playroom, watching her sleep. She’d slipped her thumb into her mouth.
Hmm. Standing, he walked over to her nightstand. He’d already put everything he’d bought away, including the pacifiers, which he’d already washed.
Which one to use?
The butterfly one.
After sliding her thumb from her mouth, he replaced it with the pacifier.
She let out a grumble but started sucking.
Fuck. Was it wrong that he was wondering what it would be like to replace that pacifier with his cock?
Sitting again, he checked his phone as it beeped.
A: Faith, okay?
Alejandro had texted last night to check on her as well. This was more than he’d ever checked in on Reuben.
R: Starting to think you like her more than me.
A: She’s prettier.
A: She smells better.
A: And she’s smarter too.
R: Stop looking at my girl. And smelling her. That’s fucking weird and I’ll tell your wife.
A: My wife is the one who keeps asking how she is. You should thank me, Cat wanted to come around first thing this morning to check on her.
Oh, hell no.
R: You keep Cat at home.
A: You know I don’t like being told what to do . . .
He wouldn’t.
R: She’s asleep. She’s tired. And she fell over at that toy shop today. While playing with some strange Little.
A: She’s okay, though?
R: Yeah, but I don’t like the idea of her meeting strangers and thinking they’re gonna be best friends. She’s too trusting. She doesn’t understand that there are shitty people out there.
A: That’s where you come in. You need to look into this guy.
R: Don’t worry, I will.
A: I know. You’re less trusting than I am.
R: That’s because most people are fucking assholes.
A: Fine, I’ll keep Cat away, but you need to arrange a playdate. Soon.
Reuben wanted her and Cat to be friends. However, he just needed his girl to himself for a bit longer.
Then, he could ensure she followed his rules and wouldn’t let Cat sway her toward the dark side.
A: We also need to talk about our friend’s funeral.
Our friend? These phones were as secure as they could get them, but Alejandro still wouldn’t say anything too interesting via text just in case.
Still, Reuben knew he was talking about Venturo.
R: Later tonight. Circus.
A: Done.
Getting up, he moved out into the hallway so he could video call Juliet.
His smile dropped when it wasn’t Juliet who answered. “Xavier. Where is my sister?”
“Hey, Reuben. How are you? Good to talk to you. Yeah, I’m fine,” Xavier said sarcastically.
“Cease the bullshit. I didn’t call to talk to you. I want to speak to Juliet.”
Xavier sighed. He looked tired. That wasn’t a good sign. What was going on?
“What’s wrong? Is it Juliet? Is she all right?” Other than her concussion which had affected her memory of her accident, her injuries had been minor.
“She’s okay. She’s just a bit . . . fragile.”
Reuben didn’t like the sound of that. He walked into his kitchen and grabbed a protein drink from the fridge.
“Fragile? Of course she’s fragile. She was nearly fucking killed.”
“I don’t mean physically. Her body is healing well. I’m making sure of that.”
Reuben grunted. Xavier was a doctor at the local hospital. If he hadn’t been there to watch over Juliet while she was recuperating, Reuben would have hired a doctor for her.
“She’s been having nightmares about what happened.”
“She’s remembered?” Reuben straightened. No one could work out how she’d fallen off her bike.
“No. She doesn’t remember what happened. All she knows is that she was scared.”
Fuck.
“Do you think someone hit her?” he asked.
He’d fucking kill them.
“I don’t know. There was no sign of anyone else being involved and no one in Wishingbone would harm her, but if it was a tourist being reckless, someone from a neighboring town driving through who knocked into her without seeing her . . . there’s a lot of theories and no fucking proof.”
Reuben ground his teeth together. “I do not want her biking around anymore.”
“Yeah. Brick and I agree.”
Reuben took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. Logically, he knew that what happened wasn’t their fault. But he’d never been very logical when it came to Juliet’s safety.
“Even Juliet feels the same,” Xavier told him.
That did surprise him. But he was also relieved. He’d always hated her biking around Wishingbone. He’d tried to hire her a driver, but she’d always refused.
Stubborn.
“Where is she now?” Reuben asked.
“Sleeping. She’s going to be annoyed at me for not waking her for your call, but she had a terrible sleep last night.”
“No. Let her sleep.” He paced back and forth. “I don’t want her to be alone.”
Not while she was so fragile.
“She won’t be. Brick is rearranging his schedule so he can be with her whenever I’m at the hospital.”
“Is Kent giving him any problems?” Reuben and Kent didn’t get along because of something that happened years ago. Something that Kent should have gotten over.
“No, Kent is a good man. He’s letting him take as much time off as he needs.”
“It’s not enough.” Nothing would ever be enough when it came to keeping Juliet safe. The need was a gnawing pit in his stomach.
He had always been like this. Ever since he was a kid who couldn’t keep his little sister safe.
But he wasn’t that kid anymore. He was an adult who had enough money to do whatever the fuck he wanted.
And what he wanted was to look after his sister. Because he loved and adored her.
“She should come stay with me.” Where he could watch her. “I’ll hire a bodyguard.”
“Brick is a bodyguard! And he’s more invested in her safety than anyone you could hire. Listen, Reuben, I understand that you want to protect her. But Brick and I feel the same way. We love her. She’s our whole world. You’ve got to start trusting us to take care of her.”
He glanced away, out the window. Could he trust Juliet’s men to take care of her?
Reuben knew that they loved her. And that with their help, Juliet was thriving.
But she’d gotten hurt on their watch.
“Daddy?”
He glanced over in surprise as Faith walked into the kitchen, rubbing at her eyes. “I woke up and you weren’t there.”
“I’m sorry, baby. Were you worried?” He held out his arm to her and she instantly pressed herself against his body.
God, to say he loved that was an understatement.
Reuben kissed the top of her head. “I thought you would be sleeping for a while longer. I just came out to get you a drink for when you woke up.”
“I must have missed you and that’s why I woke up.” She wrapped her arms around his waist and stared up at him with a sleepy smile.
The sound of a throat clearing reminded him that Xavier was still on the phone. On video, no less.
Reuben raised the phone, glaring at Xavier.
“Oh no, you’re on the phone?” Faith gave him a horrified look. “I’m so sorry to interrupt.” She tried to pull away from him, but he held her tightly.
“You’re not interrupting,” he told her gruffly as she still attempted to get away. “And stop trying to move away.”
“Reuben, there’s someone on your phone. And I called you Daddy,” she whispered.
“It’s just Xavier. He doesn’t care that you called me Daddy.”
“Xavier?” she asked, the tension leaving her.
“Yeah, the guy who corrupted my little sister,” he muttered.
Xavier ran his hand over his face. “Damn it, Reuben. Will you not introduce me like that?”
“Why not? It’s the truth.”
“I love you too,” Xavier said sarcastically.
He shrugged. “You’re all right. But hurt my sister and you’re a dead man.”
“Reuben,” Faith chided. “That’s not nice.”
Xavier barked out a laugh. “That’s one thing he’ll never be accused of being.”
“He can be nice!” Faith retorted. “He’s nice to me.”
Was she . . . defending him?
Damn, that was sweet. Even if she was completely delusional. There wasn’t a nice bone in his body.
“Oh, sweetheart, I’m glad he’s nice to you,” Xavier said gently. “But that really isn’t something that Reuben is known for being. Other than for the women in his life. Juliet. Gwen. And now, you.”
He glared down at Xavier, but the other man was too busy staring at Faith.
“Hey, my eyes are here, asshole,” he muttered. “Stop staring at my girl.”
Xavier grinned. Wide. “Why can’t I stare at your girl? She’s cute.”
“You’re with my sister, you asshole.”
“Wait, you haven’t told Juliet yet about . . . uh . . . ”
“Faith,” she said. “Hi, I’m Faith.”
“Faith. Wait. Isn’t Faith your assistant?” Xavier said with a low whistle. “I see.”
“What do you see?” Reuben asked. He was done with this conversation.
“Nothing. Workplace romance, huh? And Faith, you’re a Little?”
“She’s not answering that,” he snapped.
“Yes,” Faith replied at the same time.
“Faith,” he growled. “Don’t answer his questions. Xavier, stop asking her questions.”
“Why?” Xavier asked.
“Because it’s none of your fucking business.”
Xavier grinned at Faith again. “I’m sorry, Faith. You’ll have to forgive me for having fun with this. Reuben loves to stick his nose into my relationship with his sister. I’m really glad to meet you. I know Juliet is going to be excited about this. She still wants to come visit her brother, but we’re going to have to postpone the trip for a bit.”
“You’re not telling Juliet about Faith,” he barked.
Faith tensed and Xavier frowned at him. “Why not?”
Shit.
He just realized how that sounded.
“Because I want to tell her myself,” Reuben explained.
Xavier nodded. “All right, I won’t tell Juliet if you agree not to send any bodyguards.”
“Bodyguards?” Faith asked, sounding alarmed. “Is everything okay?”
“Everything is fine, baby,” he soothed. “Why don’t you climb back into bed, and I’ll bring you a drink and a snack soon.”
She looked worried but nodded and stepped away. “Bye, Xavier. Nice to meet you.”
“You too, Faith,” Xavier said.
She walked out of the room.
“You aren’t going to tell her about any of this?” Xavier asked.
“Why would I tell her? We don’t know what happened. And it might upset her.” And his number one job was to make sure that she didn’t experience any pain or fear or unhappiness.
“I understand the urge to protect her, Reuben. But if she’s in your life and she means something to you, then you need to open up to her as well.”
“I’ll think about it.”
Xavier sighed. “No, you won’t. Because you’re a stubborn bastard who always thinks he’s right. Don’t you want her to share her worries with you?”
“That’s completely different.” Of course she should share her problems and concerns with him. Otherwise, how would he take care of them for her? “I can take care of any problems that arise. For me or for Faith.”
“You really care about her, then.”
“Would she be in my house, calling me Daddy, if I didn’t?”
“Good point. Just . . . don’t overwhelm her. Sometimes, going slow is a good thing. And just because she is a Little doesn’t mean that she can’t handle things.”
“This has nothing to do with her being a Little,” he said, surprised.
“Because she’s a female?” Xavier asked.
“No. It’s because she’s mine.”
Xavier whistled. “Well, good luck with that.”
Luck?
Since when did he rely on luck?
Never.
“Take care of my sister,” he ordered before ending the call.