Mae – Kayn William Becket, you better answer my question. How is my granddaughter?
I wince at her use of my full name. Only Mae is allowed to ever use it, and she only does so when I’ve pissed her off. It’s the sa
me with my brothers as well.
I hit Reply to send her a message before she shows up at my door.
Me – Calm your feathers. Maisy looks fine. Great actually. We’ll be by tomorrow evening for dinner.
I check the last message. It’s from JW, informing me that I need to check my messages. Mae’s already called him and told him she’s coming over if she doesn’t hear from me soon. It was sent a few minutes after her last message. Hopefully, my reply to her appeases her for the night.
I turn when I hear footsteps behind me. Ellie’s just taking the last step when she halts in her tracks, spotting me by the bar.
“I’m afraid I’ll have to mop your bathroom floor when she gets out. She wouldn’t let me turn the water off until it reached her shoulders. There’s bubbles already on the floor.”
“I’ll take care of it. She going to be okay up there by herself?”
She walks further into the room but stops at the edge of the couch. “She’s almost eleven, Judge. She’s been taking baths by herself for a few years now.”
“That’s something I wouldn’t know,” I tell her, lifting a brow.
She winces and looks down, twisting her hands together. “Yeah, I guess not.”
Ignoring the ping of Mae’s reply, I put my phone on the counter and walk toward her. She picks at her nails with agitation. I make her anxious.
“Why are you nervous?” I ask, coming to a stop a couple of feet away. I want to close the remaining space between us and kiss away the apprehension from her face.
“I’m not,” she denies.
I smirk and let my eyes fall to her hands for a moment before lifting them back to hers. “You forget. I know all your nervous tics, Ellie.”
Her hands stop fiddling with each other, and she instead stuffs them in her pockets. Her shoulders slump.
“I just don’t know what to do here.”
I frown. “Elaborate.”
She looks around the room, then back at me. “This is your home, Judge. I’m only here because of Maisy. I don’t really know what to do in this situation.”
That makes me scowl, irritation forming in my stomach. “This is your home for as long as you’re here. Treat it as such. Do whatever in the hell you want to do.”
I take a step closer when she nods. Being only a foot away, I can see the small specks of black in her silver eyes. I can also smell her natural floral scent and it drives me crazy. My dick takes notice, recognizing the scent from years before, and my blood heats.
Her eyes widen when I reach up and lay my hand against her neck, feeling the rapid beat of her pulse beneath my palm. She closes her eyes, and I see the war raging in her mind.
Push me away or pull me closer.
I want to demand she pull me closer. I swipe my thumb along the underside of her jaw, running across the small scattering of scars, reminding me I never asked her about them.
That needs to be rectified soon. I’ve already learned a lot from JW’s report, and what she’ll tell me is going to hurt like a bitch, but I need to hear it from her. The pain will be my penance for allowing her to be hurt.
She opens her eyes, and I know she’s going to retreat. I grip the back of her neck and pull her until only a few short inches separate her lips from mine.
“Don’t fight it,” I whisper.
Her eyes glisten, and the sight tears a hole in my heart.
“This is going to be difficult enough,” she whispers back, her voice raspy. “Don’t make it harder by adding this to the mix.”