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Pride filled Nico and despite Liam’s stern countenance, he knew that the other man felt the same way.
She was strong enough to deal with them.
“I don’t think I’m happy about that. You should tell me whatever I want to know.”
“Like you would do the same? You have secrets you’re not telling me, don’t you?” she challenged.
Good girl.
“Fine. But anything I need to know for your care, you will tell me.”
“Ditto.” She looked from Liam then over to Nico. Warmth filled him.
“Everything I’ve done is yours to know, pretty girl.”
“Christ, don’t tell her that. There are things you don’t want to know about his youth,” Liam warned her.
“Eh, I’ve already told her how I thought I was going to be a rock star, and about my family. Oh, I also told her how we met.”
“Did you?” Liam murmured.
“Uh-huh. Told her how you’re a marshmallow.”
“What?” Liam asked.
“Yeah, you’re like a toasted marshmallow, crust on the outside and gooey in the middle.”
“Good Lord.” Liam shook his head. “Charlotte, look at me.” He waited until she looked at him. “It’s better that we know about what he did to you, so we don’t set off a trigger.”
“What if I can’t talk about it?”
“You’ll be able to. When the time is right,” Liam reassured her.
“And nothing you say will make us think about you differently,” Nico added. “You’re our beautiful strong warrior princess.”
She gave him a small, wobbly smile. “I guess I’m scared to try in case I freak out and have flashbacks. But he didn’t rape me.”
“It doesn’t have to be rape for it to be traumatic,” Liam growled at her.
She sucked in a breath. “No, it doesn’t. My therapist kind of made light of the fact that he . . . that he touched me.”
“Jesus, where did Regent find her?” Nico asked. “The back of a crackerjack box?”
“Bet she was angry when he told her not to come back,” she said. “She definitely set her sights on becoming Mrs. Regent Malone.”
“Then she was an idiot, wasn’t she?” Liam drawled. “Because anyone who knows Regent knows that the surefire way to get in his bad books is to slight his sister.”
Lottie gave Liam a tentative smile that grew into something stronger. “Yes, I guess that’s right.”
“No guessing about it,” Liam growled at her. “You’re the adored fucking princess of the Malone empire. But you’re also a warrior, a fighter. No one fucks with you.”
“No one fucks with the Malones,” she muttered then looked up at them. “It’s something my cousins say. They call it the family motto.”
“I like it. Although you won’t always be a Malone,” Liam warned.
Nico sucked in his breath. While Lottie just looked confused. “Why?”
“Because you’re ours. You’ll be a Carmichael. We’ll create our own family motto.”
