Page 129 of The Billionaire's Virgin

“You heard the doctors,” I said. “They’re all really confident that Taylor is going to pull through. She’s strong; she’s a fighter, remember?”

“I don’t want her to die,” Jenna said, in a small voice.

I lifted Jenna into my arms and hugged her close. “She’s not going to die,” I told her. “She’s going to wake up soon, and then… everything will go back to normal.”

“Really?”

“I promise.” I nodded. “Actually, you know what? Scratch that; things won’t go back to normal. Things will be better than normal.”

“Better than normal,” Jenna said, and she gave me a half smile. “What’s going to happen?”

“You’ll see,” I said secretively.

I bought some chocolate milk for Jenna, and then we picked a table in the middle of the cafeteria and sat down. I watched my daughter with hungry eyes, so grateful that she was within my care now and safe from harm. She was such a beautiful little girl, and it warmed my heart to know that she was okay now.

“Jenna?”

“Yes, Daddy?”

“Are you okay?”

She looked up at me with confusion. “Uh-huh.”

“Do you want to talk at all… about what happened?”

“No, Daddy,” Jenna replied.

“It’s okay to admit that you’re scared about stuff, you know,” I said. “Everyone is scared of things.”

“Really?” Jenna asked. “Even you?”

“Even me.” I nodded.

“Like what?”

“Like I was scared I would lose you,” I admitted. “I was scared I would lose Taylor. I was scared that I would never see either one of you again.”

“Because you love me?” Jenna asked.

“More than anything in the world.”

“Then you must love Taylor too,” Jenna reasoned. “Because you were scared of losing her too.”

I raised my eyebrows, realizing how very smart my daughter was. I smiled self-consciously. “You know what?” I said, deciding that I wasn’t willing to hide anymore. “I do love Taylor.”

Jenna smiled. “Does that mean Taylor can stay with us forever?”

“I’ll certainly try and convince her to stay with us,” I said.

Jenna’s smile deepened. “She was so brave, Daddy,” Jenna said. “She jumped right at the bad woman. She pushed me out of the way and then she jumped at the bad woman.”

“That was awfully brave of her,” I said, thinking about the kind of courage it must have taken to do something like that.

“She didn’t seem scared though,” Jenna said thoughtfully. “She was braver than Superman.”

I smiled. “Drink your milk.”

“Daddy?”