“What Ms. Moore did for my niece was very much called for,” he says, his voice calm enough to be frightening. “I would like you to set up a meeting with me and Eric’s parents. As soon as possible.”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Moretti,” the principal says quickly, and I don’t miss how her entire posture changes when she says his name. “I didn’t know you were coming. But policy is policy. Violence will not be tolerated, and Ms. Moore shoved another student. I’m going to have to suspend her.”
“Do you not hear yourself?” I ask, finally shaking myself out of whatever strange spell this man has cast over the room.
Because, good grief, Mr. Moretti might be the sexiest man I have ever seen, but that is not the point.
Not right now.
Mostly.
“You just said bullying won’t be tolerated,” I continue, turning back to the principal. “But the only child you’re punishing is the one who stopped it.”
“Don,” Sabrina cries.
Before I can process the title, the little girl rushes out from behind my daughter and straight into Mr. Moretti’s waiting arms.
He catches her without hesitation.
As soon as he has her tucked beneath his chin, she starts to cry.
Not the quiet tears she’d been fighting before.
Real sobs.
The kind that shake her little shoulders and make my heart crack wide open.
Mr. Moretti’s expression changes.
Not much…but just enough.
The darkness in his eyes turns colder, but the hand he places against the back of Sabrina’s head is gentle. So gentle it almost doesn’t match the rest of him.
“Shh,piccola,” he murmurs, his accent softening around the words. “You’re safe now.”
Sabrina clutches his suit jacket in both fists.
Livy watches them, her chin still high, but her eyes are wet now too.
And for the first time since I walked into this school, I realize my daughter wasn’t just angry.
She was protecting someone who needed her.
And this man?
This terrifying, beautiful man holding a crying little girl like she’s something precious?
He knows it too.
“Thank you for helping my family, little one,” Mr. Moretti tells my daughter. “You have the heart of a true protector. What a very lucky girl my Sabrina is to have such a fierce friend.”
“You’re welcome, mister,” Livy says, her chin held proudly high. “Sabrina says she has lots of family at the big house. Can they all come to my mama’s sanctuary tomorrow for the fundraiser? We’re raising money to help feed and take care of the animals who need us. Right, Mama?”
My brain tells me I should probably stop my daughter from inviting an entire stranger’s family to our sanctuary.
Unfortunately, my brain is not currently helping my lips move.
Because when Mr. Moretti turns his full attention to me, I forget how breathing works.
