Page 11 of Innocent Salvation

“Will you plait my hair first? Uncy Seb isn’t good at it, but don’t tell him I said so, it hurts his feelings and makes him sad.”

Snow knew it was impossible to stop herself from falling in love with this child. She may not have time for the man who sired her or even know her mother, but she was blood and more than that, she was adorable. A rumble of protectiveness rushed over her, and she knew she’d do anything for this child. Even put up with her grump of an uncle.

“Yes, of course. Go grab me a hair band and brush and I’ll see what I can do.”

In no time she’d secured the child’s hair in a braid down the back of her head and tied a bow at the end. Hand in hand they walked down the stairs and into the dining room where Mr Grump himself was seated at the head of the table like a king at a banquet.

“What would you like for breakfast, Fleur?”

“I want egg and toast soldiers and juice.”

In unison, both she and Sebastian said, “Please.”

Snow’s eyes shot to his and him hers before she looked away and back to Fleur who was giggling.

“You just jinxed.”

“We did, didn’t we?”

“You have to do the thing.”

Snow was standing beside Fleur on the opposite side to Sebastian who seemed to have no clue what she was talking about.

“I don’t think your uncle knows about the thing, and he’s far too busy.”

“What thing?”

His voice was full of impatience and she glared at him as he frowned like the ogre she’d accused him of being, albeit a very handsome one.

“You have to link your little fingers and stay that way until someone breaks it,” Fleur explained with not the slightest hint of fear at his sharp mood change.

He was like fire and ice, and she never seemed to know which she might get. Last night he’d been a full-on butthole, this morning he’d shown a little humour and gallantry, and now he was like a stroppy teen who’d had her phone taken away.

“What happens if we don’t do it?”

He was talking to Fleur, watching her with a gentleness that squeezed at her heart. No matter what she thought of him, he seemed to care for his niece and was putting her first. It meant hating him was harder than she might have thought, but the remembered look of joy on his face when he looked at Dominique cured her of that notion.

“Then something bad might happen. Like it did with mummy.”

Snow placed a hand on Fleur’s shoulder in reassurance, hating the sound of fear in the child’s voice.

Sebastian stood and he seemed to dominate the large room, making it feel smaller. He crouched beside Fleur, turning the child so she faced him and took her hand in his much larger one. “Fleur, I don’t want you to worry about things like that. Mummy was sick before she went to heaven. She would’ve stayed if she could, and I know she’s watching you and loving you from heaven.”

Snow was fighting the lump in her throat as he explained to his niece and tried to reassure her without telling her any details that she’d never understand. Snow knew the mother had killed herself but not why and she wanted to know even more now because it obviously wasn’t because she wasn’t loved by her family or loved her child.

“What if you get sick?”

“I won’t because I eat my greens and stay fit.”

Fleur nodded and reached out to squeeze her tiny hand around one of the biceps she could see under his white shirt. “That’s why you have big muscles.”

Sebastian seemed to blush at her words and laughed uncomfortably. “Yes, that’s right.” He stood and looked at her, the blush still staining his cheeks and she was thrown by the contradiction of the man who was both shy and arrogant at the same time. Yet she wasn’t there to understand him, she was there to check on her niece and find out his secrets and if need be, use him to bring down her mother even if it destroyed him in the process. Regret filled her for a second before she cut the thought dead. He wasn’t her friend; he was her enemy.

“Shall we?”

Snow snapped from her thoughts to see him holding out his pinkie finger to her. Linking her little finger with his, she once again felt the zing of electricity that had flowed through her yesterday. She’d had a few boyfriends here and there but never anything serious and certainly, nobody that had woken her body and made her ache from such a simple touch. This man screamed danger to every single sense she had, and yet the heady feeling was almost addictive.

They remained locked in the moment both staring at each other his eyes darkening with heat which she knew was reflected in her own.