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I sit down next to Scarlet and pull her onto my lap. “He’s fine. Finn already stitched him up. I’m more worried about you.”
She lowers her gaze from mine, worrying her bottom lip. “I’m fine.”
“Remember the rule about lying?” I ask.
“She thinks all of this is her fault,” Cali says.
Scarlet glares at her sister. “Snitch. Remember what you always say about snitches.”
Cali shrugs. “Well, it’s true. You do think it’s your fault.”
Declan sits, and Cali crawls onto his lap.
“It’s not your fault. You weren’t responsible for Ivan’s actions, and you’re not responsible for the guys hunting us. I mean it, Scarlet. This is no one’s fault but theirs,” Declan says.
She glances at her sister, then at Declan, then at me. “If I hadn’t been so stupid—”
“Little girl,” I growl. “Call yourself stupid one more time and I’ll flip you over my knee right here in front of Declan and Cali. You are not stupid. You did nothing wrong. Baby, I need you to understand that none of this is your fault.”
Her bottom lip trembles. “Why couldn’t I have met you first?”
That makes me smile because fuck, I wish that had been the case. “I don’t know, baby. But you have me now, and we’re going to do whatever it takes to protect you both.”
“Aww, who knew Killian was such a sap?” Cali asks.
Declan swats her thigh. “Quiet, Little girl, before I put you overmyknee.”
Cali rolls her eyes. “Sheesh. You two have a thing with putting us over your knees. Is that like a knee fetish?”
Scarlet bursts out laughing, while Declan pins Cali with a glare. She shrugs and grins at her sister.
“Do we need to separate you two already?” I ask.
“Nooooo,” they both whine at the same time.
I have a feeling the two of them are going to run circles around us, but damn if I don’t love it.
* * *
“Come on.It’s time for bed,” I say, holding out my hand.
After Declan and I talked with the girls, we let them watch a movie while we went back into the study to work. Andrei confirmed no additional men had gone AWOL, which meant we were down to twelve men who were potentially still hunting us.
“I’m not tired. We’re going to watch another movie.”
I raise an eyebrow. “No, you’re going to go to bed. It’s late and it’s been a long day.”
Cali sips her wine and looks from me to her sister with an amused smile. Scarlet narrows her eyes. “I’m not tired.”
“I’m going to count to three, and if you’re not up and moving from that couch by the time I get to three, you’re not only still going to bed, but you’ll be going to bed with a hot bottom. One.”
“You too, Little girl,” Declan says from behind me.
Cali sighs. “But, Daddy…”
“Two,” I say.
Scarlet scowls, but she tosses the blanket off her lap and stands. She might tell me she’s not tired, but I can see the exhaustion on her face. That doesn’t stop her from sticking her tongue out at me as she walks by.
