She was looking at her father and doing it looking terrified.

And guilty.

Then I looked to Logan, who simply looked infuriated.

He’d read his daughter’s look.

“M-m-maybe I was wrong,” she went on. “Maybe I-I-I didn’t see him run out.” Her eyes glanced off me before looking beyond me. “F-f-found him curled up on that long chair in your bedroom.”

“Everyone inside,” Logan snarled, and I held Chief closer as Logan waited for Cleo to dash inside before he strode purposefully toward the door.

I darted a hand out when he got close to me, wrapping it around his forearm to waylay him.

He looked down at me and he was my man, I knew him. I knew the old him and the new him. And I knew, even with the fury burning into me from his gaze, he’d handle this and not lose it (too much).

But still, at the look on his face, I had to fight back quailing.

“Take a second,” I whispered, still holding a now squirming Chief close. “Take a breath.”

He didn’t take a second and he didn’t take a breath. He twisted his arm from my hold but in turn took hold of my hand and dragged me (and Chief) into the house.

He slammed the door and Chief jumped in my arms, starting to claw when he heard the loud noise.

Then Logan dragged us into the living room where Zadie was now standing, looking more terrified and still guilty. Her sister was standing several feet to her side, looking at her like she wanted to shake some sense into her.

Logan let my hand go, and before he let loose the wrath I felt sweltering from him, I hurriedly spoke.

“Okay, everyone,” I started. “It’s all good.” I kept talking as I bent to release Chief on the floor. He scampered away and I straightened. “Chief’s here. He’s safe. Let’s all take a quick moment to collect ourselves—”

Logan cut me off.

“Right now. The truth,” he demanded of his youngest. “You see that cat run out the door?”

“I thought—” she began.

He bent forward and thundered, “The truth!”

Her chin quivered and it took her some time to get up the nerve, the time she took building more heat in her father, so it was fortunate she found the courage before he exploded (again).

“N-no,” she whispered.

“So you’re standin’ there tellin’ me you scared the shit outta Millie just to be a snot,” Logan declared.

I put a hand to his biceps and held tight.

“Low, you need to take a moment,” I advised.

He didn’t even look at me.

He kept his gaze pinned to his girl.

“Answer me,” he demanded.

“I...” she started, trailed off, looked to me, and burst into tears as she burst into a flurry of words. “I’m sorry! It was mean! I didn’t think you’d get so scared! I thought you’d look inside first and find him!” Her watery eyes went to her father. “I’m sorry, Daddy. I didn’t mean to scare her that bad.”

Logan was immune to her tears. “But you meant to scare her.”

She pulled in a painful, hiccoughing breath, still bawling, nodded, and looked at me. “Not that bad, though. Swear. Swear! Not that bad!”

“It’s okay, sweetie,” I said gently.

“It fuckin’ is not,” Logan bit out.

I looked to him. “Low,” I said, this time quietly. “Careful. Language.”

Again, he didn’t even look at me.

But he did gesture to me, jerking his head my way.

“Love her,” he growled. “Bottom of my soul, straight to my gut, I love this woman. Told you that so you already know she’s got that from me. But she decided she didn’t give a shit about my girls and did nasty things to you that made you hurt or made you scared, she’d be gone. She’d never see my face again. She’d be history. Now, love her and love you, Zade. So you do that shit to her, what am I supposed to do with you?”

Zadie’s hiccoughing sob tore at my heart but still, I had it in me to move swiftly to Zadie, pull her into my side, wrapping both arms around her, while snapping irately, “Logan! Calm down!”

Finally, he looked to me. “It’s not okay what she’s done.”

“You’re right and the lesson is obviously a hard one but I think she’s learning it,” I returned.

“I agree but I gotta make sure she learns it in a way she won’t forget,” he shot back.

“I’m thinking that’s working,” I retorted.

He looked to his girl. “It working?”

She nodded her head desperately.

Poor thing.

I lifted a hand and swept her beautiful, thick, soft dark hair from her face, then bent to her and used my thumb to wipe her cheeks.

“Okay, darling, it’s over now,” I said gently. “All done. All good. Okay?”

She turned wet eyes to me and didn’t get a chance to answer because Logan ordered, “Get your shit. I’m takin’ you back to your mother’s.”

That was not a good idea. We needed to calm this here and now and move on.

I straightened and glared at him.

Zadie pulled away from me.

I didn’t get a shot to try to get Logan to step into another room with me so we could chat about what was going on. He turned and strode to his cut that was hanging on the hook by the back door. He shrugged it on and handed his girls’ jackets to each in turn as they hesitantly moved to him. He then swiped his car keys off the counter and came to me.

Hooking me at the neck, he gave me a quick, hard kiss and muttered, “I’ll be back.”

After that, he let me go, walked through his girls and right out the door.

“Uh... see you later, Millie,” Cleo said shakily.

All I was able to do was nod before she followed her father.

Zadie began to move after her sister but I quickly moved, too, grabbing her hand so she was forced to walk with me.

Logan was behind the wheel, Cleo closing her door at the front passenger side so I moved Zadie to the passenger side back.

I stopped her before she could reach high to open the door, and with a tug at her hand, turned her to me.

“He loves you, sweetie,” I told her a truth I hope she knew in her heart. “He’ll cool down and it’ll be okay.”

I spoke these words and then watched her face twist in a way so ugly, I dropped her hand.

“He hates me,” she spat. “Because of you. Which means I hate you.”

Right.

So maybe she didn’t learn her lesson.

I had a split second to make a choice.

I made it when she turned away from me and reached to the door.

I reached beyond it, crowding her and pressing my hand into the door so she couldn’t open it and was forced to turn back.

The instant she did, I bent to her and declared, “I love him. Bottom of my heart, straight through my soul, I love your dad. And when you love someone like that, your only reason for breathing is to make him happy. I want that more than anything, to make him happy. And I can make him happy in a lot of ways, Zadie, but the only thing that would make him truly happy through and through is if all his girls got along. I know this is hard on you. I’m very sorry it’s hard. You might not believe that but my heart breaks for you, what you want you can’t have and learning that so young. It’s tough, the toughest lesson you can learn in life. So tough, people a lot older than you don’t learn it until it’s too late. But sometimes we gotta let go of what we want when it isn’t to be had, find a new dream and work for that. I want that dream for your dad. And I hope you’ll find some way to want that with me so we can work together and give it to him.”

I delivered that speech, straightened away from her and the door, and took a step back.

She glared up at me a moment before she turned away, reached high, tugged open the door, and hauled her little girl body inside.

She slammed it.

I sighed and backed away from the truck.

Logan gave me a chin lift and Cleo gave me a wave that was back to hesitant before he instigated his multipoint turn to drive away.

As he did this, I moved to the door and stood in it until I couldn’t see them anymore.