Page 305

He looks at Will.

“If she comes back with a scratch⁠—”

“I know.”

“No, you don’t.”

Will almost smiles.

“Yes, I do.”

Hayley reaches for Sean.

He pulls her against him.

The movement is so sudden that she gasps.

“You stay here,” he says against her hair.

“I will.”

“With Taylor.”

“Yes.”

“You do not leave this building.”

She leans back enough to look at him.

“I won’t.”

Sean kisses her forehead.

Then he turns to me.

For one strange second, neither of us knows what to do.

We have only known each other for three days.

He is my father.

I am his daughter.

Both things are true, but we are still learning how they fit.

Sean opens his arms.

I step into them.

He holds me tightly.

“Frank protected you once,” he says. “We’re going to protect both of you now.”

“I trust you.”

His arms tighten.

Those three words seem to hurt him.