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“Um, you don’t have to play with me, Daddy. You’re far too busy and important. Don’t you have work to do? People to terrorize? Small countries to conquer?”
“I was going to take over Holland this weekend, but it can wait.”
She grinned at him. He ran his finger over her freckles. “You’re so beautiful. And I always have time for you, understand? No matter how busy I am.”
“Daddy?” she asked.
“Yes, baby?”
“Is everything all right? Your phone call with Xavier . . . it seemed a bit tense.”
“Really? Seemed pretty normal to me.”
Faith glanced away, and a strange feeling filled his stomach.
Was this . . . was it guilt?
Hmm. It had been a long time since he’d felt guilty about anything.
“I really want this to work between us,” she told him.
Oh, he didn’t like that. It sounded like she thought there was a possibility that this wouldn’t work.
Which wasn’t possible.
“It will work between us. There is no possibility of it not working because I never intend to let you go.”
“Thanks, Daddy. I might keep you too.”
“Might?” He gave her an outraged look.
“Okay, okay, I’ll keep you too. Sheesh. You’re very needy.”
He snorted.
Faith needed Reuben to know that he could share things with her.
She wasn’t weak. While she liked him protecting her, he didn’t need to completely shelter her.
“Reuben, I want you to know that I’m here if you need to talk about something. I won’t . . . I won’t break, you know. I want to be here for you. Like you are for me.”
He eyed her for a long moment. “I don’t want you worrying. I need to take care of things for you. It’s not a desire. It’s part of who I am.”
“And I like that. Sometimes, it feels like I’m drowning in my worries. There are times when I lie in bed with this weight on my chest, thinking about everything that could go wrong . . . everything I could have done differently.” She rubbed at her chest.
“See? I don’t want to add to your worries. I’m here to take them away.”
“You can’t take all of my worries away.”
“Sure, I can.”
He was so arrogant, but she gave him a small smile. “It doesn’t make you less strong to lean on me.”
“I won’t tell you things if I think they’ll worry you,” he replied stubbornly.
“All right.”
“Some things are confidential,” he added.
