23
He was a complete idiot.
Fuck.
With a groan, Xavier rolled over to check the time. Ten a.m.
Double fuck.
He’d called in sick to work. First time he’d ever pulled a sicky in his life. But it would have been worse than negligent to take his drunken ass into work.
Still. He felt terrible about that.
It wasn’t like he’d gotten any answers from the bottom of a whiskey bottle. All he had now was the headache from hell and regrets.
So many fucking regrets.
He’d messed up so bad. Taken her for granted.
What he needed was to get his shit together. The other morning, he’d acted like a child who didn’t get his way. Who had their Christmas present taken away when it had never been his in the first place.
He owed Juliet a huge apology.
He owed her bodyguards a big apology. Including the guy who’d claimed her.
And wasn’t that going to suck ass? But Xavier was an adult. He could own up to his mistakes.
Living in the same town as them, well, that was going to be challenging. But maybe it was better this way. This bodyguard seemed rougher than he’d have chosen for her. But he might have a gentler side. Neither of them had made a good impression on the other one.
Sure, he didn’t like that they barely knew each other and he was claiming her in a bar. Then again, maybe that’s what he should have done.
And now, he had to go apologize, beg her forgiveness, and find some way to spend time with her and her new man so he could ensure that this Brick guy was worthy of his angel.
“But I don’t want any more to eat, Daddy.”
Brick gave her a firm look. She didn’t eat nearly enough on a good day, and since they’d had that visit from Xavier, her eating habits had gotten worse. She was barely eating enough to keep a mouse alive, and he knew he had to get firmer with her.
“If you want to go swimming, I want to see half the food on that plate gone.”
She gave him a sulky look. Most of the time, she was very sweet-natured, with a slightly bratty side that he quite liked. But when it came to eating, she could get very stubborn.
He was also worried that she wasn’t sleeping enough. She looked tired with bags under her eyes. Tonight, he might insist on sleeping in her bedroom with her. Or maybe out on the sofa in her playroom with the door open if she wasn’t keen on him sleeping in the same room with her.
A long sigh left her. He raised an eyebrow. “Would you prefer something else?”
“No,” she muttered, poking at the sandwiches he’d made them.
“Would you like to eat your lunch on a hot bottom?”
“Daddy! What kind of question is that?”
He leaned forward. “A serious one.”
She picked up a sandwich and ate a bite. She’d just finished a triangle, which made him breathe a bit easier when his phone rang.
“What’s up?” he asked Elias.
He hadn’t seen either of them much since he’d been spending more of his time with Juliet.