“Of course she can.” Leaning down, he kissed her forehead. “You’re beautiful, button.”
“Thank you, Daddy,” she whispered as Duke and Sunny reappeared from the bathroom.
“Got her cleaned off best I can. We’re off. Talk later, man.” Duke clapped hand against Ink’s back. “Sorry to leave you with this mess.”
Uh-huh. Sure he was.
“Bye Betsy!” Sunny waved as she left.
“See you later, Sunny.” Betsy waved back.
Duke hustled Sunny out and Ink grabbed hold of Betsy’s hand, taking her into the bathroom to clean up. When she was as glitter-free as he could manage, he led her back into the main room. He sat on the coffee table, pushing the picture to one side. Then he pointed to the sofa in front of him. “Come sit, Betsy.”
“What’s wrong?” she asked, perching on the edge of the sofa.
“There’s no easy way of saying this, so I’m just going to come out with it. Royal and Baron have gone missing.”
“They’re missing? How can they be missing?”
He winced at the fear in her voice.
“Is it Forrest? Did he take them?”
“No, baby. Not Forrest. They took off. Drugged Matthieu and stole his car.”
Her mouth dropped open and she gaped at him. Then she jumped to her feet to start pacing the room. He waited for her to tell him this was his fault. That he should have done a better job of keeping them safe.
It was nothing short of the truth. Their safety was his responsibility. He didn’t shirk his responsibilities. Or when he was at fault.
He braced himself for her anger.
“Those…those ratbags!” she said in typical Betsy talk. He’d rarely heard her swear. Something her mother had no doubt taught her in her quest to make Betsy a perfect little lady.
He was glad that old bitch was no longer alive.
Betsy tugged at her hair viciously and he winced, moving over to stand in her way.
“Easy, brown eyes. You’ll pull out all your hair.” He reached up and drew her fingers free from the strands. “My fault but I will damn well find them.”
“Your fault? How is this your fault? You sent someone to get them out. This is in no way your fault. Everything you’ve done for me, for them…I can never repay you.”
He frowned, not liking the sound of that. “You don’t owe me a fucking thing.”
“I owe you everything. How many men when they got that note would have just walked away? Kept themselves safe? Would have been so angry with me that they left me to rot? How many men would have cared to find out the truth?”
“You’re making me out to be a better person than I am, brown eyes. I was furious with you. Felt betrayed.”
She flinched.
“But now that I know why, I don’t blame you, Betsy. You had no choice and you weren’t at fault.”
“I feel at fault.”
“You weren’t. And the only reason I felt betrayed is because I’d come to care about you. Got to admit, I did worry that you didn’t want me.”
“That’s not true.” She shook her head. “You’re the only man I’ve ever…” She broke off, going bright red.
“You have to finish that sentence.”