Bell appeared at my side, an arm still wrapped around Ava. “My dad can check her out in the morning. I think, right now, everyone just needs some sleep. Ford and I can stay here tonight.”

“They’re going to stay with me until Parker figures out who’s behind this.” The words were out of my mouth before I could consider the wisdom of them. All I could think about was having Caelyn and the kids behind my fences and cameras and alarms.

“We are?” Caelyn asked, blinking rapidly.

“I’ve got an alarm system, cameras. And there are enough rooms finished upstairs now for you to all have your own. You’d just have to share two bathrooms.”

Ava looked up at me. “We all share one bathroom here. Two will be even better.”

“I don’t know,” Caelyn began. “I don’t want us to invade your space and—”

“Please,” Mia cut her off. “I want to stay with my giant. He’ll protect us.”

I felt a burning sensation deep in my chest—a mixture of pride and fear. I rubbed a hand up and down Mia’s back. “I’ll do everything I can to keep you safe.”

25

Caelyn

I sighed as I shut the door. “I never thought they’d go down.”

Griffin gave my shoulder a squeeze. “They’ve been through a lot today. It’s understandable.”

I nodded woodenly. I wanted to lean into Griffin’s touch. To let the warmth of him swallow me whole. As if he sensed it, Griffin pulled me into his arms and simply held me. My cheek pressed against his chest, and the steady beat of his heart calmed something inside me.

Griffin’s chin rested on the top of my head. “You’re safe here. I promise.”

“I know.” I never felt safer than I did when I was with Griffin. I wanted to battle against that feeling. To hold tight to my autonomy as protector of my family. But I was exhausted. And scared out of my mind. If that brick had hit one of the girls in the head, they could’ve been killed.

I shivered, and Griffin pulled me tighter against him. “What is it?”

“It could’ve been so much worse. The girls could’ve been badly injured. Killed. And their faces. God, Griffin. I promised them that they’d never have to go through what they did when they were younger. But here we were barricaded in a bedroom. Again. I broke my promise.” Tears spilled over, tracking down my cheeks and onto Griffin’s shirt. He only held me tighter.

“They’re strong, Caelyn. They’re going to get past this. Sure, they’ll be scared for a few days, but kids are resilient. And they have you. You make them feel safe.”

I sniffed into Griffin’s shirt. “I’m not so sure about that. Mia wanted her giant.”