Kian (Undercover Billionaire, #1)(9)

Chapter Four

The circles beneath Roxie’s eyes were growing deeper by the day, but she didn’t care in the least. What she cared about was that her niece was finally getting released from the hospital. Two weeks of sleeping on an uncomfortable couch so she could be by her niece’s side had been well worth the aches and pains in her body.

Two weeks of seeing Kian every single day was playing havoc with her nerves, but even that she could deal with. They hadn’t discussed the two of them any further, and he hadn’t threatened her with taking Lily away, but his very presence was letting her know he wasn’t going anywhere.

She didn’t want to even think about that at the moment. It was too much for her to process, and she wanted to feel a bit of joy that her niece would survive. But now it was time to tell Lily her mother wasn’t coming back to her. How was Roxie going to do that?

Kian walked into the room and grinned as he sat down next to Roxie, far too close for her comfort. He easily reached out and clasped Lily’s hand, and she looked at him with a bit of hero worship that had Roxie wanting to grind her teeth.

“How is my favorite little girl today?” Kian asked Lily.

“I want to go home,” Lily told him with a bit of a stubborn tilt to her chin that clearly showed she was most certainly Kian’s child.

“Guess what?” he said.

The hope in Lily’s eyes had Roxie’s heart breaking all over again for this precious child.

“What?” she said.

“You get to go home today,” he told her.

She smiled as she reached out for him. He didn’t hesitate as he gently pulled her into his arms and lightly squeezed. Roxie couldn’t have spoken in that moment, even if her life were in danger.

“And I get to see my mommy?” she said as she looked around the room, her eyes connecting with Roxie’s. Kian looked over at her, his smile quickly falling. There was a question in his eyes, and Roxie knew she had no choice but to talk to Lily about this.

“Sweetie,” Roxie began, and Lily looked at her with sadness. “Remember how I told you your mommy couldn’t be here right now?”

Lily nodded as her eyes filled with tears. There was a huge lump in Roxie’s throat, making it impossible to continue speaking. Kian reached out with his free hand and rested it on Roxie’s leg as he looked at Lily.

“Your mommy needed to go be with the angels,” Kian said gently as he squeezed Roxie’s leg. As much as she didn’t want to lean on this man, she couldn’t reject his comfort in this moment. She had no one else.

“But why?” Lily asked as her first tears fell.

“I don’t know why,” Kian told her. “Sometimes we don’t get to know the reasons, but we do get to know she’s watching out for you, and she misses you so much.”

Lily was silent as she looked from Kian to Roxie, sadness in her expression. Roxie’s heart was completely broken as she tried to figure out what else to add.

“No one can make you stop hurting, but we will be here for you always,” Roxie told her.

Lily continued to cry as Roxie joined her. This moment was too much, and yet there was nothing that could be done to take the pain away from a child losing her parent, especially a child as young as Lily, who just couldn’t possibly understand why her mommy didn’t want to see her again.

“I want you both to come home with me for a few days,” Kian said, and Roxie instantly tensed. This was something he should have discussed with her first, not just sprung on her, especially with Lily so vulnerable. His tone might have been calm and soothing, but that didn’t help her at all.

“I . . . uh, don’t know about that. I was thinking we’d just go to my sister’s place,” Roxie told him, keeping her own tone calm.

“It’s not ready yet,” he said, giving her a look. For a brief moment, Roxie had forgotten that’s where the crime had happened, had forgotten that it might be a crime scene.

“I didn’t even think about that,” Roxie said slowly. “We can figure something out.” It was more than obvious that Kian didn’t like that idea at all.

“I’m off work now. Come home with me and get a shower and a decent night of sleep, and then we can go from there,” he insisted. She didn’t want to argue in front of Lily, but she in no way wanted to go to his place.

“I really think that’s a bad idea,” Roxie told him. Lily wasn’t saying a word during this exchange.

“We need to talk about what happens next,” he said, his voice firmer.

“I will be caring for Lily. There’s not a lot to talk about,” Roxie said, deciding there was no further discussion on the matter.

“Come home and speak with me tonight or . . .” He stopped. Maybe he was smart enough to realize ultimatums might not be the way to go at the moment. “The choice is yours,” he finished.

“Is that a threat?” she whispered, not wanting Lily to feel the tension. Kian sighed before he shook his head.

“No,” he finally said. “It’s not, but we do need to talk,” he told her.

Roxie gazed at him with suspicion, but exhaustion was making her not want to fight, and she really didn’t know where else they were going to go for this night. Maybe after a solid night of sleep, she’d have a clearer frame of mind.