He’s rolled his window down, his head practically stuck outside as he takes in every inch he can get his eyes on.

“You been here before, brother?” Royce asks him.

Cap shakes his head. “Pictures and video from our PI.” He places the SUV in park, sitting still a moment.

“Is it what you imagined?” I ask him.

He glances around, meeting my eyes again. “Better.”

Right then a big burly man in a suit steps from the right side of the wrap-around porch, and a second from the left.

“Security. Nice.” Royce nods.

“Guessing they didn’t know we were coming?” Maddoc asks.

Captain unbuckles his seat belt. “I will never ask to see my own daughter again.”

With that, he pushes open his door and climbs out, but the three of us have the same idea and don’t move an inch.

Cap only gets a few steps before the front door flies open and Maria’s wide eyes hit his.

She glares and takes a half step forward.

I dart for the door handle, but Maddoc’s quick, and his hand covers mine.

I slice my glare to him, but he’s not looking at me. His eyes are on the porch.

I look back just in time to see a little hand grip around Maria’s thigh. Her eyes shoot wide, her head dropping to the contact.

Maddoc’s grip tightens on mine and Royce shifts to the edge of his seat.

Her little head pokes out next, blonde hair as curly as I remember it and sitting high on her head, a purple bow locking it in.

Her head tilts up to Maria first, but when Cap takes another step, it cuts his way.

Instant, full, and the most precious thing I have ever seen – she smiles wide.

Royce lets out a sharp exhale, a soft chuckle following as she wedges her little shoulders between the frame and Maria’s body and bounds forward.

She gets so excited she pauses to stomp her little feet, her hands extended as if he’s close enough to grab her.

I look to Captain, and of course he gives his baby girl what she wants. He jogs to her, getting to her faster. Not bothering to hit the porch steps at all, he holds his hands out and she doesn’t hesitate.

She jumps.

He catches her, lifts her up high for a moment before pulling her to his chest.

“She understands who he is,” Maddoc rasps.

My eyes cut to him in question, but he doesn’t take his eyes off them. “I wondered, but...”

But he couldn’t ask. It makes sense. Zoey didn’t get to see Captain much and for someone so young, just shy of three, it could be hard for them to grasp, especially when she goes to bed without him every night. There’s no question, though. She knows exactly who her daddy is.

Zoey looks over Cap’s shoulders right then and her back shoots straight. She pats Cap’s and points to the SUV.

“I think she sees me,” Royce whispers like she might hear him.

Cap says something to her that has her nodding, and then tickles her, and she laughs with her whole body, making the three of us follow suit.

He starts this way and our amusement halts, our bodies going stiff.

My eyes move to the porch where Maria raises a hand as if she’s going to stop him, but then her fingers fly to her lips. She takes a step back.

My eyes narrow.

She’s nervous.

Maddoc grips his handle and Royce’s eyes quickly find his. “Yeah?” he asks a little hopeful, a little nervy.

I grin. “Go.”

Royce frowns. “You too.”

I shake my head, sitting back in my seat and pulling my hand from Maddoc’s. “No. This is your time. Go.”

They hesitate a moment, and as if sensing it, Cap pauses a few feet from the hood.

The boys open their doors and exit.

Zoey’s head bobs one way to the next, and she clings to Cap’s neck more but she’s not afraid. A little nervous maybe, but she only drops her chin to her shoulder and watches them.

Both pause right in front of her and she looks to Captain.

I find myself chuckling. I’m pretty damn sure little Zoey is blushing.

Royce steps up to her first and lifts his hand for a high five.

Zoey smiles, but instead of high fiving she puts out her knuckles, making the brothers laugh together.

Zoey kicks against Captain, so he puts her down. Her little lips move and she points toward the dollhouse.

Cap nods and starts walking but Zoey, reaches up and he offers her his hand, but she wants Royce and Maddoc’s too. She tries to hold them all but can’t figure it out and frowns up at Captain.

He laughs and shrugs his shoulders at her, but Zoey smiles and grabs Royce and Captain’s hands, locking them together.

I laugh, scooting closer in my seat, holding my breath as she reaches for Maddoc’s hand. She can only grip two of his fingers, her other hand holding tight to her dad and damn if I don’t wish I had a phone for the first time. That’s a helluva picture right there.

Cap and Royce hold hands while Zoey holds Caps with her left, and Maddoc with her right. One little blonde-haired baby girl, leading all three right where she wants them.

Captain’s eyes cut back to the SUV and I still. His stares a moment and I know what he’s wondering – do I not want to meet her. I hate the moment of doubt it causes him, but when they shift to Maddoc I know, without words, having not even needed to hear it from my mouth, he communicates my reason.

He knows I want this for them, and this isn’t me not wanting to meet her, but them needing this moment for themselves – a niece and her uncles.

Movement from the porch catches my eyes.

Maria steps farther out, fishing a phone from her pocket, and I jolt for the door handle, quickly hopping out and rushing straight toward her.

Her head snaps up, eyes wide in shock.

“You.”

“Me.” I keep forward.

She glances back to her phone before looking to me again.

“Don’t do it. I don’t want to have to fuck you up while your security watches,” I warn, holding out my palm.

It takes her a second, but she hands it over with a not so gentle slap.

“By the way, security for a social worker, huh?”

“Security for the little girl I protect day and night.”

“When you’re not posing as a social worker and dragging other girls hours away from their homes and dropping them in new ones?”

Her eyes narrow. “Some would say I brought you home, not drug you from your home.”

Can’t quite argue with that. They are my home more than anything else ever was. “Some would be right then, wouldn’t they?”

It’s on the tip of her tongue to ask me, so I hold eye contact until she can no longer keep it in. “Why would he... why would they bring you here? Why would they allow you near her at all?”

“Isn’t it obvious?”

She frowns after them, a deep sigh leaving her. “I worried this would happen. The day I read your file I thought it, but the day I met you...” She trails off, her eyes tightening at the edges. “At the school with the principal who clearly cared for you even though you were a brat, how Ravina spoke to you and how you handled her.” I tense at the mention of my mom’s name. “Your overall attitude and the look in your eye when you spoke to me. Everything about you was... refreshing. I knew it in my gut. I warned him you’d be everything they never knew. That made you dangerous for them, for this world.” She looks to me. “But at the end of the day, we all want something we can’t have.”