Page 30 of Ruin Me Sweetly

God, I loved my girl.

“Keep one of those ancient weapons on you when you’re at work,” she said, still chuckling.

“I can’t steal anything from the museum.”

“Borrow.”

I shook my head at her. “I love you.”

“I know,” she said, kissing my cheek. “But seriously—tell Luke.”

She went inside and upstairs. I closed the door and followed slowly behind. In a mere six weeks, my life had changed rapidly. Sadie had a habit of attacking, then vanishing for a while, but she always came back.

I checked the time before dialling Luke’s number.

She was a skinny little ginger nuisance with the entitlement of a duchess and the manners of a bin rat.

No one messed with my daughter.

Chapter 16

Luke

The early morning sun creeping through the windows was a rare sight at this time of year. It wouldn’t be a problem on our honeymoon. I drained the rest of my coffee and set the cup in the dishwasher.

It was becoming unbearable, being apart from Bella. But slow and steady won the race. I was up against a mother’s instinct, and I didn’t want to cause any major disruption while Amber was heading toward her final exams.

Just as I reached for my phone and wallet, it rang.

Isabella.

She was thinking of me.

“Good morning, my darl—”

“We have a major problem, Luke,” Bella said, cutting me off.

Shit. Was she onto me?

Did I do or say something?

“Sadie was at our house. Spying through my damn windows. And worst of all, Amber caught her,” she hissed.

Dear god. She sounded furious, though now wasn’t the time to let that arousal get the better of me. My mind shifted instead to everything Stefan and Michael had briefed me on.

“Go to work, darling. I’ve got your keys, and I’ll have a discreet security system fitted in your home, along with cameras. This time, we can get a restraining order,” I said, keeping my voice calm, though beneath it, I could feel something start to burn.

“What is wrong with her, Luke? She’s like the fucking Terminator. She just won’t quit.”

“I’m sorry. I’ll deal with it.”

She sighed.

“Okay,” she whispered.

But it was a sound of defeat.

“I’ll pick you up from work. Don’t worry, I’ve been considering which route to take with Sadie. It’ll take a little time to build a solid criminal case against her. I know it isn’t fair to you and Amber, but I’ll stay over more, until the house is finished.”