Reign A Romance Anthology - Nina Levine Page 0,3

and they were going to have teachers who were paid to put in the extra time and effort with each student. These kids were going to be given opportunities to succeed with support, resources, and money. And as far as I was concerned, my daughter was going to be right alongside them, getting the education that I was denied. And it was going to be a damn good one, so I didn’t have to watch her struggle or fight to make a life for herself like she’d had to watch me do.

I took her hand in mine and squeezed. “Just do you, baby girl,” I encouraged her, drawing her eyes to me. I could see she was a little scared. I got it. I did. This shit was frightening as hell. “Fancy or not… who cares. Because you’re smart, and here, you’re gonna be challenged, and you’re going to excel.”

She sighed, nodding slowly.

Blair was smart—that was no understatement. Sometimes I wondered if she was too smart for her own good. Trust me, I wasn’t one of those parents who thought their kids were perfect angels and could do no wrong. Nope, that dream went out the window when I was called to the principal’s office on her second day of Pre-K.

She wasn’t a bad kid, honestly.

“Do you think they’ll give me detention on my first day?” Blair asked as she reached for the door handle. I threw my head back and closed my eyes, praying to fucking anyone who would listen that she would at least last the first day. Unfortunately, along with her big heart and sparkling blue eyes, the other trait that rivaled her huge brain was her smart mouth and her inability to keep it shut when she felt like she had something to say.

“Blair… pleas—”

She threw herself across the center of the car and pressed a kiss to my cheek, effectively cutting me off, grinning smugly as she pulled the door handle and climbed out.

“It’s fine,” she tried to placate me, waving her hand as if trying to shoo me away. “I’ll see you after school here somewhere.”

I crinkled my nose and frowned at her jovial change in mood. “Listen here, missy,” I ordered, almost climbing out of the car when she rolled her eyes before focusing in on me. “No making anyone cry. No tormenting other kids with sick jokes about why you had to move school. No giving teachers lists of juvies when they ask about where they can find your records. And above all, no pretending to be allergic to the cafeteria food.”

With each demand, her smile grew bigger.

I knew her tricks.

We’d done this dance plenty of times before.

But each time she would come up with something new.

And each time, I honestly couldn’t fault her creativity.

“Mom, it’s gonna be fine,” she assured me again, leaning in the open car door with a smile. “I will keep the making people cry to a minimum… today. Just focus on work. Go and meet with that boss guy and impress his stupid business socks off.”

I snorted, my mind suddenly moving again back to me.

For some reason, I found it far easier to focus on Blair. It came much more natural to me to be the momma bear who needed to protect her cub than it did to pretend to be confident and like I wasn’t completely shitting my pants.

“I’ll see you after school.” I nodded, inhaling deeply to try and get my heart to stop racing. “Call me at lunchtime and let me know how things are going.”

She started to back away from the car, and my heart squeezed a little tighter. Blair was my baby girl, my partner in crime, and every time I watched her walk away or disappear from my sight, I felt like a part of my world was missing. God forbid if she decided she wanted to go away for college in a few years and move across the fucking country or something like that.

I sat there, watching as she disappeared into the school office building, my hands clenched on the steering wheel.

I was scared—fucking petrified, actually.

But no one else was going to do it.

And I made sure I put my big girl panties on this morning.

2

Huntsman

“Shouldn’t you be at work?” I asked, raising my eyebrow at my youngest son, Ripley.

He looked up at me with an agitated frown and a piece of dry toast in his hand. “You need to let me sober up first, or else I’m gonna end