CHAPTER 24

RONNELL POV

My hands wrapped around the steering wheel, knuckles turning white as my grip tightened. I'd intended to pull away from Blair's… well, it was hard to call that place a house. But here I was, still parked in the driveway. Anyone else in this situation, I'd have bounced. Her living conditions weren't my concern.

As long as she showed up for work on time and churned out perfect reports, that was all that mattered. I didn't need to know the details of her life.

But Blair… Blair was different. Seeing her like that, with Nathan in that trashed apartment… it stirred something in me, something I couldn't quite define. Maybe it was the vulnerability in her eyes, so different from the steely professionalism she wore at work.

The image of Nathan, his chubby hand clutching my finger, flashed in my mind. A surprising warmth bloomed in my chest. It was ridiculous. Kids weren't part of the plan. Yet, there he was, a tiny human who, for some inexplicable reason, had made me happy.

A sigh