Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 91461 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91461 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Quick sniffling. “I just sometimes, you know, this is my first place and I pay rent and bills and have to cook on designated days and sometimes I just…and I’m going to graduate next year and be a grown-up and have a real job and…” She hugged me so tight, and I rubbed her back and made sure, as I always did, that I never let go first. “I know this is weak of me, but sometimes, it’s a lot.”
Once she was wiping at her eyes, I took her little face in my hands. “The door is always open for you. No matter the reason, no matter the time of night, your father and I are here.”
Sam was there then, and she went from me to him, and I ended up with my son draped over me a moment later. Which I loved. And I understood. Sometimes when the world got crazy, having that safe harbor in the storm was important. For my kids, that was home.
Already, once last week, Finn had an overnight assignment in New York, and when Sam and I were in bed, I heard the back door open, followed by the beep of the alarm. Soon after, the alarm got deactivated, then reactivated, and finally, there were heavy feet on the stairs. Dobby didn’t bark, which told me it was one of the kids, and because Hannah had never walked that heavy in her life, it was either Kola or Jake. The fact that Chilly got up from his new favorite place—the heating pad on the wingback chair in our room—to go check; told me it was Kola. Chilly liked Jake just fine, but he adored Kola. When he didn’t come back, I knew he was snuggled up. When I got up in the night, I found my son in his bed and Chilly’s nose sticking out from under the covers in Kola’s arms.
The next morning, I made him and Sam breakfast, and that’s when I learned that Finn was gone. They both left before me since I was meeting a client up in Parkridge.
I was happy whenever Kola or Hannah came home. Sam loved it too. It was what you were made for as a parent, taking care of your kids. And Sam liked the times that his entire family was under one roof, safe and whole. So now, in this moment, he hugged Hannah so tight she let out a little meep of surrender. It was very cute.
We hugged all the kids on the way out, both of mine and the rest, even Finn, who’d made it clear a while ago that he wanted that from me. Sam—if Finn got a pat from him, he was lucky. Same with Wick. But from me he wanted tangible evidence that I wanted him in my life, and that was good because I was more than happy to hug the man my son was in love with. I enjoyed seeing him and Kola in the kitchen looking through the refrigerator for something to snack on until the tacos were ready for Harper and Hannah to pick up. When I waved goodbye, Kola said he’d see me on Sunday for dinner, and he was bringing Finn, Hannah, and Jake with him. I couldn’t wait.
Since it was a Friday night, there was a lot of traffic downtown, even more because of Valentine’s Day, and Dane suggested that Sam use his lights and siren.
“That’s not a good use of power,” Sam pointed out.
Dane didn’t care; he just wanted to get there. He was hangry at that point.
Getting into Aaron’s building was never easy. People needed to be checked in, which, I was guessing, they all understood. What Sam and I had going for us was Hannah. The doormen, the security detail, they knew her, so always, someone at the desk would say, oh you’re Hannah’s parents, and that would get us walked directly to the elevator that opened on the second floor of their four-story penthouse.
To me, it was too much space for two people, but it was the one they both decided they liked best, so Aaron’s other homes had been sold. He’d needed them in the past to lead his billionaire playboy lifestyle with, but once married, had wanted a singular place to call home with his beloved. The penthouse had made the cut, as it was close to work for both him and Duncan, was close to everything, like restaurants and entertainment, was close to his brother and his brother’s wife, was close to friends, including us, and most importantly, it was Duncan’s favorite place in the world to be. Really, everything else paled beside that one reason. People thought Aaron Sutter was so cutthroat and merciless, but anyone who really knew him became quickly aware that he was putty in his husband’s hands. Whatever Duncan wanted, Aaron would move heaven and earth to give to him. The love was tangible, which was nice to see.