Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 98469 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 492(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98469 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 492(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
“That’s an easy fix,” I tell her. “We can get married today.”
She chokes out a laugh. “If you think I’m marrying a man I haven’t even gone on a date with, you’re out of your mind.”
“A date?”
“Yeah, you know, when a man takes a woman out, usually to dinner or a movie. I know you’re not very experienced in this whole relationship thing, but generally, before a man knocks up a woman, he courts her. They date, get engaged, and then married, and then the babies come.”
“Well, we already have Damien.” I shrug. “So, I don’t see why we can’t just skip to the marriage part.”
I smirk, and I expect her to laugh, but instead, her smile disappears, and something about it rubs me the wrong way.
“Hey,” I say, tilting her chin up so she’s forced to look at me. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing.” She shakes her head and pushes me back so she can slide off the desk. “You’re right. Who needs to date when we already have a baby? At the rate you’re going, I’m sure we’ll have another baby soon enough.”
She gathers her yoga pants and underwear and puts them on. “Sorry for interrupting your meeting. I actually didn’t come in here for sex.”
“You can interrupt me anytime you want.” I give her a soft kiss on her lips, and she sighs into me. “What did you need?”
“I was going to see if you wanted to have lunch,” she says with a smile that feels almost forced.
“I’d love to, but I really need to get back to my meeting.”
“No worries,” she says, walking out and leaving me with this weird feeling.
I don’t know what it is, but it doesn’t sit right with me.
I try to pinpoint where our conversation took a turn, but before I can, Matteo strolls in.
“What’s going on?” he says, dropping into the visitor seat. “Jesus, bro.” He sniffs and then gags. “It smells like a fucking brothel in here.”
I glare at him. “Sex with the mother of my child cannot be compared to a whorehouse.” I sit across from him. “What do you want? I have a meeting I need to get back to.”
“I just wanted to touch base regarding the shipments. Everything appears to be back on track. I added more security at the warehouse, and so far, we haven’t had any more issues. I wish we knew who was behind it because I imagine they’re not done, and we don’t know where they’ll strike next or why.” He sighs and shakes his head. “It just feels different. I can’t figure out their motive. I had the mayor followed, and nothing. I don’t think he’s behind it.”
“They’ll fuck up sooner or later, and we’ll handle them like we always do. Until then Daniil needs to stay with Brielle any time she leaves the house, Ricky is posted at Damien’s school, and Denis will go anywhere Peyton goes when she’s not with me.”
“How do you do it?” he asks, confusing me with his question. “You fell into this domestic life so easily. The wife, the kid …”
“We’re not married—yet.”
And then it hits me.
Peyton’s smile fell when I jokingly told her we could skip straight to getting married.
Does the idea of marrying me upset her?
“You will be soon enough,” Matteo says with an eye roll. “I just don’t know how you do it. After watching our parents’ dysfunctional marriage, why would you even want that?”
I think about his question for a few moments. We were raised in a fucked-up household. Andrey was violent and abusive, manipulative and unpredictable. Our mom was checked out and in survival mode. Brielle was nothing more than a bargaining chip. Matteo had it worse than me because our father thought he was stupid and worthless. At least with me, he saw potential.
But then I think about Peyton and the way she smiles at me. The way she loves our son. She’s such a damn good mom during the day, and at night, when it’s just the two of us, she lays her head on my chest, and we talk about everything and nothing, and I feel so damn complete. I never knew it could be like this until her. And now, I can’t imagine my life without her.
“Because what our parents had isn’t the only option,” I tell him simply. “And if you stopped fucking women who only wanted you for your wallet and dick, you’d see that.”
He scoffs and stands. “I’m good, bro. I’ll leave the domestic life to you.”
“Hey, Dom,” Peyton says, appearing in the doorway. “Oh, sorry.”
“You’re good,” Matteo says, walking toward the door. “I was just leaving.”
“I’m making dinner tonight if you want to join,” she says.
“Thank you, but I need to get back to the docks to handle some shit. Lorenzo and I are hitting up a new club in South Beach.” He waggles his brows. “It’s ladies’ night.”