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)
“Oh, is it like Kings Point?” Peyton asks, perking up.
“It’s similar,” Matteo says. “Why? You want to join us?”
“Can we?” Peyton asks, glancing at me. “That club was nice, and I had fun dancing … until you tried to kill that guy.”
She glares, and I chuckle.
“Dominick doesn’t go clubbing,” Matteo says.
Peyton’s face drops, similar to the way it did when I told her I was too busy to have lunch with her.
“Oh,” she says. “That’s okay.”
She plasters on a fake smile, and our conversation from earlier comes back to me. She wasn’t upset about the talk of marriage. She was upset because I ignored her idea of going out on a date.
Fuck, she wants me to take her out on a date.
She walks over to my desk and sets down a plate that I didn’t notice she was carrying. “Here’s your lunch. I didn’t want you to go without eating.”
She kisses my cheek and then leaves, and I immediately start brainstorming where I’m going to take her out. It’s our first date and long overdue, so it needs to be perfect …
“All right, I’m out of here,” Matteo says, interrupting my thoughts. “If you need me, you know how to reach me. If I don’t answer, it’s because I’m balls deep in a woman.”
“You’re so fucking crass,” I tell him as he walks away.
I glance at my seat, ready to get back to work, then to my sandwich. I’m behind from working from home, but instead of having a seat, I take my plate and go in search of Peyton so we can eat together, like she wanted, and then I can bring up us going out on a date. I’m sure Martha or Brielle would be willing to watch Damien.
I find her in the kitchen with Martha, who’s shooing her away.
“I can help, you know,” Peyton says. “Besides, it’s not like I have anything better to do. Damien is in school, and Dominick is working.”
“Well, I’m sure you can find something to do that doesn’t involve trying to steal my job,” Martha says with a laugh. “What do you usually do for fun?”
“I don’t know.” Peyton sighs. “I’ve always worked. Since before Damien was born, I worked and went to school. I thought after I graduated, I would finally be able to start my career, but …” Her words trail off, and even though I can’t see her face, I can imagine the longing in her features.
She’s bored. She’s always worked, and now, she’s sitting around, twiddling her thumbs while I run my empire. Most women would die for her life, but Peyton isn’t most women.
My thoughts go back to our time in the Dominican Republic. She wanted so badly to go to school so she could have a career in hospitality. When I mentioned her having another baby, she brought up her working. But I didn’t think about it because the women in our world don’t work.
But Peyton isn’t from our world.
“Dominick,” Martha says, pulling me from my thoughts, “are you finished with your lunch?” She glances at my untouched plate.
“No.” I slide onto the stool next to Peyton. “I wanted to have lunch with my future wife.” I shoot her a wink, and the most beautiful blush warms her cheeks. “And”—I turn toward her—“I was thinking, tonight, we’d go out … on a date.”
Peyton’s brows kiss her hairline. “Really? Are you sure? I mean, I know you don’t like to go out …”
“I don’t like to go out clubbing with my brother, trolling for ass,” I clarify. “Taking you out is another story.”
“What about Damien?” she asks.
“Oh, I can watch him,” Martha offers.
“Where are we going?” Peyton asks with a genuine smile that shows off her twin dimples.
“It’s a surprise,” I tell her since I haven’t thought that far.
Peyton eyes me speculatively. “A surprise? This’d better be a good date.” She playfully glares.
“Oh, it’s going to be good,” I tell her. “It’s going to be so good that you’ll be begging me to marry you and give you all the babies.”
Peyton snorts out a laugh. “I can’t wait to see what you have planned.”
Me too, I think to myself. Me fucking too.
30
Peyton
I’m going on a date with the father of my son. A man I never thought I’d see again, let alone date. All those years ago, when I’d overheard him in his office and ran, I had accepted that I was going to be a single mom. That I would have to be both parents for Damien. And for the next several years, I focused on being just that.
Now that Dominick is in our lives, I can’t imagine going back to raising Damien without him. Not that I’m not capable of it. I single-mom’d like a boss. But somewhere deep down, I longed to give my son the home my father had cheated my mom and me out of. Dominick is everything I wanted the father of my son to be—caring, loving, protective, patient. He might be scary and violent outside of our walls, but within them, he’s an entirely different man.