Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 45217 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 226(@200wpm)___ 181(@250wpm)___ 151(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45217 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 226(@200wpm)___ 181(@250wpm)___ 151(@300wpm)
Zack throws himself into the embrace. Jamie winces but doesn’t let Zack see it hurt.
“Are you going to go to prison?” Zack says, his face buried in Jamie’s chest.
He’s an interesting child, an eerie mixture of toddler-like emotion and grownup coldness. That’s what Dad did to him: stifled his childish parts, stunted them, and encouraged the rest. Now, he can fuse those pieces of himself and heal.
“No,” Jamie says. “It’s open-and-shut. Self-defense. I’m never going to prison again.”
“That’s good, and Jamie, did you, uh, did you mean what you said? Were you telling the truth?”
Jamie hugs Zack. “I meant it, kid. I’m going to be there for you. I’ll never let anybody hurt you.”
“We’re family, right?” Zack says.
Jamie looks at me meaningfully. Suddenly, all the pain and the craziness and my dad dying twice fades away. All I see is Jamie’s smile and the significance in his eyes, the confident message that they’re family because we’re going to be family.
I almost propose in a sudden, unhinged rush, but I don’t. I won’t. It’s for my man to do that when he’s ready.
“That’s right,” Jamie says.
“I can’t wait for you to meet Kyle,” Kylie says, holding her brother’s hand.
I cling onto his other arm, all three of us needing a piece of him.
“I wish you’d been there when he was born. I wish you’d held him.”
“There’s plenty of time to catch up,” Jamie says. “Soon, he’ll be sick of me.”
“I’m talking to Sebastian. We’re moving to the East Coast. You’ve missed enough. It’s not fair.”
“You don’t have to—”
Kylie glares at him, and Jamie laughs, shrugging.
“Okay, sis, I guess you do.”
“Nobody would say this is a normal family,” Kylie says. “We’ve all been through stuff. You, Zack, are way too young to have experienced all you have, but we’re here. We’re together. We’re determined to make the best of it. I think that means something.”
“It does,” Zack says, turning to her, smiling.
Jamie holds my hand, squeezing it supportively and giving me a secret look of love, desire, and belonging. Nothing will ever separate us now.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Jamie
“Seriously?” Lucy says, sticking her head into the bathroom.
I’m on my knees, tightening the last bolt. “Busted,” I reply, laughing.
“It’s only been four days since you left the hospital.”
“I feel fine,” I tell her. “Better to keep busy. Anyway, I did promise I’d fix this for you.”
I stand, washing my hands and wiping myself down.
Lucy stands in the doorway, wearing a summer dress that settles so perfectly over her body. It outlines the shape of her hips and belly, reminding me of how voluptuous and childbearing she is.
“You do seem better,” Lucy murmurs, walking into the room.
The house feels quiet without Zack. He was a fixture at the hospital, but we have to go through the standard processes. Luckily, I’ve got an agent for my books and several offers to sell my and Lucy’s story. We’re going to use this situation to our advantage. We’ll use it to get custody of Zack and earn enough to build the life my woman deserves. Together, we’ll build our family, one brick at a time.
“I’d keep your distance,” I say, “and not because I’m sweaty from the work. If I touch you…”
She pauses a few inches short of me, shivering. She knows how obsessed I get when she does that. She knows how wild it makes me.
“Aren’t you too ill?” she whispers.
I shake my head. “I’m better. For you. For us.”
She bites her lip. “Don’t forget that we’re meeting Kylie and Kyle soon.”
I sigh, nodding. I wouldn’t usually sigh at this. The first time I met Kyle was just perfect. I immediately bonded with him as he repeatedly asked me to hold my uninjured hand up to show me how hard he could punch.
“But later…” She sucks in a shaky breath. “I know you want it, and I want it, but…”
“No matter what happens, you’re always going to be mine,” I say. “You don’t need to be nervous.”
After a long enjoyable day, I walk from the shower across the hallway. My body still has some aches and pains, and two of my fingers are taped together, but I’m doing way better than I thought I would.
It’s like there’s this burning certainty in me that won’t quit, that will never get extinguished. It’s all for my woman and the life we’re going to build.
I’ve been healing up, but I’m ready now. I know she’s nervous, but she’s ready too. I groan when I see her lying on her side in bed. She’s wearing her bra and her underwear, nothing else, with one leg folded over the other to highlight the shape of her thigh. The light from the lamp shimmers over her entire leg. Her breasts are pressed together in a push-up bra, making me salivate. I forget about any part of my injury. There’s nothing but my woman.