Total pages in book: 35
Estimated words: 33081 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 165(@200wpm)___ 132(@250wpm)___ 110(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33081 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 165(@200wpm)___ 132(@250wpm)___ 110(@300wpm)
Gabriel had never loved another soul. It wasn’t something he was capable of, and yet, he knew he loved her. He would do anything for her, even if it meant taking care of her useless fucking brother to give her a better life. He would do it.
“I will tell you everything you need to hear, only when you’re ready to hear it.”
Faith wasn’t ready to hear his plans.
She didn’t know he planned for them to spend the rest of their lives together, to have a family and children.
Chapter Eight
Faith sniffed the air as she woke up the following day. Her cramps had sent her to bed early last night. She expected Gabriel to do some work, or anything, but he’d come with her to bed and rubbed her stomach until she fell asleep. What kind of man did that?
She knew he was a bad man, had one of the worst reputations for being a brute, awful, mean, every horrible word she could think of. Yet, last night, he’d laid behind her, held her close, and rubbed her stomach. Who was this man?
Now, she woke up, the sweet scent that she’d not smelled in a long time. Her mother, on a Saturday morning, to celebrate the start of a weekend, would always make her waffles. She had two kinds of recipes—sweet and savory. Her father hated to eat anything sweet in the morning, which was why they always had two kinds.
She loved sweet waffles, but she also loved them with bacon, scrambled eggs, and yes, a drizzle of maple syrup. It was the best kind of breakfast. Sweet, salty, savory, and everything that was good in the world, and she wanted it all. There was no better meal in the world than breakfast.
After using the bathroom, she brushed her teeth and headed toward the kitchen. She found Gabriel, dressed in a pair of khaki linen shorts and a white shirt, which did nothing to hide the abundance of tattoos he possessed. The man was covered in ink. They were all up his arms, over his chest and back, even on his legs.
She had seen several women yesterday at the beach, eyeing him. Faith had never considered herself a possessive person, or even a jealous person, but that horrible shock of sin had struck her yesterday. Gabriel was hers. Or she was Gabriel’s. She was his toy to play with, but didn’t that mean he was hers as well?
“Good morning, beautiful,” he said.
See, another hit of confusion. This man was supposed to be deadly, dangerous. Someone for her to fear, and yet, she didn’t. Far from it. She found herself even more curious about who he actually was. Faith had no doubt he was a monster, but would a true monster offer to go and get his toy feminine hygiene products?
After everything going on with Nigel and Gabriel, she had miscalculated the dates of her cycle, so starting yesterday had been a bit of a shock to her. She wasn’t going to admit to Gabriel that she was also a little disappointed. They’d been having sex for a week, and she knew it was only supposed to take the once, but part of her had a little hope that she was pregnant. Okay, a lot of hope, which was crazy. She didn’t want to have kids as she feared she would be a terrible mother.
At one time, Faith had wanted to have a big family. She loved her own family. Her parents had loved each other so very much, and they’d always been there for her, for her brother whenever they needed them. Every holiday season they had done something special. Nothing was ever too big, not even a last-minute bake sale. None of it. And she wanted to pass those memories onto her kids. She had wanted to be a wife, a mother, and that was why a career had been so hard for her. Faith knew it was a little old-fashioned, but that was what she had wanted to be.
“You’re making waffles?” she asked.
“Yes, but I hope you don’t mind. I’m making two different kinds.”
“You are?”
“Yes. I didn’t know which ones you liked so I did savory and sweet.”
“Which ones do you like?” she asked.
“Sweet.”
This made her smile. “I love sweet too.”
“Damn, I didn’t need to make the savory.”
Her stomach began to rumble. Gabriel opened the oven and turned toward her. “Unless I can offer you a savory waffle?”
She took one of the waffles on offer and bit into it. It was still warm, but was crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. He’d even put in some cheese and black pepper, and she was pretty sure there was even onion as well.
“These taste exactly like Mom used to make,” she said.
“Huh, what’s that?” Gabriel asked.
“It’s nothing. Just old memories.” She hadn’t cooked any of her mother’s food in such a long time. The memories were a little too hard for her to deal with.