Total pages in book: 24
Estimated words: 21871 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 109(@200wpm)___ 87(@250wpm)___ 73(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 21871 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 109(@200wpm)___ 87(@250wpm)___ 73(@300wpm)
I wish I knew how to reach him, where to go. But even if I did I’m still not sure I would have the courage to face him. He probably didn’t want kids anyway, and if he did, why would he want them with me? The daughter of the man he held responsible for his dad’s death.
I picked up my phone and pressed the home button so I could see his face. It’s something I do at least a hundred times each day. I’d found the photo online, a rare shot according to the headlines, of the man who’d made a name for him self before inheriting his dad’s fortune.
There was some innuendo and hints at his underworld dealings, but no one knew for sure if he was part of that life or not. I was inclined to believe that he was, but it made no difference to me. I was so engrossed in running my finger over his image that I didn’t sense there was someone behind me.
“That’s not a very good shot.” Large hands came down on my shoulders and my heart sped up in my chest even as my body went hot and weak. “Nico.” His name was a soft whisper of disbelief. Maybe I’d conjured him somehow. But the weight of his hands felt real.
I was afraid to turn around, afraid that it was just my imagination, but when the first tear fell onto the screen of my phone I felt myself being lifted from the chair and folded into his big strong chest.
Huge wracking sobs shook my body and I barely heard his whispered, ‘it’s okay baby, I’ve got you’ before I was being taken out of the room and into the evening air. I was about to tell him I’d left my belongings but overheard him telling one of his men who’d been standing by the door to fetch them.
I didn’t pick my head up even though I knew we were probably making a spectacle. Not even when I heard a car door open and felt him climb in with me held close in his arms I didn’t move my face from where I had it buried in his chest.
“Shh, it’s okay stop before you make yourself sick. Stacey, look at me.” He tried pushing my head back but I held on tighter and refused to move. I’d been wanting this for so long ever since he left me. And now he was here and I was afraid. What if he didn’t want the baby? From everything I’d learned about him, which wasn’t a lot, he was a solitary animal who liked going his own way.
I soaked his shirt before he was able to get me to stop. By then the car was in motion. I tried to avoid his eyes but he lifted my chin with his finger and just stared down at me. There was a look of wonder on his face that I didn’t understand until his hand came down and covered my stomach.
My breath hitched; he knew, but how? I didn’t get the chance to ask because his lips covered mine in a mind-blowing kiss. I clutched at him like a lost puppy until his arms wrapped around me so tight it was hard to breathe. I didn’t care. I never wanted that hug to end. After weeks of misery I was finally back where I wanted to be.
10
Nico
* * *
I’d been standing there behind her unsure of what to do. My natural instinct was to pick my woman and child up and get the hell outta there. But there were too many damn witnesses and not enough bullets. For the first time in a long time I wasn’t sure how to proceed, and then she’d taken out the phone and I saw the picture.
It was a jolt to the system seeing the way she ran her finger over my face on the screen. My dick, which was already hard at the first sight of her, went on high alert and that was enough for me. Now she was sitting on my lap as we made our way through the streets to home.
I guess she could hear the wild beating of my heart once she stopped her crying shit. I held her a little closer and turned her face up to mine to clean it. Her eyes were bright and unsure. “Hi baby.” She wiped her hands across her face like a five year old and tried to sit up.
“Where’re you going? Stay where I put you.” She gave me a look like she was gonna mouth off but her runaway pulse told me she liked that shit. “You’re still bossy.”
“Yeah and. What the fuck did you think I was gonna change in a few weeks?”
“You shouldn’t swear at me.” She played with the buttons of my shirt.