Total pages in book: 32
Estimated words: 37136 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 186(@200wpm)___ 149(@250wpm)___ 124(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 37136 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 186(@200wpm)___ 149(@250wpm)___ 124(@300wpm)
She absently rubs her belly, making me think about how Antonio and I’ve never used protection before. It never even came up. As much as we go at it, it’s only a matter of time. Or maybe Antonio can’t have kids, for all I know. We hadn’t talked much about the future. Other than him grunting about how I was never leaving him.
It’s something I rather enjoy. In fact, the last two months have been the happiest of my life. This is the first time I’ve been away from Antonio for more than a few hours. I’d started teasing him about whether he even had a job. I told him it was okay if he didn’t because I had seventy-five million we could live off. He just laughed and showed me what he said his new job was with his mouth on my body.
“I’m starting to see that,” I laugh, not caring if Antonio is manipulating things to keep me. He’s just making more work for himself if he is, because I’m not going anywhere.
“I’m glad there are two of us now, and with your sass, it’s kinda like there’s really three of us,” Stella jokes, making me laugh. I’m not sure my sass works on Antonio like it’s supposed to. It seems to turn him on, but now that I think about it, he’s always turned on.
“I should get going. I have a doctor’s appointment, and I know my men will be tracking me down any moment.” She goes to rise from her chair, and her female bodyguard is suddenly at her side, popping out of nowhere like a freaking ninja.
“Mrs. Cortez.” The bodyguard says to Stella making my heart skip a beat. She and her husbands have their own little makeshift family, and I want that, too. Just seeing them all together makes me long for something I’ve never had. If I did have it one time with my mother and father, I was too young to even remember it.
“It was nice seeing you without the men. We should do this again. Soon.” Stella picks up her purse.
“Agreed.” I stand and give her a hug.
“You’re good for him. I’ve never seen him like this before. Don’t break his heart,” she whispers in my ear before pulling away. I just nod because a lump has formed in my throat.
“Take me to them,” she tells the guard before they both depart the little café.
Her words make me want to see Antonio. I’d learned over the past few weeks that he was sincere. He had no reason to lie to me. He’d had a contract that would’ve made me stay with him. He didn’t have to whisper the things he’s said to me.
I rummage through my purse, looking for my phone as I make my own retreat out of the restaurant, only to run right into someone.
Senator Walker Keaton. I just stare up at him, dumbfounded. What are the odds?
“Call him off.”
I look around to see who my former stepfather is talking to, but no one else is near. He’s just staring down at me. Call him off? What is he talking about?
“Get your husband out of my fucking business, Georgia.”
“Husband?”
Maybe my former stepfather has lost his mind. He was a jackass, but after mama died, he was grief-stricken. Maybe it was all too much for him.
“Haven’t you taken enough from me?”
His eyes look a little wild, and I take a step back, putting some distance between me and crazy. Oddly, I don’t feel anger towards him like I did weeks ago. In fact, I’m not mad at all now. I just want to put him in his place.
“I’m pretty sure you’re the one who dissolved the trust and took my inheritance. I didn’t take shit from you.”
“I’m not talking about the money, Georgie. I took the money to get back at for what you took from me.”
Yep. Definitely crazy.
“Walker, I’m didn’t take anything from you.”
“She always loved you more. You were all she really cared about. No matter how much I loved her, she just wouldn’t love me back.”
Understanding hits me. My mother. Mary-Grace only ever loved three things: me, my father, and money. And in that order. In fact, if she had known Walker would’ve taken my inheritance, she probably would’ve cut off his balls and fed them to the dog. My mother was the best charmer east of the Mississippi, but she didn’t fuck around.
“I’m sorry, Walker,” is all I can really say. I actually do feel sorry for him. I couldn’t imagine loving someone and them not loving me back. If Antonio didn’t love me—
My own train of thought cuts off. Holy shit. I’m utterly, madly in love with Antonio. It would be heartbreaking if he didn’t love me. I shake off that thought. Of course that man loves me. I’ll be confirming that first thing when I see him. When he took me from the Auction, he told me he was going to prove to me what I meant to him, and he had. I knew I was it for him. That he’ll spend the rest of his life making me happy, and I plan to do the same for him.
“If you’re sorry, then call your husband off.”
“Walker, I’m not married.”
“Cut the shit. I started digging when I got word someone called Antonio Cortez was making moves to make sure I didn’t get re-elected. Tried to figure out why some casino owner all the way out here in Vegas gave a shit about the Senate elections in Texas. Didn’t take long to figure out when I saw who he was married to.”
“We aren’t married,” I try again. Not that it matters if we are or not. Either way, I’m sure Antonio’s probably gunning for him. I should’ve seen it coming. When I told him about everything that happened and how I grew up, the anger towards Senator Walker Keaton was clear. Or maybe I did see it coming and just didn’t care.