Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 93425 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 374(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93425 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 374(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
She hums, struggling between the exhaustion and the responsibility she has towards our son. “Do you think he’ll go down for you? He’s not used to doing bedtime with anyone but me.”
“I have no plans to be a deadbeat father, princess. It might take us a little while to find our grove, but you just watch. Matteo and I are going to be thick as thieves in no time.” I promise her, thinking of my son. I have no delusion parenting will be easy, and that’s without the extra complication of being the heir to the Lombardi family. And I have years of parenting and bonding to make up for, so I’m going to take advantage of every opportunity that gets thrown my way.
“Don’t let him convince you to read too many books or he’ll keep you up all night,” Emma tells me. I take that as a yes.
I finish cleaning her, mourning when I wash away my cum from her skin. She’s asleep before I turn off the light once she’s in the bed. Her soft snores fill the room. I can’t find myself to mind her snoring or the way she alternates between hogging the bed and clinging to me like I’m her last chance at salvation. The blankets never stay straight on the bed. They always ended up tangled, and when she inevitably gets cold and tries to plaster herself to my side at night, I have to untangle them to cover her.
I love every second. Every second of caring for her just reminds me she’s mine.
It’s only six o’clock at night, and I should bring food up to Emma at some point so she doesn’t wake up in the middle of the night hungry, but she needs to sleep. She never complains. Between her school work, taking care of Matteo, and dealing with her overbearing father, Emma never has time for herself.
Emma may be Chris’ daughter, but he treats her like an emotional support animal. He expects to be able to give her demands that she should follow without question and achieve his dreams and goals for him. She lives as a vessel for his expectations.
I can never imagine treating Matteo like that. Even if he gets older and decides he doesn’t want to be a part of this life, then I’ll support him in finding the life that fits him.
“Hi buddy,” I say as I come into the living room where he’s playing with his toys. His brightly colored play mat and plastic toys are a stark contrast to the modern furniture. No one minds. Every little reminder of him brings joy to the household.
“Hello,” he says. He doesn’t look up from his toys and I don’t bother him anymore. I’m happy to just be in his presence.
Chapter Thirty-Six- Enzo
Andy has a bottle of Scotch set out on my office desk when I come into the room. He’s also sitting behind the desk, smoking a cigar. I wrinkle my nose. I don’t know where he got the cigar since no one in our family smokes. My father did when my parents were younger, Cuban cigars like all the cool gangsters, and my mom loathed the habit so much that she would throw any cigar she came across in the sink.
“Don’t stink up my office with that crap.”
“It was this or weed with the news I’m about to tell you, and good weed stinks worst.”
He passes me the cigar and I take a drag of it. I don’t enjoy the way it burns in my lungs and so I pass it back to him with only a little of the nicotine high. He takes one more drag himself before he puts it out and slides me some pictures. In the photo, there are footsteps leading up to the window for Matteo’s room.
“So, the monster was real?”
“Looks like it. We’re still trying to figure out who the monster is and how they got onto our property. So far, we can account for everyone who we know should have been on the property. None of them were anywhere near the window. I already made sure they knew we wouldn’t be punishing if someone snuck away for a smoke break.”
Andy takes the bottle of Scotch and pours us each a glass, testament to the fact that I won’t like what he has to say. “Any leads?”
“Not anything solid, but I have a theory I want to run past you.”
I sit back in the chair and wait for him to start. “I think some of the night guards are getting a little lazy on their watch. Watching Netflix on their phones and such. There are no cameras in Eric’s bathroom, and about 10 minutes before Matteo got scared by the monster, Eric slipped in to take a shower.”
“A shower? At three in the morning?”