Total pages in book: 128
Estimated words: 121360 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 607(@200wpm)___ 485(@250wpm)___ 405(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121360 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 607(@200wpm)___ 485(@250wpm)___ 405(@300wpm)
“He’ll be here on Thursday.” We got out of the car and walked into the house.
She stopped in the hallway, and her loud sigh echoed against the walls. She gripped her chest like she couldn’t handle the air that left her lungs. “Thursday…that’s only two days from now.”
“Yes.” I walked into the kitchen and set my bag on the floor. “Two days from now, you’ll have Luca.”
She leaned against the wall and cupped her cheeks with her palms, having a slight meltdown right in the kitchen. She closed her eyes as she focused on her breathing. Seconds later, her eyes welled up with tears. “Two days…”
Pity rose in my heart, like I was responsible for her pain. I imagined my mother’s reaction if someone took me away from her. She would be an even bigger mess, unable to do anything until she got me back. Taking a child away from its mother was the worst kind of torture you could inflict. At least Egor didn’t hurt the kid. I wouldn’t have put it past him. “Yes, sweetheart. Two days.” I stepped in front of her and gripped her shoulders, comforting her in the only way I knew how.
She blinked her tears away then lowered her hands. “I’m so happy… I’m sorry that’s not more obvious.”
“You never have to explain your emotions to me.” My palms cupped her face, and my thumbs wiped away the two tears that dripped down her cheeks. “I know you’re happy.” My hand moved to her heart. “But I know you’re broken at the same time. I promise when you get him back, no one will ever take him away from you again. I’ll make sure that never happens.” This woman made me pledge my loyalty without even asking. I wanted to make her happy, give her the entire world. She’d earned my respect and my affection, but she’d earned so much more too.
“I know, Carter.” She moved into my chest and wrapped her arms around me. She held me close, her cheek resting against my chest. “You’re a great man, Carter. The greatest man I’ve ever known.”
Before Mia came into my life, I was selfish, motivated by greed and sex. I was one-dimensional, uninteresting. If I’d known what I was getting myself into with her, I probably would have turned down the offer and kept my hands clean. I wasn’t a hero by any means. But now, I wouldn’t go back and change anything. This woman clawed through the armor around my heart and forced me to feel something, something I’d never felt before. She forced me not to be selfish, forced me to care about something other than myself. I thought I was a man before she came along, but now I felt like a bigger man than before. “I don’t know if I agree with that, but thanks anyway, sweetheart.”
She pulled away then grabbed my bag from the floor. “I’ll put this away and make you some lunch. Do you have a request?” Once she dropped her affection, she returned to the professional relationship we had during the day.
But I wasn’t in the mood for professional. I had been gone for almost three days, sleeping alone every night and working nonstop during the day. My hands got dirty from working on an engine, the pads of my fingertips were sore from gripping the pencil so tightly as I worked on the schematic in my office. Now that I was home, staring at the woman I owned indefinitely, I didn’t care about lunch or my bag. “You.” I pushed the strap off her shoulder, making the bag fall to the ground with a loud thud. “I don’t want lunch.” I stepped closer to her, my face slowly inching toward her beautiful face. “I don’t want you to do my laundry. I just want you.” My hand fisted her hair, and I yanked her face back slightly, making her lips perfectly accessible.
All the emotion left her gaze once I handled her that way, made my erotic demands that she had to fulfill. I kept her in my house because I wanted her to take care of my home—but I wanted her to take care of me too. Her other responsibilities could wait.
“I want you too…sir.”
At the end of the night, when dinner was finished and the dishes were done, Mia came to my room, wearing the lingerie I’d picked out for her in Milan. With a see-through bra that showed her hard nipples and garters on her beautiful thighs, she looked like the fantasy I had every time my hand was wrapped around my dick. Her long brown hair was curled around her face, her eyelashes were thick, and she looked like a woman who was about to be seriously fucked.
I sat up in bed with my back against the headboard, my dick already hard just from thinking about how she would look. Now that my eyes settled on her tanned skin and feminine curls, my cock twitched noticeably.