Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 75642 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75642 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
I’m cautious enough to meet him downstairs because it’s none of his damn business that there are three small children in this room.
Wren texted back, and I need to figure out what my game plan is. I also need to pay cash and check the parking lot before heading back up.
I have to get everyone out of town. The revelation that Keres wants their money and has a monthly requirement changes everything. Sutton is a huge deciding factor as well. I can’t just put a woman, two boys, and a young girl on a plane beside me because the manifest would lead Keres right to Cerberus’ doorstep.
There are so many things to consider, but luckily for me, there is more than one group of guys willing to help me.
I hope Kincaid wasn’t just placating me when he was talking about the village that is Cerberus, because I’m going to need their help more now than ever. But first, I have to get back to New Mexico with three kids in tow, and I doubt this is something Mila is just going to quickly agree to.
Chapter 12
Mila
My stomach is in knots, making it impossible to eat. Thankfully, the kids are a handful, and I can focus on getting them fed rather than wondering what happens after they go to bed. I can’t discount the chance that Vincent will tell me to get out, despite his grace he’s allowed by not asking all the questions I saw raging in his eyes earlier.
She looks so much like him, there’s no denying her paternity. Carlen and Janet never put two and two together, and they believed me when I told them I had a drunken one-night stand with a guy from college. When I went further to explain I didn’t know the guy and had no way of tracking him down, I received more disappointment than I thought I deserved at the time. I have no doubt they’d disown me again if they found out I got pregnant by Vincent Chilton.
I freeze, the wet washrag in my hand hovering over Sutton’s arm when a knock echoes around the room.
My eyes immediately dart toward Vincent, who doesn’t look alarmed. He still checks the peephole before opening the door, his right hand at his back, making me think there’s a weapon of some kind there. I reposition myself so I’m standing between the three kids at the small dining table and the door.
A woman in the same uniform as the lady was at the front desk earlier when we arrived comes inside, pushing a rollaway crib, handing Vincent a stack of sheets and an extra blanket, before nodding at his thank you and walking out. He closes the door, once again quick to lock the extra lock before pushing the crib into the same room he carried everyone’s luggage into earlier.
He hasn’t said anything to me since demanding I hand over my keys so he could get the suitcases. It hasn’t gone unnoticed that he still hasn’t returned them. I haven’t been brave enough to ask for them back either.
Somehow, he makes me feel safe in a way that calms me enough to make me aware that I didn’t even realize just how unsafe I’ve felt. For the longest time, there’s been this sense of fear that’s just beneath my skin. I don’t know if it was because of this big secret I’ve kept from everyone for so long, but even knowing I have to face him eventually, there’s also a sense of relief with him where Sutton is concerned.
He hasn’t asked me to leave yet, but I know the crib isn’t a bid to tell me I can stay either. It only proves that he has no intention of letting Sutton leave. I don’t know how much interaction he’s had with mothers, but he’d have to kill me before I let him take my child from me.
Seeing him stand across the room, keeping a watchful eye on us, makes me wonder if I’m letting what I read online about Cerberus cloud my judgment. No one is as calm as he’s acting, at least not anyone I’ve ever come in contact with. He doesn’t seem to be getting angrier like a man stewing on the limited information he has. The control is more than a little intimidating.
When Luca is done eating, I send him to the bedroom for a bath, quick to leave the living room to make sure he has what he needs. He plays longer than he should, but I don’t complain because the longer they take getting ready and going to bed, the longer I can put off having the conversation I never wanted to have with Vincent. I give Sutton a quick bath in the bathroom sink while Luca splashes and plays in the tub.