Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 112069 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 560(@200wpm)___ 448(@250wpm)___ 374(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112069 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 560(@200wpm)___ 448(@250wpm)___ 374(@300wpm)
“Oh,” Remy murmured as he looked down at the baby. “Right.”
For once, he looked clueless and I saw his pale cheeks stain with color.
“I, um… I don’t know much about kids,” he whispered. “Does she… does she look okay to you?” he asked, his voice trembling just a bit as his eyes met mine.
“She looks good,” I reassured him.
“All that shit she was standing on in the room… she didn’t have shoes on. What if she got stuck by a needle or something?”
Remy got so agitated so fast that I nearly got whiplash.
“I knew I had to find her after I heard about Jackie, but I didn’t even think about what to do when I did—”
Remy started trying to examine the toddler even though she was still wrapped up in my jacket. His jostling started to wake her up, but he seemed oblivious.
“Remy, sweetheart,” I said as I reached out to grab his chin.
“What if I missed something, Luca? What if I didn’t get to her quick enough? Can Ronan give her something if she got stuck or if she touched something?” He paused and choked out, “What if Carla let some guy—”
“Remy,” I said more firmly. I gripped his chin just a bit harder, enough to get his attention. “I think she’s okay, but Ronan can tell us for sure, okay? Let’s just deal with that first.” I gentled my hold, but for the life of me, I couldn’t release him. Not when he was looking at me with something other than hatred in his eyes.
He finally nodded. “O-Okay.”
I meant to release him, I really did. But the fact that he wasn’t fighting me or pulling away was like this strange balm that I wanted more of. Every time he usually looked at me, it was like someone was taking a knife to my insides. But this… this was the cure and I drank it down like water.
His skin felt like silk beneath my fingers, and before I could tell myself I was taking advantage of his insecurity, I skimmed my thumb along his cheekbone. I swore he shivered, but I couldn’t be sure.
It was Violet shifting in his arms that jolted me back to awareness, and I quickly dropped my hand.
“Are you ready to go inside?” I asked, stumbling over my own words. I hated feeling so off-balance… I couldn’t even remember the last time it had actually happened.
Well, that wasn’t entirely true. Hearing my son tell me he hated me the very day I’d seen him again after so many years of searching for him had pretty much shattered my entire world.
I forced thoughts of Gio away and focused on the man before me. He nodded in response. I stepped around him and put my hand at his back. He didn’t lean into my touch like I was certain he had before, but he didn’t pull away either, so I put it in the win column.
Remy stayed by my side as we made our way into the house. I’d only been in the place once, but I remembered my way around the main floor. I instinctively headed for the kitchen. Sure enough, Ronan was there. His back was to us as he prepared a few mugs of what I assumed was coffee.
“You take yours black, right Luca?” Ronan asked. It didn’t surprise me in the least that the man knew that about me. I doubted I’d even had coffee around him. He probably knew my shoe size and which side I tucked my dick on too.
“Yes,” I responded as I pulled one of the kitchen table chairs out for Remy. He sat stiffly. I saw the hand he wasn’t holding Violet with reach up to slide through his hair. I wanted to offer to take the baby from him because I was sure holding her had to be making his arms numb, but I didn’t say anything. I figured he needed to hang on to her as much as she needed him at the moment.
Ronan took his time getting my coffee going. There were already some cookies sitting on a plate in the center of the table, along with a bowl of some kind of cereal. I assumed it was for Violet when she woke up.
I didn’t think it possible, but Remy stiffened even more when Ronan approached us with the coffee. I was still standing next to Remy’s chair and was shocked when he seemed to lean into my body just a bit.
Like he was trying to confirm I was still there.
You’re overreaching, Luca.
Ronan slowly set the coffee in front of me, as well as a small ice pack. “For your hand,” he murmured. I glanced down at my right hand and saw that the knuckles were black and blue and there was dried blood all over my fingers.