Total pages in book: 40
Estimated words: 36839 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 184(@200wpm)___ 147(@250wpm)___ 123(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 36839 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 184(@200wpm)___ 147(@250wpm)___ 123(@300wpm)
I stalk her across the bathroom, smirking. "Lose the shirt, bella."
"Diego, I mean it."
"So do I. Lose the shirt."
She decides to stop retreating and stand her ground. If she thinks that's going to stop me, she's wrong. I pace toward her, dragging my shirt off over my head. It's been a long fucking day. Being in charge is for the fucking birds.
I understand why Rafe and Luca hate it so goddamn much. It's been one problem after another for the last year, and we're running out of bodies to throw at problems. But somehow, peace still holds, and we're all still walking free.
The woman in front of me has a lot to do with that. She gave her boss a bullshit story last year about a Genovese coup before she quit. I don't know how she managed to sell it, but Marcello and Callandria agreed to back the fabricated version of events. As far as the FBI knows, Genovese was taken out by his own people in punishment for his crimes. If they have doubts, they haven't voiced them.
They've had their hands too full with other problems to fuck with us lately. With Athena working as an investigator in my law firm, we tend to know which way the wind is blowing with them before they make a move. It's working well for us so far. We're treading water, at least.
But I'm fucking tired of chasing problems. It's a never-ending shitshow. I just want to spend my time lost in my wife. That's my goal in life. To spend the majority of every day inside her.
Having her at the office has been a huge help, not gonna lie. She's made it a helluva lot easier to track down motherfuckers like Donato Burciaga when they try to disappear instead of showing up to court. No one escapes for long with her running point. But having her in the office isn't the same as spending my time fucking her over every available surface.
"Lose the shirt, bella. If I have to tell you again, it'll be while I'm ripping it from your gorgeous body."
"Fine," she huffs, fidgeting around behind her back.
Something clatters to the floor. She squeaks and spins to grab it, but I beat her there, scooping her up out of the way before she can get to it.
"Put me down!" she cries, squirming to get free.
I ignore her, of course. Whatever she doesn't want me to see, I most definitely intend to see right now. We don't keep secrets. It almost destroyed us once. I'll never risk that shit again, and I won't let her either. When James Tackett went missing nine months ago, and she asked if I had something to do with it, I didn't lie to her. Fuck yeah, I did. He had that shit coming for disrespecting her. She wasn't happy about it, but we handled it. Together. Whatever we face, we face together. Whatever we decide, we decide together.
I scoop the plastic bar from the floor.
She jumps, trying to grab it from me.
I hold it out of her reach, trying to figure out what it is. It's maybe six inches long with a weird ass stick on the end. It doesn't make any fucking sense why she was hiding it…at least not until I flip it over and see the little window.
"You're taking a pregnancy test?" I growl, dropping my gaze to her.
"No. Um, yes." She shrugs helplessly. "I don't know!"
"Athena, bella." I turn her to face me, trying to think through the clamor in my mind. "You think you're pregnant?"
"I don't know," she whispers, refusing to meet my gaze.
I've been fucking her bare for the last year, trying to get her pregnant. Every time she starts her period, she ends up disappointed. But she keeps putting off going to see a specialist. I think she's afraid of what they might say. She wants kids. If we can't have them, it'll break her heart.
"I'm late." Her voice shakes.
"How late, bella?" I usually keep track, but I've been distracted lately.
"A week."
"Shit." I drag her into my arms, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "No matter what the test says, I love you. No matter what the test says, we will have as many babies as you can stand. Believe that, goddess."
"I'm scared."
"Then we'll do it together."
"You are not watching me pee, Diego Butera."
I chuckle. "Pee on the stick and we'll wait together, bella. If you don't want to look at the test, I'll look for you."
"You will?" She eyes me hopefully.
"You think I wouldn't?"
"I…no." She shrugs, her gaze darting from mine. "I guess I just didn't want us both to be disappointed when it's negative."
"Nothing about you ever disappoints me, Athena. Nothing," I growl, kissing her hard on the mouth. If she doesn't know that by now, I haven't been doing my job. She is the center of my world. It revolves around her and always will.