Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 131459 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 657(@200wpm)___ 526(@250wpm)___ 438(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131459 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 657(@200wpm)___ 526(@250wpm)___ 438(@300wpm)
“With what?”
“That I had a relatively lengthy relationship with a woman that was surface and existed mainly to provide company on occasion, but for the most part was about sexual release,” Tom elaborated.
“Well, considering that’s all I’ve had since Rollo died, I’d be a hypocrite if I was.”
They were there.
And they were who they were.
Thus, Tom went for it.
“Is there a reason nothing got serious for you?” he asked.
She shrugged. “You have the spark I had with Rollo, nothing else will do.”
Well…
Fuck.
That stung, even if it shouldn’t. It was base to be jealous of a dead man.
That didn’t negate the fact he was.
But he’d asked.
“I also felt it when I met this married man before Rollo,” she said quietly.
His gaze riveted on her.
“But he was devoted to his wife and family, so that couldn’t be. Still, it was so strong, I couldn’t even be his friend, because I knew it’d hurt too much to endure, to feel it and not consummate it. Now, as life gives gifts even as it wrests others away, I see the wisdom of my decision because having him exceeded all expectations.”
What she said meant so much, it warmed his chest, particularly the left side of it.
Which was probably why he teased, “Exceeded expectations?”
“He’s a monster in bed, and I waaaaaaaaaay get off on it,” she amended.
Tom chuckled.
She smiled as he did, but her smile died.
“I don’t have good thoughts about Paloma, Tom.”
He pushed up and wrapped a hand around her neck. “She’d probably just seen it. She was angry. She called. Let off steam. It’ll likely end there.”
“Right,” she said dubiously.
“Right.” He was not dubious.
She didn’t say anything more, just studied him.
“I’m okay,” he told her.
“I’m glad, baby. But are we gonna fuck?”
His brows rose slowly. “Your daughter is—”
“Across the courtyard and the walls are thick.” She paused. “Very thick.”
He grinned at her again.
Mika grinned back.
Then he pulled her over him.
And they commenced fucking.
CHAPTER 15
THE BROWNSTONE
Tom
Tom watched as Nora, Cadence and Mika wandered across the tarmac with Chloe and Judge.
And even though Hale was alighting from the jet, Tom took that opportunity to pull out his phone and deal with one last thing before he went away for the weekend.
He called Genny.
He got voicemail again.
As such, his voice was tight when he left her a message.
“This is the fifth voicemail I’ve left, and I lost count of the texts. However, I’m aware that none of our children have sensed anything amiss with you. That said, clearly, something is the matter, your problem is with me, and you aren’t sharing it. This is familiar territory, Imogen, and like before, I’m not a fan. If you have an issue, call me and we’ll talk it out. I won’t phone again,” he warned. “But I’ll remind you, we share history, and we share children, and we made a commitment to keep our relationship strong for those children. Don’t fall down on your side of that.”
He disconnected, shoved the phone into the inside pocket of his sports jacket and moved to catch up with the rest of the clan.
Hale was there from California, dropping in to pick them up in his private jet and take them to New York so they could meet with Jamie and his investigator.
Nora, however, was catching a ride home.
Cadence was coming along in order to meet with her teachers and turn in the several papers her mother went into hilarious fits of astonishment about that she’d managed to complete.
It was Thursday afternoon, almost a week after chicken mole night, and Tom, Mika, Cadence, Judge and Chloe were going to spend a long weekend away, returning the next Tuesday.
He was looking forward to experiencing Mika’s New York life. He was looking forward to a change of scenery.
And he was pleased there might be some movement in the Winston/Core Point situation because it hung like a dark cloud over all their heads, and he wanted to see the back of it, with all the guilty getting their just desserts.
By the time he got there, Hale had greeted everyone else and came in for a hug from Tom.
They held firm, clapping backs, and Tom asked, “How’s things?”
“Busy,” Hale replied, pulling away.
He inspected Tom.
Tom let him as this was not unusual.
Even with what he’d done, something that ended his marriage, a marriage that was to a woman who Hale was closer to than his own mother, Tom had not lost Hale.
Matt had been understandably furious.
Hale had closed ranks around Tom and made sure at every opportunity Tom knew he was loved, and nothing he could do would change that.
There were times in the beginning, losing Genny, Matt closing down on him, the girls hurt, his family in tatters because of what he’d done, Hale doing this had been the only thing that held Tom together.
He and Hale had always been close. It was an uncomfortable admission that he’d make only to himself (and perhaps, if they ever went there, he would tell Mika). But he had always felt closer to Hale than he did to Matt.