Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 110694 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 553(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110694 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 553(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
I was panting when I stopped and lowered my hand back to my side. I wasn’t a verbally aggressive person. This was so out of character for me that I was slightly stunned that I had just spoken to him like that. He seemed to bring out the worst in me.
“Might want to get the papers to the lawyers to check over,” the blond man said.
Linc’s eyes dropped back to my hand, and his jaw clenched.
Yep. Proof, you asshole, that I want out of this farce we’re stuck in.
Did women actually do this kind of thing to him to get his money? Were they stupid? Or maybe they didn’t know who he was. That was probably it. No sane woman would try to screw over a member of the Mafia.
“Mommy! Why awah you yellin’ like that?” the sweet voice that my world revolved around called, and my heart sank.
Dammit.
I spun around as Stevie hurried toward me. How she had managed to get the car door open I didn’t know. Time to start using the child lock. The concern on her little face hurt my heart. I had woken her up because I’d let Linc get to me.
I bent down to look at her. “Listen, Vivi Lu,” I said, brushing her curls back from her face. The headband I had placed in it this morning had been tossed onto the floorboard hours ago. “Go back to the car and look at the books Mommy brought, okay? I will be done in just a few minutes, and then we can go get some ice cream.”
She loved ice cream. I’d have to go to the grocery store to get it since finding oat milk ice cream anywhere else was almost impossible. The excitement at the word lit up her eyes briefly, but vanished as she turned to stare up at Linc. Her little mind was so curious and he was someone I didn’t want her curious about. They were never supposed to meet.
“Who awah you?” she demanded, her chin up and not one ounce of intimidation on her face.
I stood and moved her back, feeling the need to shield her from any of the cruelty he could spew from his mouth. The very mouth I had once thought was perfect. Not anymore. He was the enemy.
“Go back to the car,” I told her, my focus on Linc’s face.
He’d better not say one word to upset her.
He didn’t respond to her innocent question, but his eyes were studying her too closely. There was little about her that I felt gave away who her father was. She was my mini me, all except for her eyes. Panic began to seep in, and the thought of him figuring it out had me grasping at something I could say to veer his thoughts in another direction.
“Awah you the outlaw?” she asked him, narrowing her eyes and glaring at him as intently as he had been doing to her.
I froze. I should have never called him that in front of her. She repeated everything. I just hadn’t imagined she would see him. Speak to him. This was supposed to be quick. An oops, the marriage was real, now sign, and goodbye, have a nice life kind of thing. Instead, Linc was being difficult.
His eyes shot back to me, and I said nothing. It was just a description. Maybe he wouldn’t remember the little girl who had worshipped him. At least, I prayed he wouldn’t. Because Stevie was a replica of that girl.
We stood there for what was probably less than a minute but felt like an eternity. I struggled to breathe normally. I was planning out my escape in my head. Pick up Stevie and run. Never look back. Figure out a way to get a divorce without Linc’s signature. Maybe I could forge it.
“You marrying her father?” he asked me.
The way he was scowling at me made me feel as if he could read my thoughts. The sun seemed to have gotten hotter as it beamed down. I started to sweat.
“Yep!” Stevie blurted out when I said nothing. “I get to be a flowah gawha and wayah a pwetty dwess like Mommy,” she informed him proudly. “Then, Hudson will be my dad ’cause I don’t have one wight now.”
Linc held out his hand to me. “Give me the papers,” he said.
The rush of relief crashed over me, and I wanted to weep with joy. He was going to sign them. Everything was fine.
“Thank you. Just sign, and we can go,” I told him.
He raised an eyebrow at me. “I’m still having my lawyers look at them.”
A slight inconvenience, but how long could that take? A couple of hours?
I nodded. “Okay. We can go get something to eat. Look around town.”
“You’ll need to get a hotel room,” he interrupted me. “Might take a day or two.” His eyes dropped back to Stevie. “How old are you?” he asked.