Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 80660 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80660 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
He’d sat and rocked Travis and let Seth treat him like a jungle gym and wondered when he could safely go to bed since he’d been awake for almost thirty-six hours.
And then he’d gotten the news that Solo had fled. Beck had fucked up. Oh, that wasn’t in the report, but Beck had definitely fucked up.
“I thought it would be fun to let her shop for the stuff she wants.” Charlie had changed into pajama bottoms and a T-shirt, and he wondered how fast he could get it off her.
If only he could move. His muscles didn’t seem to want to work.
“Turns out we’ll have to do a lot of shopping because she had exactly three dresses and five pairs of underwear in that suitcase.” Charlie shook her head as she pumped out the body lotion she used every night.
Lavender. He usually got hard when he watched her smooth the lotion over that gorgeous skin of hers. Today he could only yawn and appreciate her on an aesthetic level. It was disconcerting.
“Baby, I’m dying and leaving you with five kids.”
The most brilliant smile came over her face, and she climbed onto the bed. “Sweetie, you’ve been awake for almost two days, and your body has been in an airplane for almost the entire time.”
She wasn’t thinking about how grave the situation was. “I used to be able to make a way longer trip in the back of a cargo plane, jump out of the fucking plane, kill four dudes, catch another cargo plane, and when I got home, I went out and partied.”
“And what did you do on the cargo planes?”
He sighed. “I slept. I used to be able to sleep anywhere.”
She put her hand on his chest. “Now you’re old, and you have a ridiculously comfortable mattress that supports your spine and these soft sheets and a gorgeous wife who keeps you warm.”
“Are you trying to say I got soft, Charlie?”
“Never,” she vowed and laid down beside him. “You also didn’t worry as much then.”
And he hadn’t had much of a life. He’d had work, and having stinky kids was so much more fun. “Nah, I got soft. I like soft beds and soft blankets, and I definitely like how soft you are.” He managed to get his arm around her. This was where he wanted to be. “We’ve got to teach that little girl how to be soft, too.”
She cuddled close. “It’s going to take time. She seemed okay with me, but she watched me when she thought I wasn’t looking. She stole a knife. Not a sharp one. A butter knife. I saw her put it in her suitcase. She didn’t even know to put it under her pillow. I made her move it.”
He chuckled. “How did she take that?”
“She was a bit surprised. I told her when I had to go to my father’s place in Russia, I was scared, and I didn’t even have a knife and if I’d had one, I would have put it under my pillow so I could get to it if I needed to,” Charlie explained. “I did it while the girls were brushing their teeth. She needs it for comfort. She’s not going to hurt the girls.”
He’d seen nothing in her behavior to make him think she would hurt anyone, but he could understand her fear. She’d pretty much clung to the girls all day. “You think she wants to stay in Kala and Kenzie’s room in case we try to hurt her?”
“I think they feel safe to her,” Charlie said quietly. “And we don’t yet. Though showing her pictures of her father helped a bit. I wish he’d smiled more. And don’t you have a single one where he wasn’t drinking?”
Nope. That had pretty much been what Sasha had done the last couple of years of his life. He hadn’t been a laid-back, happy guy.
He wondered what kind of a father he’d been. He’d had so little time with her. He hadn’t gotten to know how obnoxious she would be, how much he would genuinely like the person she was becoming despite, or maybe because, of the obnoxiousness.
“If I had known we were going to end up with his daughter, I would have taken some better shots. Instead I had Owen and Tucker fucking around with their phones, so we’re lucky any of them are suitable to be seen by children.” He yawned again. He needed to break out of this exhaustion so he could fuck his wife. He didn’t even have to wear a condom anymore since he’d gotten his balls scooped out. This wasn’t fair.
“This is all going to be okay,” Charlie promised. “I’m going to keep her with me for a couple of weeks. We’ll get her new clothes and show her around, and then she’ll go to school. You’ll see in a few weeks things are going to normalize.”