Total pages in book: 227
Estimated words: 220940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1105(@200wpm)___ 884(@250wpm)___ 736(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 220940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1105(@200wpm)___ 884(@250wpm)___ 736(@300wpm)
And he holds me, hugs me as best he can without causing pain. “I love you, Rose,” he whispers, forcing me out of his chest, looking into my eyes as he wipes the tears away. “I love you harder than I can hate, and you know how hard I can hate.”
I laugh over a sob, sniffling. “What if you get tired—”
His finger meets my lips, silencing me. “When I’m tired of us, I’ll be dead.”
“Don’t say that.”
“It’s the truth.” Another kiss. “You’re my soul, Rose Lillian Black. My love, my hate, and everything in between. Sore boobs aren’t going to change that.” His nose wrinkles. “Understand?”
I swallow.
“Tell me you understand.”
I need to beat back those words of fear. Listen to my husband.
I love you harder than I can hate . . . You’re my soul, Rose Lillian Black.
I need to focus on his love and loyalty. He would die for me. Quite literally. There’s no greater love than that. I nod again. “I understand.”
“Good. Now tell me what you’re wearing for our date tonight.”
“What do you want me to wear?” I reach up to his scar and trace the length of it.
“Not red. Not tonight.” Dipping, he collects the monitor off the floor and slips his arm around my shoulders, walking us out. I won’t push on the Fury situation right now—I’ll save it for our date tonight—but Brad?
“Did you know that a woman stayed here again last night?”
“What woman?”
“Allison. And did you know she’s a criminal attorney?”
Danny jars to a stop, looking down at me with wide, what-the-fuck eyes. I nod, confirming it. “The fuck?”
“Yes. Pearl walked down as Brad was seeing Allison out. It all felt a bit . . . odd.”
“Odd, how?”
“I don’t know if she was bothered. But I do know I want to slap Brad.”
“Surely it’s a good thing he’s focused his attention elsewhere.”
I look up at him. “Has he said something to you about Pearl?”
“Not a thing.”
“He’s never brought a woman to the house, you know that. Never to his place either.”
“Always hotels,” Danny muses, thoughtful.
“Yes, so why now is he flaunting women around the house?”
“Trying to get the message across to Pearl?”
“Well, it achieved that.” I wince for her.
“Listen, Brad knows better than anyone that he would hurt her, so this is for the best.”
“Yeah, I know,” I breathe. Rip the Band-Aid off. Be cruel to be kind. But again, Pearl didn’t seem bothered.
We make it up to the bedroom, just as Maggie’s stirring. Danny goes straight to her crib and gets her out, cradling her in his bare arm, smiling down at her as he shuffles onto the bed and rests against the headboard. I join him, laying my head on his arm, stroking Maggie’s cheek.
“She hungry?” he asks.
“She’ll soon tell you if she’s hungry.”
He gasps. “Oh fuck.”
I startle, sitting up. “What?”
He’s staring down at our daughter, his eyes fixed, searching.
“Danny, what is it?” My heart starts beating fast.
“She smiled.”
“No, she didn’t,” I say, laughing. “It was probably gas.”
“I’m telling you, Rose, she smiled at me.” He pushes his face closer to Maggie’s “Didn’t you, girl? Go on. Smile for Daddy.”
We both watch, as Maggie’s arms flail and she makes a few snorty sounds.
And then it happens. Only small, only brief.
But she smiles.
“That’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen in my life,” Danny says quietly, mesmerized. “Fuck, I love you, girl.” Kissing her forehead, he settles back, lifting an arm for me to join him, and I watch, awed, as he talks all the smiles out of our little girl.
So deadly.
14
PEARL
* * *
I hear the distant sound of a car pulling down the driveway. Allison. Perfectly dressed, precisely groomed, flawless makeup, hair like she’s literally stepped out of a salon.
Not a bed.
Brad’s bed.
The bed I was in a few nights ago.
I flinch, taking my pen to my mouth, chewing the end. That whole situation was so contrived. Everyone knows Brad doesn’t have company at the house. Was he actually trying to prove a point? Make me jealous? Jesus, and they say women are complex creatures. He kisses me, he curses me. He pulls me close, he pushes me away. He looks at me like he wants to jump me and kill me.
Obviously he’s struggling, and I hate that I understand why. He might see me as a child—for fuck’s sake—but he’s the one behaving like one. Regardless, I need to give Brad Black a wide berth. I’m not deluded. He’s incapable of anything beyond sex and killing.
It would be awkward.
He might send me away.
And that alone is enough reason for me to resist, and since Brad’s clearly adverse to me, we should be good. Does it sting that he ran from me to someone completely out of my league? Sure. But I will guard my emotions, the ones that have felt exploited and mistreated—because that’s what I learned to do many years ago. Protect. Hide. Be safe.