Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 49943 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 250(@200wpm)___ 200(@250wpm)___ 166(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 49943 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 250(@200wpm)___ 200(@250wpm)___ 166(@300wpm)
“How are you feeling?” Milo asked. He held up a small box towards me. “Do you need a cracker? I’ve heard eating something before you get out of bed can help with the pregnancy nausea.”
I shook my head. So much information coming at me while I was cloudy with sleep wasn’t helping.
“Bathroom,” I mumbled.
“Of course,” Milo said, and then there was a man on each side of me, hauling more than helping me out of bed.
“Oh well, okay, oof,” I stumbled, then planted my feet. “I can make it to the bathroom on my own, you know?” I shook their grips off my arms. Milo let go but Janus didn’t.
“I don’t want you to fall,” was all Janus said, still with his arm in mine.
I rolled my eyes. “Well, you aren’t coming in with me.”
He arched an eyebrow but I firmly shook my head.
By the time I’d done my business and come back out, I was still yawning and stretching. “What time is it anyway? How’d the premiere go?”
Janus and Milo exchanged a look. My stomach sank. What did that look mean?
“Oh God, did you wake me up because of some PR disaster?”
“What?” Janus said, then rapidly shook his head. “No, no. The premiere is still in an hour. We woke you up because we’re all going.”
My mouth dropped open as I looked out the window, only now realizing it was almost dark out. Leander had left this morning.
I shook my head, a nervous laugh escaping. “We can’t. He expects me to still be tied to the frickin’ bed.”
I pointed back to the bed. The covers were twisted from the three of us sleeping for the past however many hours. It seemed pretty clear no one had been tied up. Yeep. Leander wasn’t happy when people didn’t follow his directions.
“Well, maybe it’s time my brother starts learning he doesn’t always call the shots.” Janus pushed some hair behind my ear, eyes intense on mine. “That might not even be his baby in you. And I’m for damn sure not going to stand by while he disrespects the mother of my child. You deserve to be at that premiere just as much as he does.”
“Um, well, technically, he’s the star of the movie and I’m just his publi—”
“Shower up, buttercup,” Janus interrupted, a huge grin on his face. “We’ve got a premiere to crash. It’s time to make a statement about who’s really in charge here.”
TWO
HOPE
“I can’t believe you two are making me do this,” I hissed underneath my breath as our car dropped us off and security vetted our press passes.
“We can’t make you do anything, Hope,” Milo said, eyes darting around. “And we never want to.” He was looking particularly dashing in a tux and silver tie. “You always have a choice.”
I huffed out a laugh and smoothed out my dress for the thousandth time even though there weren’t any wrinkles in it after I’d steamed it back at the hotel. “Easy for you to say. You weren’t tied to a hotel bed earlier today.”
“That’s why we’re here,” Janus said. He hadn’t left my side the entire time I’d gotten ready. Almost as if he was making up for Leander’s leaving by sticking as close as a tick. It also meant he’d done sweet Dom things like comb my hair and shave and lotion my legs. He’d pampered me all to hell, basically.
“This is chess with my brother.” Janus gave my arm a squeeze. “Tonight, we’re making our countermove.”
Chess?
So this still was a game between them, even with a baby involved?
Suddenly I felt wilted, even in my elegant deep maroon velvet dress that had given me Pretty Woman vibes the moment I’d put it on—except unlike Julia Roberts, I had actual meat on my bones. Curves, Janus called them. He’d then enjoyed manhandling my ass all the way out of the hotel room.
I felt so torn, one second wanting to give in to all the good things they made me feel, and the next… I leaned against a pillar before Janus reached for my arm to pull me into a stream of folks heading in. Since we were coming with just regular press passes instead of with Leander, we weren’t heading in down the red carpet. Just in through the back.
Janus didn’t seem to have any problem at all not being in the spotlight. Proving his brother had been wrong when he’d accused Janus of being jealous of his stardom? Or he really didn’t care? He didn’t seem to.
Janus was a complex man, and I didn’t understand his motivations any more than his brother’s most times. But he seemed excited about the pregnancy and had from the beginning. And God, it did feel good to have his arm in mine guiding me so assuredly up the stairs into the Dubai Arts Center towards the ballroom.