Total pages in book: 132
Estimated words: 127249 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 636(@200wpm)___ 509(@250wpm)___ 424(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127249 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 636(@200wpm)___ 509(@250wpm)___ 424(@300wpm)
This guilt trip needs to end. I’ve already tried multiple times for Dante to let me go, and I’m not going to fail again. This time, I won’t allow his guilt to stand in the way of my freedom.
He clenches his jaw but doesn’t reply.
While he sees Jazz to the door, I make my way with small steps to the stairwell. The pain is getting worse again. I’ve been trying to only take the pain meds when it’s absolutely necessary. My mom had an addiction to pain killers, and I don’t want to fall into that trap.
Just as I enter the hallway, Emily exits the dining room, carrying a tray loaded with plates and cups in her hands.
“I’m sorry for leaving you with all the work,” I say. “I know how much you helped out with Noah while I was in the hospital. You have no idea how much that means to me.”
She puts the tray on the table where she always leaves the mail. “I love spending time with him.” Her smile is uncertain. “I know how you feel about me having gone on to work for Dante. I shouldn’t have stayed after everything that had happened, but I already explained, and I don’t want to repeat myself. I know it’s not easy for you. If you prefer, I can go back to the condo tonight.”
“That won’t be necessary.” Moving slowly, I catch up with her. “I was hurt when I found out he betrayed me, and the wound was still raw, especially when he told me that my mom was alive when he got to the accident scene. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forgive him for that, but it wasn’t your fault. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Are you sure?”
I pat her hand. “Absolutely.” Plus, Dante will need her when I’m gone. “I know you like him, and you’re entitled to your opinion.”
She reels. “You say that as if you don’t like him.”
I smile. “It’s complicated. I don’t like what happened, but I don’t hate him.”
Not any longer. Not now that I’m working through the painful past and coming to terms with what I can’t change. Maybe I never hated him. I just hated what he’d done.
“Of course.” She moves aside hastily. “Can I get you anything?”
“I’m good, but thanks for asking.”
Dante appears at the end of the hallway. He makes his way over and unceremoniously sweeps me into his arms.
“What are you doing?” I exclaim when he walks past Emily.
“Taking you upstairs.”
“I have to exercise,” I protest. “The doctor said it’s important for my recovery.”
“Not if you stand for so long and climb too many stairs so soon.”
In Noah’s bedroom, he deposits me gently on the bed. “Scoot over, buddy.”
Noah, clearly happy to be the center of attention of both his parents, obliges eagerly.
Dante makes sure I’m comfortable on one side of Noah before he hops onto the other side of the bed.
Noah looks between us with a grin splitting his face. “I’m glad you’re home, Mommy.”
“Thank you, sweetheart.” I kiss the top of his head. “I missed you.”
“And I’m glad you became my daddy,” he says to Dante.
The softness in Dante’s eyes when he looks at his son always catches me off guard. The way he behaves toward Noah sneaks into my heart when I have my defenses lowered and wreaks havoc with my hormones.
Dante brushes a hand over Noah’s head. “I’ve always been your father, and I will always be.”
Noah considers that for a moment before nodding to himself as if he’s decided to accept a fact that will never change. No matter what happens between Dante and me, Dante will always be a good father to Noah.
“Can we have pizza this weekend?” Noah pipes up.
Laughing, Dante looks at me.
The dark look in his eyes as his gaze plays over my face makes my stomach flip. Dante has always been too handsome for any woman’s good. Yet it’s not only his physical appearance that appeals to me. I fell for his dark intensity right from the start. From the first moment I laid eyes on the new guard in charge of my security, my heart was no longer my own. I gave it to him on the night he opened the car door at the fundraiser and took my hand to help me out.
The heat of his touch scorched my cold fingers and hit me right in the chest. Boldly, he’d trailed a gaze over my face and the tight white dress I was wearing even though, if caught out, the act could’ve cost him his life. If my father had seen how his guard was looking at me, he would’ve had him shot without asking questions.
Dante placed a hand on the top of the open door, preventing me from bumping my head when I got out. He lifted my skirt and handed me the short trail so it wouldn’t drag in the mud. And then he shook out an umbrella and held it over my head as he guided me to the hotel entrance with a hand on the small of my back as if I belonged to him.