AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What’s wrong?” she asks again as she lies across my chest.
“Everything was so much simpler when we were kids. You wanted an ice cream cone, I got you one. You wanted someone to push you on the swings, I pushed you. If you were scared while watching a scary movie, I held your hand.
“I never questioned giving you what you needed. If I couldn’t do something, Jace was always there. He had my back to make sure you were taken care of. I’ve always known you were mine, then we got older, and things became…complicated. Our wants don’t seem to matter as much.”
“But isn’t that why I’m here, what we plan to fix?”
“Yeah, but we’ll have an even bigger target on our backs once it’s all over.”
She lifts up and looks me in the eyes. She’s so fucking beautiful. It pains me to know I’ll never see her swollen with my child.
“Don’t you remember what my mother used to say?”
“Your mom said a lot that has stuck with me.”
“She told us to leave an example. You don’t just eliminate your enemy. You make sure everyone watches you slaughter them. You leave a mark so everyone else thinks three times before they ever try you again. Now, tell me what you need from me. How do we set an example?”
“I fucking love you.”
I crash her lips. However, deep inside, I pray she never asks me for children. It’s the one thing I don’t think I can bring myself to give her. The one thing I will say no to.
CHAPTER17
Loosen Ends
Gio
I squeeze Ny’s face and kiss her hard before we walk out of the guesthouse to head up to the main house. Last night is still on my mind. I would love nothing more than to spend the day making up for lost time, but I have shit to do so I can have her with me for life.
Jace walks up and gets between us, bringing reality back in. He throws an arm around Ny’s neck, causing me to frown. We agreed to make Ny look like our buddy in for a visit, but I’m feeling possessive after what happened between us last night.
“Marco is working today,” Jace murmurs.
“Did he do as we thought?”
“Sure did.”
“Good, his job is done.”
Jace turns to me and winks. “I thought you would say that. I made sure the hogs weren’t fed this morning.”
“Sounds like some fun is about to go down. I want in,” Ny says.
“Not this time. I need you here with me. I need to see something.”
“Do I get to see her?”
She doesn’t need to say who. I figured she’d want to see Ma. The hogs are on the farm, but I don’t want to leave Ming here alone and I don’t know if she can be trusted with what Jace is about to do.
“Tomorrow. I’ll take you myself. We can stay the weekend there.”
“You’re sending Ming back tomorrow, right?”
“Depends.” I shrug.
“Gio,” she drags out in warning.
“You trust her. I need to make sure you’re making the right decisions. There will be no weak links, especially not the ones connected to you. Besides, I’m looking for something.”
