Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 110694 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 553(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110694 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 553(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
“Why don’t you get your saddle ready?” he said. “I’ll go see if I can talk to Demeter.”
I blinked, my heart soaring as I stared up at him. When he glanced down at me, his blue eyes twinkled, and he winked before heading toward the door. I watched him go, sure that I would love Linc Shephard with all my heart forever.
Seven
Linc
Present Day
I opened the front door to the house and stood back so that Branwen and Stevie could enter. My eyes followed the little curly-headed blonde, unable to stop watching her. Now that I knew she was mine, it was all I wanted to do.
I’d never wanted another kid. Life with Maggie had been rough, and we managed to raise Levi, but the day he turned eighteen, she packed up and left us both. Took off to fucking Europe. I hadn’t expected it. As toxic as we had been together, she had been my wife. We’d made it through some bad times. She always forgave me for my mistakes and weak moments.
When she was gone, it was then that I realized I loved her. Not the way a woman wanted to be loved by her husband, but I did love her. I cared about her. I had to face all the shit I’d done to her over the years because I hadn’t been in love with her. Or obsessed with her. Or whatever the fuck a man needed to be to not want other pussy. The regret had been difficult. It caused me to withdraw and deal internally. She’d given me my son. For that, I owed her my life, and she had deserved my fidelity. Forgiving myself for the way I had treated her had been a long road. I wasn’t sure I ever had, if I was honest. Knowing Maggie was now happily married to a man who adored her helped though. I liked that she had what she’d deserved all along.
Blue eyes looked up at me. Levi had his mother’s hazel eyes. But my…daughter, she had mine. My chest felt tight as she smiled. I had another kid. A girl.
Jesus Christ, what had fate been thinking, giving me a daughter?
“I like yuwah castle.”
My lips tugged at the corners. “Thank you.”
Her brows puckered as she frowned. “Do you have a dwagon hewah?”
Had she said dragon, or was I misunderstanding her?
“No, Vivi Lu,” Branwen told her as she shook her head. “I told you in the car that this was just a house.”
She gave her mom a sheepish glance, then lifted her small shoulders in a shrug. “I was just makin’ suwah you was wight.”
“It’s were right, not was right,” Branwen corrected her gently.
Luther cleared his throat, and I shifted my gaze from the two of them to see him standing in the arched entryway that led down the hall to my office.
He held a bottle of Corona in one hand as he studied Stevie before looking at me. “Stanz and Hoyt are here and waiting.”
Stanz and Hoyt were two of the lawyers who worked for the family. They handled all family issues within the firm. It was rare that I myself needed them, but being in charge of the Mississippi branch, I was always involved in the others’ legal issues, so I knew them both well.
“Where is Jayda?” I asked.
I wasn’t about to leave Luther to watch over and entertain my daughter. He wasn’t great with kids.
Jayda was our housecleaner and cook, who lived here six days a week. Sunday was her off day. We’d hired her two years ago when Maxine, who had been with us since I had taken over the Mississippi branch, retired. Maxine had brought Jayda in to meet us, and I was against it the second I got a look at her. Having an attractive young woman under our roof would only lead to her in one or both of our beds. Drama neither of us wanted at this age.
That was, until we found out that Jayda wouldn’t be angling to get fucked by us or any other man. Her girlfriend, Beth, stayed the night here often. They had been together for five years.
Luther smirked. “What, you don’t want to leave her with me?”
I rolled my eyes and let out a sigh, pulling out my phone and tapping Jayda’s number.
“Yes, sir,” she replied after only one ring.
“I need you in the central great room,” I informed her.
“On my way.”
Sliding the phone back into my pocket, I met Branwen’s tense expression. She didn’t like the idea of leaving Stevie. It pissed me off that she didn’t trust me to protect my daughter. The one she hadn’t planned on telling me about. She’d lied to me. She had known that Stevie was mine, and if I hadn’t done the test, she would have never told me.