Chapter 17
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
VALLIE
I swing on the porch sofa, watching Molly summersault on the trampoline, shouting, “Watch me, Dexter. Watch me!”
After our very physical discussion, he closed his office until Monday. Something he hasn’t done since he returned.
I smile when she falls awkwardly, causing him to fret, and now he is checking her knee for grazes. She is such a player. Everyone is wrapped around her tiny finger.
When we first brought her home, she would lift her chin and hide her ouchies, but now she revels in them. And we indulge her to no end because she has never had anyone to fuss over her.
Dexter doesn’t know this, so I smile as he slowly becomes putty in her palm. They have interacted casually, eaten breakfast together, shared a few cuddles, but it’s a slow, blooming relationship. He’s either preoccupied by the Tyler issue, hyper-focused on business, or something else… Like fearful of disappointing her, maybe. Fearful of making a mistake. Breaking her. Failing her. I don’t know.
Cuddling my waist, I imagine I have a swollen stomach, and the baby is moving around, warping my flesh.
What’s that feel like?
Weird? Or wonderful?
I’m a mum, but I’ve never had the entire experience.
Will I get even rounder?
Will the Vaughn men care if I’m a whale?
Will it be amazing?
I blink ahead, daydreaming about pregnancy. I’ll make pregnancy trope lists on TikTok. I could do an entire up-the-duff playlist while literally up-the-duff.
And every day, I will read my cliturature to Tyler while he rubs my feet or licks my pussy. Worshipping me and being playful, he will make me forget that I’m a blimp. While Donnie will build the crib and baby-proof the entire house, a frown etched on his brow. Concerned. Silent. As always…
With a sigh, I gaze at Dexter as he fusses over a non-existent scuff mark on Molly’s knee.
Where does he fit in?
And then I can see it… Dexter is ordering doctors around, buying the kid ridiculously expensive outfits they will grow out of before they even wear them, and preparing everything for the future—lavish and unnecessary things like a trust fund, insurance for diseases that don’t exist, and an apartment in the city for when the kid goes to an Ivy League school.
I giggle to myself.
What a lovely fantasy.
“I saw the tampons on the bed, Pup.” Donnie appears at my side, already lighting the cherry of his cigarette. It is neon-red and flaring.
“Yeah,” I breathe, swinging.
He sits beside me. “I’ll give up smoking.”
My heart expands.
God, I love this man.
That’s his way of saying, “ It’ll happen. And I’m here for you. And don’t be concerned. And I care.”
“Really?” I lift a blonde brow, glancing quickly at him and then back to Dexter and Molly. “It’ll be hard. And it’ll affect your mood… But it’s not like you can be any more of a grumpy bastard than you are now, so it won’t affect me.”
With his free hand, he grabs my jaw and twists my face, spearing me with possessive blue eyes. Eyes I will stare into forever. Until my last breath. My husband’s eyes. “You’re mine, Pup. You know that, right?” He leans in until our mouths brush. “The way you understand Dexter. The way you love Tyler. It’s all for me. All about me.”
I smile against his smoky lips. Lips that I’ll kiss and argue with forever… “You’re such an arrogant piece of work, you know that?”
“Yeah.” Guiding my chin, he kisses me hard before pulling back to speak again. “Arrogance comes from the lived experience of always being fucking right, Pup.”
Ugh. Bastard.
“But you’re not right. You’re wrong,” I counter. “It’s about me . It’s all about me.”
I feel his menacing grin. “And who picked you.”
He stands and inhales his cigarette, staring down at me as though I am the tobacco, and he wants to get as much of me inside, more than he needs, more than his lungs can suffer. He holds it in for a few hot moments before exhaling heavy white clouds, saying, “I want you to myself tonight. I want you on top. Riding me. I want your plump tits in my face, your thick hips in my palms, and your pussy choking the life out of my monster cock.”
With that demand, he starts to walk away.
My cheeks flush, but I tease him instead of becoming a puddle of need. “I love you, Donnie. You’re so romantic. I swoon all over the place.”
He stops midstride with his back to me. “As long as you come all over me, I don’t care where you swoon.” He takes another step but stops. Pauses.
My heart lifts to my throat.
“I love you, Valentina.” Then he strides slowly across the lawn towards Dexter and Molly, casual, controlled, menacing, and in love. In love with me.
I smile at the three of them.
Then frown.
Where is Tyler?