Chapter 20 Nathan
Ican see the difference. The ease with which Kat moves around the house, garden, and even the streets here. She’s not looking over her shoulder, afraid someone is waiting to get her or worse, in her mind, Addy.
I wish we could stay forever. I mean, we could, but I don’t think she would actually like that.
No, Carter just needs to be handled, now.
Nobody can disappear completely. Someone knows something; we just need to find out who. I know Vince will handle it, but the longer it goes with nothing, the more irritated I become, not with him but in general.
Filthy cockroach, that’s all he is.
Kat and Addy are wandering around the garden at our estate, just down the road from our family home. I’d bought it a few years ago, just before Addy was born, but when we visit, we often end up staying with Mother and Father. They want to see us and, of course, Addy.
This time, though, we have a reason to be here—well, a few reasons.
First, I needed to see how Kat liked it. If she wasn’t fond of it, if her face didn’t light up the way it did when she walked into our family home, I’d have to sell it.
My queen deserves only the best after all.
Of course, that wasn’t an issue, though; she’d been amazed by our home back in the States, and that pales in comparison.
The old stonework is beautiful and sound, a piece of history that we don’t have much of in the States.
Our home, for example, was built from the ground up, and while there’s a certain pride that comes from that, it’s not the same.
That nerdy side of Kat that calls to Oli seems to understand that as well.
Money isn’t her first concern or even on her list of top five; it’s so refreshing, until it’s an argument, that is.
“Princess, it’s time to get ready for dinner,” I call, moving out the back French doors as she comes racing out of the hedges with a smile on her face that looks like it should hurt.
The reason for her haste is apparent a moment later when Kat runs out, her arms outstretched as if ready to scoop up Addy the second she gets close enough.
“Ah, Daddy, help! The tickle monster’s gonna get me!” she screeches as she barrels toward me. The second she reaches me, she’s damn near climbing my leg trying to get into my arms.
I scoop her up into my arms just before Kat reaches her, and Addy buries her head in my shoulder, panting and laughing despite the fact that Kat drops her arms.
“No fair, running to Daddy is cheating,” Kat says with a fake little pout that has Addy’s head snapping up. I half expect her to apologize, but instead she turns and sticks her tongue out, making Kat bark a laugh.
“You little brat. I’ll show you.” Kat reaches out and tickles her, making her squirm and laugh enough that she snatches her from my arms.
“Ha, who’s going to save you now?” Kat teases before turning her back to me and leaning against my chest. “He’s my daddy now.”
“Kat,” I say in a low rumble that makes her giggle but otherwise ignore me.
“We can share him!” Addy shouts in a way of surrender, and that makes Kat freeze, allowing Addy a second to breathe before she makes it worse. “You can marry Daddy, and then he can be ours forever!”
I swear I can feel the panic that grips Kat as she stands frozen. It’s probably not a good idea to tell Addy I think her plan is fantastic, especially because I’m unsure how the others will feel about it.
“Okay, tiny terror, you need to go get washed up. Nonna and Nonno are excited to have dinner with you and spend the night together before we go back home.”
Her face falls, and I’m just about to tell her we can visit more when Kat seems to shake herself.
“Don’t be sad, Princess. I’m sure we can visit again soon. Mommy would love to come back in the summer. We can go to some beaches and maybe visit Mount Etna?” She looks at me with wide eyes as if asking if that’s possible, and I nod, a smile threatening to pull at my lips.
She doesn’t even realize how completely she owns me, owns all of us. If she asked me to buy her that volcano, I would do my damnedest.
I would buy her a home on a private beach… Oh, that’s a fantastic idea, actually.
“We can practice our Italian until then. Oli said he could start teaching us as soon as we get home.” That gets Addy excited, and as they walk back into the house, I hear her excitedly planning with Kat.
I pull my phone from my pocket and text Alex about my idea to see what he thinks. I don’t even get it back in my pocket before it dings once, twice, three times. I pull up our conversation to find links for potential options.
I guess he likes it too.
“We looking for another house?” Des asks as he comes to stand beside me, not even trying to keep his eyes off the pictures I’m currently scrolling through.
“Kat expressed an interest in visiting again in the summer, wanting to see the beaches. You know how crowded they get during tourist season. I thought this might be a better idea.”
“You know she’s going to hate it if she finds out you bought a whole new house just so she could swim,” he says, but he doesn’t sound like he’s trying to dissuade me, maybe just offering a warning.
“Oh, that one for sure,” he says when I open up the third link, and I nod in agreement even before I make it through all the photos.
It’s small, with only six bedrooms, but it’s hidden away with its own private little beach, homely but still very much a vacation home. I can picture her with a baby on her hip, splashing in the water, a smile on her face that makes my heart race just thinking about it.
It’s perfect.
“This old thing? We’ve owned it for years.”
I text Alex to get it done as Des barks a laugh.
“What’s so funny?” Kat asks as she comes back into the room, Addy almost taking her off her feet as she runs past her into Des’s arms.
“Dessy!”
“Hey princess, are you ready to go spend some time with Nonna and Nonno? A little birdy told me that Nonno made meatballs.”
Addy claps and cheers.
“And Nonna might have some kind of dessert-making night planned for you guys. You have to promise to bring me some, though. You can’t eat it all.” Addy giggles and nods.
We all know there’s no way she could possibly eat it all; they will make far too much, they always do.
“Alright, let's get you over there before Nonno eats all the food.” He moves past me to press a kiss to Kat’s cheek, making her cheeks turn that beautiful shade of pink we all adore before he walks away.
I hope she never stops having that reaction to us, to our attention.
“Dessy, do you think Mommy and Daddy will get married?”
“Yeah, I think so. That’s what you do when you love someone, isn’t it?”
“But don’t you love Mommy too, and Oli and Uncle Alex?” Desmond chuckles and shakes his head, but whatever response he gives, we can’t hear as they move out to the car.
“Maybe this is a bad idea?” The worry in Kat’s voice has my feet moving before I even register what I’m doing.
Walking up behind her, I wrap my arm around her shoulders and pull her back into my chest as she waves at Des’s car as it moves down the driveway, Addy’s tiny hand just visible through the rear window.
“What we're doing isn’t normal. I don’t want to confuse her.” She reaches up, her hand resting on my forearm, and I hate that she even feels like this is a concern.
“She’s five. Everything about love confuses her, but you're missing the important thing. Addy knows what love is because we show her. You show her.”
She sighs, her shoulders sagging as if under some invisible force, and I hold her a little tighter.
“I just want her to be safe and happy.” Her voice is hardly more than a whisper, like a prayer not meant for me.
“She’s safe. You made sure of that, and we will continue to do so together. And she’s happy, Katherine, and she’s blossoming with you taking care of her. She’d been missing something I couldn’t give her before. I’ll be forever grateful to you for providing that.”
She spins in my arms, her eyes narrowed as she glares up at me.
“Don’t thank me for that. How could someone not love her? She’s adorable, sweet, and just perfect. You were raising her just fine before me,” she tells me matter-of-factly, and I know she’s serious and worried, but damn the way she’s looking at me right now.
“If you say so, but I much prefer raising her with you.”
Her eyes go wide, and she opens her mouth, but nothing comes out, and she quickly snaps it closed again.
That’s okay. I don’t need her to say anything. I already know she’s not going anywhere. I won’t let her; I couldn’t bear it.
I do love making her speechless. The way she looks when she’s all flustered is so much like the look she gets right after she comes that my cock twitches in response.
That reminds me.
“Next time you call me Daddy, I’m going to spank your ass,” I tell her, leaning down so that we're only an inch apart.
“Wh-what, why?” she manages to stammer as her brain seems to short-circuit, her eyes wide in confusion that somehow only makes her look more appealing.
I reach out, wrapping my fingers around her much smaller wrist, and move her hand to the crotch of my jeans as an explanation.
“Oh,” she breathes as a smug smirk pulls at her lips. Her hand moves against my still-growing cock, caressing my balls, and I breathe in a sharp breath through my nose.
“You should go and get ready before I ruin our plans and bend you over every surface in this room.”
Her eyes dilate, and I hear her breath catch.
Fuck, she’s not making this easy.
“Katherine.” This is the only warning she will get, and despite me not voicing that, I know she understands when she pulls away.
“Fine, I’m going.”
She turns and heads down the hall, and I’m almost positive she’s moving her ass more on purpose. I don’t move until the bathroom door clicks closed, and then I walk out the front door and into the fresh air.
She’s going to be the death of me, and I’ll happily beg for it.
‘Dinner’ is only the tip of the iceberg.
Yes, we will all sit and eat, but that won’t be all we do.
Des had suggested a vacation to help Kat get over her fear that Carter lurks around every corner.
Give her a little more of that shine and wonder in her eyes that she’d been lacking since his attack, and it’s worked better than I’d dared hope.
It might have done more than that, though. Vince has been teetering on the edge for a little while, and though I’m not sure what happened, he doesn’t seem as withdrawn.
Oliver was the bigger change, though, because while Vince had been adamant he didn’t have feelings for Kat, I knew he was lying.
I’ve known him for so long that I’m almost positive I know him better than he knows himself, the same way he knows me. Which is why I was confident that he would come around, eventually.
I couldn’t make any such promises with Oliver, not after what happened with Natasha. Oliver has always been a gentle soul in comparison to the rest of us. I have no doubt he would do what was needed, but only if something like that was unavoidable.
No, Natasha left a scar on him that wasn’t like ours; she made him paranoid and full of doubt about his own worth.
It didn’t matter how much time passed; the scars never faded, and he never brought anyone home or partook in anything with any of us. No matter what he contributes at work, it's never good enough; he’s always pushing himself to do more, be more.
Kat looks at him with eyes full of wonder, the same way she does the rest of us, but something about being here finally seems to have let him see that.
Something happened during their trip to the library the other day, and I might never know what it was, but I’m grateful for it all the same.
Oliver deserves a good woman, and Kat is nothing if not that.
Who am I kidding? She’s more than good, far better than we deserve, but it’s too late for that now.
She’s ours, my queen, and I’ll never let her go.