CHAPTER 48
KILLIAN
The exhaustion from the last twenty-four hours hit at around dinner time, and after the eight of us ate our body weight in pizza, we said our good-byes to the rest of the group.
Daisy is sprawled out across my sofa, her feet resting in my lap as a movie plays softly in the background. My thumbs work in gentle circles against the arches of her bare feet as I stare mindlessly at the TV, not really paying attention.
My thoughts have been preoccupied all day with Jaxon and Juliet. If they’re okay and how they’re coping with the loss of their mother.
Granted, she wasn’t much of a mother to them at all, but they lost her all the same.
I haven’t been able to get the fact that Jax is only sixteen out of my head, either.
I was so sure that he was older, maybe eighteen or nineteen, and I’m pissed at myself for not doing more to confirm that.
As a business owner, it’s my responsibility to know everything there is to know about the people I’m employing, but when Jax came to me in the street and all-but begged me for a job, it didn’t even cross my mind that he was still a minor.
He should still be in high school, for fuck’s sake.
I’ve had this sick feeling in the pit of my stomach since last night. That feeling grew when I witnessed the horror that those kids called home. And it’s only continued to grow as the hours pass with no word from CPS.
The only thing that is keeping me from spiralling out of control is the small glimmer of hope Noah gave me when he told me what his parents plan to do.
If the Calloway’s foster Jax and Juliet, I know they’ll be safe. I will be able to rest easy knowing that the two of them are being taken care of the way they should have been all along.
I can’t even begin to imagine how scared they must be feeling right now.
No sixteen-year-old child should ever have to find their mom overdosed on the living room floor. No three-year-old girl should have to watch as her big brother gives their mom CPR while begging for help from 911.
Fuck, I can’t stop my mind from running wild with thoughts of the scrawny, malnourished boy and his baby sister with the unruly curls so much like the woman next to me.
Daisy taps her foot against my now-still hand. “Can I ask you something?”
My eyes find hers, her words pulling me out of the dark place I had fallen into. “Anything.”
“What changed?”
I frown. “What do you mean?”
“With us. What changed last night? You had barely been able to look at me since that morning in your bedroom.”
I blow out a breath. I knew we would have to talk about this at some point, I just didn’t know if Daisy was ready to have the conversation yet.
Emotions have been high the last twenty-four hours, and our problems seemed to fall by the wayside but now is as good a time as any to clear a few things up because something has been on my mind all day and I’d like to bring it up to Daisy eventually.
“I didn’t change my mind, Dais. I know I didn’t react well when you told me about the pregnancy.
And the biggest mistake I’ve ever made was telling you to leave without giving you a chance to tell me everything.
For that, I’m so sorry, Dais. I was…” I exhale sharply.
“Fuck, I was so hurt that you didn’t feel like you could come to me.
I would have been there for you no matter what.
I would have held you through it. Gone to every appointment with you and supported you in any way I could. ”
A stray tear rolls down her face and I lean over, swiping it away with my finger.
“You’ve had this idea in your mind all these years that a family was a requirement for being with me, but you couldn’t be more wrong.
All I’ve ever wanted since I was seventeen, hell since before that, is you, Daisy.
You have always been my dream. I don’t care if we never have children.
I can live without them. What I can’t live without is you.
The last four years have been hell without you, angel.
Not a day went by where I didn’t think about you at least once.
You were everywhere. You’re engrained in my skin, carved into my heart. ”
I look into her eyes, cupping her warm cheek in my hand. “I didn’t change my mind, Dais. I just stopped being a pussy and done what I should’ve done from the moment I found you in the bar all those months ago. I claimed you.”
Daisy’s chin trembles as she leans into my touch. “What if you end up hating me?” she whispers brokenly.
I frown. “Why would I ever hate you?”
“Because all you’ve ever spoken about is having a family, Killian.
We spent hours planning our future, choosing names for our future children, discussing how many we were going to have.
We designed this house with the extra bedrooms with children in mind.
How are you okay with giving all of that up? ”
I pull her into my lap and tuck her hair behind her ear, tilting her face to mine to ensure she really hears me when I say my next words. “I would give up everything I own, every asset, every belonging, every dime, as long as I get to keep you.”
“Do you really mean that?” she asks, her insecurity getting the better of her.
“I’ve never been more serious.”
Her forehead falls against mine and she closes her eyes. “I love you, Killian.”
Fuck, I’ll never get tired of hearing her say that.
“I love you, too, angel.”
For the first time all day, my mind is quiet. My body is relaxed as I hold her against me, my fingers drawing mindless designs along the exposed skin at the bottom of her back. Daisy is silent for a long time as she plays with the chain around my neck.
“Will you put your ring back on?” she asks, pulling the ring out from behind my hoodie.
“Of course. Do you still have yours?”
Daisy nods and hops off my lap, scurrying off toward the front door.
She returns a second later, her hand balled in a fist. She climbs back into my lap and opens her hand, revealing two small bands, one solid gold one and one that’s littered with tiny diamonds on either side of one bigger one in the middle.
Butterflies swarm in my stomach as I look up at her in surprise. “You had them on you?”
Daisy smiles at me, her perfect white teeth on full display. “You thought you were the only sentimental one in this marriage, Mr Ashby?”
“I guess not, Mrs Ashby,” I reply with a chuckle.
I take the rings from her, and she holds her left hand out for me. With steady hands, I take hers and slide her rings on the third finger, exactly where they belong.
The diamonds glint under the light and I place a kiss over the top of it. “Mine.”
Daisy beams at me as she reaches behind my neck, unclasping my chain and letting the ring slide into her palm. She mimics my movement, sliding my ring onto my marital finger before placing a kiss there. “Mine,” she repeats.
Seeing her rings back in their rightful place does something to me. It brings out my possessive side and sends a jolt of electricity through me. My dick begins to harden beneath her, and Daisy must feel it because her smile goes from excited to provocative in a split second.
But there’s still something I need to talk to her about, something that has been weighing heavily in my mind all day, so instead of picking her up, carrying her up to our bedroom and burying my head between her legs, I clamp both hands on her waist to stop her from grinding down on me.
“I need to ask you something.”
Daisy cocks her head, halting her movements. “What is it?”
I chew on my bottom lip, nervous about how she might take this. “Would you, uh… ever consider adoption?”
I hold my breath as I look at her, gauging her reaction. Her eyebrows shoot up. “Adoption?”
I nod.
“What are you thinking, Killian?” she asks me softly as she searches my face.
I drop my head back, running a hand over my face to compose myself before answering. “I want them, Dais.”
“Jax and Juliet?”
I dip my chin. “Yeah.”
“You want to adopt Jax and Juliet?” Daisy asks slowly.
I shake my head. “No. I want us to adopt them. Together.”
Her gaze trails off, her attention falling to behind me as she goes still and silent in my lap. When she’s still in the same position two minutes later, I worry she might have gone into shock.
I grip her chin and bring her focus back to me. “Say something, Daisy.”
She blinks at me, and then all of a sudden, her eyes are filled with tears. My heart sinks and panic crawls up my throat.
“Shit. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. I just thought that we could…”
“No,” Daisy interjects, shaking her head. “I’m not upset.”
My forehead creases. “You’re not?”
“No,” she chokes out. “I’m happy.”
“You’re… happy…” I repeat slowly, more confused than ever.
Daisy laughs, wiping the tears from her face as she nods. “Yes. These are happy tears, I promise.”
“Oh, thank God,” I breathe out right before she leans in and her mouth descends on mine.
She devours my mouth with fervour, her tongue darting out and tangling mine as she thrusts her fingers into my hair and tugs lightly.
I groan, my dick straining against my sweats, begging to be freed from its restraint. I dig my fingers into Daisy’s hips, grinding her against me and creating some much-needed friction.
She moans into my mouth, her teeth biting down on my bottom lip and driving me crazy with my need for her.
I stand abruptly, keeping her legs wrapped around my waist as I turn us and deposit her on the couch. I tear at the leggings she had Liv bring her earlier and toss them aside. Her tank top goes next and I’m fucking delighted to find she didn’t bother with a bra.
Her nipples are hard as stone, the small silver bars shining under the light hanging above us and I take a moment to soak her in. Her chest rises and falls with heavy breaths, her cheeks have the prettiest tint to them, and her pussy glistens with the evidence of her arousal.
“You’re so fucking perfect, angel.”