* * *
Later that night, Hope and Cole walked Mia to her room, next to their room in the west wing of the Belmont Palace. The hallway was tiled with marble and had a red velvet rug running down the center to cushion their footsteps. The doors were hand-carved and were tall as the ceiling. It wasn't like any ordinary mansion. It really was a palace. When Cole opened the door to Mia’s room, Hope’s jaw fell open.
"Oh my God, Cole, when did you guys have time to do all of this?" she said, gaping. The room was fully decorated and fit for a princess. Mia had an intricate four-poster princess bed with pink satin sheets and fluffy pillows with Disney princesses all over them and matching velvet pink drapes were on the multi-paned window. There was bookshelf filled with children's books that seemed age-appropriate for Mia. She had a wood inlaid toy box in the far corner. And another toy box with the toys that she brought in from the apartment earlier today. She also had a walk-in closet and when Hope looked around in the closet she could not believe all the wonderful clothes in it. Not just the clothes she brought from the apartment, but it looked as if Cole had his staff go out to buy new outfits for her. Hope looked at the tags on the clothes and they were from expensive department stores.
"Oh my God, Cole. This is amazing. I can't believe this."
"I had the staff go out today after I gave them a list of things to get for my daughter's room. For our daughter's room," he corrected himself. "I had about ten people go out and buy different things, bedding, a new bed, books, toys that she would desire and the whole wardrobe full of clothes and pretty little shoes for her."
Mia was asleep in her daddy’s arms. But when Mia did get a chance to see the room in the morning she would be absolutely delighted, Hope thought. What a pleasant surprise, Hope mused to herself. Her heart turned over in her chest. There was nothing more charming and alluring than a gorgeous man who loved his child more than anything in the world and cared for her like a precious angel.
"Well, thank you so much. It's absolutely amazing." Hope’s voice was choked with emotion. She was so glad her little girl would have everything she didn't have when she was younger. Hope’s father was all about business but he didn't really care too much about the family and they certainly didn't have all of these nice things in the early days. She'd never known happiness in her own life growing up. So she appreciated that her own daughter would get what she deserved to have.
"You don't have to thank me, Hope. She's my daughter. She's a part of me and a part of you. And everything I do is from the heart to my girl. Being a good father should be as natural as breathing. I can’t understand anyone who doesn't give his child everything he can possibly give her, especially time and love. It's not just about the material things, it's about the love behind it."
Hope swallowed hard. Just then Mia began to wake up in Cole’s arms. She looked around the room and her eyes widened. She gasped!
“I can’t believe it. Wow! Look!” Mia wiggled out of his arms and immediately walked around the room looking at everything as if she were a happy kid next in line for a pony ride. She gaped around in awe, like Alice in Wonderland. It was as if she'd discovered a whole new world. She laughed, giggled and clapped her hands and Hope melted inside.
"Why don’t you and your mommy get ready for bed then Daddy’s going to read you a bedtime story, okay? You have a cool library of books over there; your granddad chose some of them. Why don’t you choose one and I’ll read it to you?" Cole suggested soothingly.
"Okay, Daddy," Mia said with glee.
A half hour later, after Hope had washed Mia and gotten her ready for bed, her little girl was tucked in between her pink princess sheets and puffy comforter. She looked so snug underneath. Her dad then sat on the side of the bed with the book Mia had chosen, Sleeping Beauty. How ironic.
Hope watched tenderly as Cole read the story of sleeping beauty Princess Aurora’s story. Hope sat on the bed also on the other side of Mia and held her and cuddled her while Cole animatedly recanted the story as if he were dramatically performing it.
After the story was finished Hope was absolutely enthralled by Cole’s performance, as was their daughter. Mia was excited but she was also getting sleepy too.
"So sleepy beauty got awake again, Daddy?” Mia said in her tiny little voice, tiredly closing her eyes on the pillow.
“Yes, sweetie. She became awake again. Because the prince kissed her and took her out of her deep sleep from the spell that was cast on her,” Cole reiterated as he looked into Hope's eyes, and her heart fluttered in her chest. Hope felt a tingling sensation from his penetrating gaze as he said “the prince kissed her and woke her from her deep sleep.”
Was that part of the story directed at Hope?
Would Cole kiss Hope again and make passionate love to her, waking her up out of her nightmarish past, breaking the spell that was cast on her from her childhood? His lips sure were as magical and as potent as Prince Phillip from the story of Sleeping Beauty, weren’t they?
"Thank you for doing that,” Hope said to Cole after they left Mia’s room and left their beautiful princess sleeping sound.
"You don't have to thank me, Hope. I love her and she's my little girl. "
"I know," she said, almost breathless, her heart palpitating in her chest. Cole’s nearness caused a stirring reaction in her body. She was on fire for him. Oh why couldn't he see that? Why wouldn't he kiss her again and press his amazing lips to hers so that she could taste his sweetness again? As if he could read her mind, Cole lowered his head to hers and captured her lips one more time and gave her a soft sweet and tender kiss. His tongue sent shivers of delight racing through her. His lips were warm and tender on hers.
"Good night, my sleeping beauty,” Cole said in a low, sexy voice then changed his expression slightly. "God, you’re so incredible, Hope. But we really need to take things slowly as we agreed."
"Of course,” she said, unconvincingly. She sighed, wishing things were different between them.
“I have some work to do in the study. I’ll see you later on the other side of the bed as we’d agreed,” he said softly but hesitated as if he wanted to change his mind about their “agreement.”
His lips were saying one thing, yet his eyes were filled with desire when he gazed into her eyes. Hope could see the hungry passion in his eyes as she’d seen before in the past.
"Fine," she said.
"Good," he said equally as professional as she did. And with those words they both went their separate ways down the corridor.
* * *
"Got anything new?" Cole quizzed Brandon as they both sat in the study, his mind still on Hope, wishing he could have taken her to soaring heights of sweet pleasure instead of leaving her alone in the room. The rest of the house was quiet since everyone had gone to sleep.
"Just the same information, Cole," Brandon answered. He was scrolling through his cell phone messages. "But I've come across some new leads about her time at college."
"Her time at college?"
"Yeah," he answered.
"What about college?"
"When her father sent her here to go to college she met this mysterious girl named Jewel. There’s something odd about that situation. Since then things have been different. Her father noticed a bit of a change in her. There were some text messages that sounded a bit strange to him. I'm going to look into that. By the way, you guys are okay?"
"What makes you think we’re not?"
"Because you're my brother. And I know you all too well. I know you were heartbroken when she left you the first time around. But you guys were hot together back in the day. I hope it works out for you two. Besides, I caught some awkward vibes at the dinner table. You seemed as if your mind was somewhere else. You know me already. I’m a detective twenty-four-seven. Can't turn off what I do for a living. I read people like books." Brandon’s lips curled into a grin.
"Very funny, bro. Everything’s okay on this end.” No, it wasn't. Could his brother really read his body language? God, Cole was dying inside. His groin kept reacting and throbbing. Craving to be inside Hope again, making sweet passionate love to her as he’d done in the past. Man, they’d done everything together with each other. They’d taken each other to erotic extremes and intimate pleasures like he'd never known. He enjoyed the way her sweet body reacted to his. And everything they did together so beautifully in bed. How could he keep away from her? It was killing him inside. Yet he couldn’t let his defenses down again. He had to keep his guard up and take things slowly this time around. He’d rushed into the engagement way too soon after they’d dated the first time without getting to know her properly. He was on a mission to help her. And he had a hunch that she could be in danger.
"The only reason I'm insisting on this thorough investigation is because I feel Hope could be in danger, without even realizing it. It hurts me to see her hurting like that. I just wish she’d be up front with what’s going on in Lendovia. What on earth could she possibly be hiding from me? Especially now that we have a child together. I know she probably thinks she might've done something I won't forgive her for. But I’d never hold anything against her. She means so much to me.”