Like he was the one I was meant to be with, but I couldn’t be.
And I wouldn’t.
???
By the time Ryker made his way down the stairs from the bedroom, the kids were awake for the day and happily munching away at bagels. I didn’t have the slightest idea where anything was in the kitchen yet, and spending my first day there without Ryker terrified me. “Good morning,” Ryker grunted, seeming moodier than he normally was. I tried not to glance down at his package in his dark jeans, because honestly from what I’d felt I had no clue how he even fit that thing in there.
A moment later he snapped out of his grumpiness, grabbing a bagel off the counter and smearing cream cheese on it before he shoved a bite into his mouth. “Good morning,” Axel said, and he pouted at the sight of Ryker shoving his feet into his boots. “Are you leaving?”
“Gotta take care of some business today, little man. But I’ll be back as soon as I can, and my buddy Dante will come hang out with you guys while I’m gone.”
“How come?” Axe asked. “Wouldn’t he rather hang out with us while you’re here?”
I resisted the urge to smirk, enjoying the thought of Ryker having to come up with an answer for that.
“Well, you know how I promised I’d protect you and your mom from bad guys?” he asked, kneeling down to be eye level with Axel. “Sometimes I have to go to work, and I can’t be with you guys. I can’t protect you if I’m not here, so some of my friends will keep an eye on you instead. Make sure nothing bad happens to any of you while I’m gone.” I’d never been more conflicted when my son smiled happily, like the answer made perfect sense. I didn’t want our security to confuse him, but I also hated that he just seemed to accept that I needed protection so readily. Protection I didn’t need or want.
It felt like the sudden loss of his father had affected him more than I’d ever known, and that made me feel like a terrible mother because I hadn’t seen it.
He was so like his father sometimes, so stoic and hesitant to show emotion. “Okie dokie,” Axel said, shoving the last bite of bagel into his mouth and rushing off to go play video games like I’d promised he could after breakfast.
“Wash your hands!” I shouted after him, shaking my head when I heard him veer off toward the bathroom instead of the couch.
“And what about you, Princess? How did you sleep?” Ryker asked, and Ines peered up at him hesitantly.
“Bad dream,” she whispered, turning to cling to me. I couldn’t be surprised, with everything that had changed in the last few days I’d have been more surprised if she didn’t have nightmares than if she did.
But Ryker winced at her confession, shaking his head with a pained smile. “Maybe tonight will be better.” He patted the top of her head and then turned to look out the front door window. “Dante is here. Why don’t you come meet him first, Sunshine?” he asked, and I nodded as I crossed my arms over my chest.
“Mommy will be right back, okay peanut?” I asked her, and she nodded as she went back to chewing on her bagel bite by bite.
The man stepping out of the SUV was much smaller than Ryker, not that it was a tough task. His hair had gone mostly grey, though he couldn’t have been a day over forty years old. He wore a suit, and it seemed so comically overkill that I couldn’t help but laugh. He’d worn a suit to come hang out with me and my two kids while he made sure I didn’t run off. “Dante works for Enzo, who runs security for the Bellandis. He’s the best of the best, and he’ll make sure nothing happens to the three of you when I’m not around,” Ryker said as I stepped outside the front door.
“Mrs. Fiore,” Dante said, stepping up to hold out a hand for me to shake. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“Latour. My name is Calla Latour,” I corrected him, and I ignored Ryker’s jaw clenching with my words.
“Why don’t we just go with Calla, then?” Dante asked, eyeing Ryker like he might be eaten alive. It wouldn’t surprise me. He must have needed a lot of protein to maintain that body mass.
“I’ve got to go, but I’ll be back soon. Today shouldn’t take long,” Ryker said, tugging me into his side and turning my face up. He kissed me before I could protest, drawing back with a grin that made me want to punch him in the throat.
“What are you doing?” I asked, deciding to be bold. It pissed me off that I would be stuck in Ryker’s home when he wouldn’t even be there. Disgusted me to think of myself as a prisoner, particularly when it seemed like my jailor could change with only a moment’s notice. I didn’t know Dante or Ryker, yet they just expected me to trust them with my kids’ lives.
“Don’t ask questions you know I can’t answer,” Ryker grunted, taking a few steps toward where the Maserati already waited for him. “As you so kindly pointed out, you aren’t my wife. You can know those kinds of details once we’re married.” He grinned at me like he hadn’t just turned my world on its head with a declaration of marriage.
He was in for a surprise, because I would never remarry.
I’d never put myself at risk for the pain that came along with losing a husband again. Not after what it had been like to bury the first.
I wouldn’t do it with a second.
“Do you want me to fuck him too? Or is that only when you’re my jailor?” I asked, intentionally being difficult. I could kill the man for putting me in this situation where I had to tolerate a stranger.
Ryker’s face twisted into a scowl, and he glanced over at Dante, whose skin paled in the face of Ryker’s wrath. “I like Dante. Don’t make me hurt him to prove a point,” Ryker growled.
“You’re insane,” I scoffed back at him, twisting my head away so I didn’t have to look at his stupid pissed off face.
“And you’re mine,” he grunted, stepping back into my face to crash his lips to mine in a claiming kiss before he hurried to the car.