“You don’t want to push it,” she said, laughing.
“You love all of them, don’t you?” he asked.
At first, he thought it was just Stuart, but he came to realize she loved all of them. They were a part of her life. Stuart just needed a little extra help, but she was here for all of them, and what Roman liked was that they all adored her.
“Yeah, I do. They’re good kids. I wish I could give them what they want.”
“And what’s that?” he asked.
“A family. Parents. You know, the security of knowing they’re being taken care of.”
“You can have that,” Roman said.
“I can’t, my dad, he said I can’t do it.”
“And you’re with me now, Alex. I’m not your dad, and if you want us to have these kids, and to help raise them, then I don’t see why we can’t,” Roman said.
Alex turned toward him, her eyes wide. “Don’t do that,” she said.
“Don’t do what?”
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”
“Let me look into it. I’ll make the arrangements, and we can adopt them, give them the proper life you want. You know, all of it,” he said.
Roman didn’t even know where this was coming from, he just knew he wanted her to be happy, and the only way to do that was to give them all a chance.
Alex threw her arms around him and hugged him tight. “Thank you.”
He wasn’t doing this to gain her trust or to make her love him. Roman was being honest, and if he was being entirely truthful, a little selfish.
His father would throw a fit over what he was about to do, but he had a valid reason. By his own orders, he had to make Alex fall in love with him. He was just getting what he wanted in different ways. There were no limits to what he could do to make her fall in love with him.
Alex pulled away and pressed a kiss to his cheek. He watched her go. She wore a skirt this time, and an oversized shirt. There was a slight wind that would show off those glorious curves, and it reminded him of the other night, of having her naked body in his arms. They hadn’t had any more lessons from Antonio, Marlo, or Cash, as he’d been called away to speak with his father and Liam.
They were running out of possible leads, and he saw Liam was starting to panic. He was used to being one step ahead of the enemy, not floundering in an ocean of monsters all around him.
He was usually the biggest monster around.
Roman didn’t have a clue who it could be, but he wasn’t going to risk Alex’s life. They had to find the person responsible, and fast.
****
“You seem happy,” Millie said.
Alex looked up at her oldest friend and gave her a hug. “I am.”
“No night terrors?”
She shook her head. “None.”
“That’s good. I guess being surrounded by kids and having Roman and those three handsome men around you can help take the nightmares away.”
She rolled her eyes. “Very subtle.”
Millie held her hands up in mock surrender. “What?”
“Nothing is…”