“You really believe in this, don’t you?”
“We converted in California and it’s gone very well.”
“My grandma wanted this?”
“I think so. She didn’t trust me though.”
“Why?”
“My father was a shifty man, Morina. He didn’t shake your hand and keep his word. He crept around at night and stabbed you in the back.”
She bit her lip and stared at me, then nodded. “I believe we can be better than the ones before us. After we’re married, let’s go to the plant, and I want to hear you make those calls to the government. We get that started and I’ll hand over the shares to you.”
“I’ll pay you.”
She smirked. “It won’t change my life, Bastian. I have what I want out of it. I just want what’s best for the town.”
With that, she went back to reading and got through another five pages before her head slumped onto my shoulder and her eyes closed on a long blink. They didn’t open back up.
How quickly she’d trusted me like she knew me, like I was a man of my word. I had been to everyone I’d done business with. I’d bent over backwards to be different from my father. I’d always been furious when people compared me to him and didn’t trust me immediately.
Yet, with her, I wanted her to push back. She shouldn’t be barreling into just handing over that much money. Was she crazy?
Or was I crazy for wanting to make sure I dotted and crossed every I and T in making this a perfect transaction? If she wanted to dive headfirst into a shit deal and get nothing out of it, all the better for me.
Right?
Except Morina was becoming something more than just an obstacle. She was nice and weird in a way that I wasn’t used to. She was trusting and eccentric with her beads and her incense.
She lived in a land of sand castles on a beach and surfing and cuddly puppies.
That packet held the greed and viciousness that came with money.
Something dark like oil would pour into Morina’s pure water, and I just wanted to get her out unscathed.
My father never did that.
And yet, now it was all I wanted.
The movie ended with the girl finding magic in just being herself. I sighed and turned to Morina, who breathed heavily on me.
I needed to get her to a bed and Ivy to one also.
“Morina?” I whispered and she stirred against me. “Want to go to your bedroom?”
She shook her head and with her eyes still completely closed, crawled onto my lap. Somehow she folded into a little warm ball and snuggled against me.
Jesus, her ass rubbed right on my dick, reminding me how good it had felt to sleep next to her.
“Uncle Bastian,” a little voice whispered. I snapped my attention to my little niece who stared at us with stars in her eyes.
“She’s your princess.” Ivy’s chin rested on the back of her threaded hands as she sighed at what she thought she was witnessing. “I love her with you.”
Then the little girl plopped back down on the floor and pulled the covers up to her shoulders.
“Fuck me.” I groaned just as Cade came and scooped Ivy from the floor.
“I’ll take her to the spare and take your bed, considering you two don’t seem to be moving any time soon.”