Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 129027 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 645(@200wpm)___ 516(@250wpm)___ 430(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129027 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 645(@200wpm)___ 516(@250wpm)___ 430(@300wpm)
I smile but something about Domhnall’s expression lingers in the back of my mind. A flicker of tension. A moment of something unreadable in his eyes before he smoothed it over.
“Oh no, don’t get them started,” Marcus groans, dropping into a chair across from me and dragging a hand down his face. “One of my favorite things about this place is that I can escape my kid here.”
“How do you think your daughter would feel hearing you say shit like that?” Quinn asks, eyes narrowing in immediate offense.
Marcus drops his hand and levels a glare at her. “I don’t say it where she can hear. What do you know about it, anyway? I don’t see you waking up three times a night because a kid wants water and a full dramatic retelling of The Very Hungry Caterpillar before going back to sleep.”
“That’s so sweet, Marcus,” I say, my lips twitching.
“Sweet, my ass. My kid’s a little fucking princess, and she’s gonna send me into an early grave.”
Quinn keeps glaring, unimpressed. “You’re just bitching because you’re a man doing what every woman since the beginning of time has done without moaning and complaining.”
Marcus sits up, eyes flashing. “You’re such a little shit. You think because you put grown men in diapers and play Mommy, you have any fucking clue what my life is?”
Quinn smiles dangerously. “I see exactly who you are, Marcus Reyes.” She holds up two fingers, pointing them at her eyes and then at him. “You’re a pompous playboy needing to seek the next thrill because you’ve gone through life only thinking about what your dick wanted next. Until you knocked up the wrong woman, who didn’t get the abortion you wanted because she thought she could trap you into marrying her.”
Marcus surges to his feet. “You sure got a lot to say for a high school dropout who works nights flogging saggy old men even though you get a perfectly good paycheck during the day.”
“Oh, so you’re going to kink-shame me now?”
“Please.” He takes a long sip of his drink. “That’s not your kink. You don’t actually get off on any of the shit you do here at the club. I’ve seen you. It’s just work to you. Now, talk about a crying shame. I’m not even sure you like being dominant—”
Quinn’s on her feet now, too, in his face. “I bet I could have you on your knees begging for Mommy in about ten minutes.”
He smirks. “You’d like to see you try. You couldn’t handle a real man.”
Quinn makes a big show of looking left and right. “You let me know when one walks in?”
“Alright, alright,” Isaak interjects, holding his huge arms out like a referee. “This is Kira’s day. Can we all stop squabbling for once and celebrate the life that’s about to come into the world?”
“It’s fine,” I say, laughing as Isaak nudges me to sit down away from the drama. “This is what family should be like.” Squabbling. Fighting. Saying things out loud instead of bottling them up. I’m still not used to it, but I love it.
Isaak tugs me onto his lap, his arms curling around me and my barely-there belly. He does this all the time—always wanting me close, wrapping himself around us like a protective wall. Us. That’s how he says it. Like we’re already a whole, unshakable unit. “I’m so happy I found you,” he murmurs into my hair. “Found us.”
I sigh in happiness, leaning back against his warmth. This life feels impossibly good. After everything—the chaos, the danger, the trauma—we’re here. We made it. And now, with Isaak, I get to be my real self, not some version of me constantly trying to be good enough for people who will never see me.
I glance toward the entrance and grimace. “God, I was such a brat to you the day we met.”
He smirks. “You were a firecracker, that’s for sure. Wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“Stop being so perfect.” I swat at his leg. “I need you to have more flaws, or I’ll start to feel bad.”
He chuckles, low and deep. I love that sound. I love him.
“I’m just Mr. Perfect. You’re gonna have to get used to it, Red.”
“Okay, Mr. Perfect, so you’ll be fine waking up for middle-of-the-night feedings? Changing poopy diapers?”
“Marcus showed me how to change a diaper. I’ve been practicing.”
“Marcus?” My eyebrows pop up as I glance at the playboy dom.
“He’s a really good father to his little girl. He just plays at being a jackass.”
Huh. “Well, he’s convincing.”
That sets Isaak laughing again, and I nuzzle into him, enjoying the vibration of it.
“I love you so much,” I whisper. “Forever and always.”
He kisses the top of my head, hands lacing over my belly. “Forever and always.”
Then, just as Quinn gets up to announce it’s time to open presents, the front doors slam open.