“Oh my God. What happened to me trusting you or the fact that not too long ago you told my grandma I was a little girl that no one would want?” We needed to de-escalate in any way we could.
“You know damn well I didn’t mean that little girl comment when you were riding my dick not weeks before, Morina. I just licked your pussy from my fingers last night.” He slid his hand right up to it.
I shouldn’t have even been contemplating sleeping with him. That was the problem with morning grogginess though. Some part of the human conscious was still sleeping and the animalistic, basic need side of you was ready to fulfill all desires.
I rolled my hips on him, and his eyes flared. Caramel and chocolate turned to lava and fire.
“Uncle Bastian!” Ivy screamed when she rounded the couch and saw us both awake but still under the covers. “Breakfast time and then we get to go fly on carpets and ride fast boats and Uncle Cade said there’s a pirate ship battle we’ll get to see!”
At the mention of his name, his hand flew from my ass and his eyes turned right back to honey while he watched his niece vibrating with excitement. I scooted off him while being kind enough to leave the bunched up sheet on his lap. I straightened my night top as I hopped off the couch. “I’m just going to go freshen up and shower. You guys eat without me.”
The shower was where I got myself back together. I let the water run over me and reminded myself I needed to get back on a board after I finished reading that file. Supposedly, I had meetings and galas to attend soon according to the papers. We’d have to put on our married game faces and falling down a rabbit hole of lust with Bastian wouldn’t be good for either of us.
He was right.
I couldn’t risk us indulging emotions, especially when the city needed me to iron out the company’s future.
This was a good first step.
I would be seen out and about with Bastian and his family. That would mean something.
“Hey, do I need to wear something better than this?” I asked as I came back out to the kitchen, suddenly concerned about being photographed.
“Why would you ask that?” Bastian growled.
Cade studied me though. “That’ll do just fine.”
“What are you talking about?” Bastian swung his gaze at his brother.
“They’re going to judge her with you.” Cade shrugged and handed me a plate of eggs and bacon.
“Thank you.” I eyed the perfectly cooked bacon that had just enough grease to make my mouth water. “This looks amazing.”
“It’s just eggs and bacon.” Cade chuckled. “My mom would have scorned us if she saw what Bastian had in his fridge to feed you, honestly.”
“Shut up.” Bastian grabbed a plate without saying thank you to his brother.
“Mom would be mad. You and I both know it.”
Bastian and Cade, two men I swear could have melted the hearts of all the women in the world, stared each other down. The story of their family was one I wondered about. Curiosity was a bitch I needed to keep in line though. It wouldn’t serve me well.
Ivy leaned over and whispered, “Daddy says Bastian doesn’t like talking about his mommy because she’s not here anymore. Bastian doesn’t have a daddy either.” She ran her hand down my face as if soothing me could soothe Bastian too.
I glanced at him, but his eyes were trained on his little niece.
“I like talking about her, bambina. Don’t say that, huh? I loved her very much. I just don’t talk about her because she’s gone now.”
“He means she’s dead, Morina,” she informed me as if I didn’t know.
I shoved more eggs in my mouth so that I didn’t have to be a part of this conversation.
“And I guess when people die, Bastian doesn’t talk about them anymore.” Ivy frowned at her uncle. “We aren’t supposed to talk about them, right, Uncle Bastian?”
Cade smirked and folded his arms. “Yeah, Bastian, please explain that to us. I’d like to know too.”
Bastian’s jaw worked up and down and up and down. Before he answered, he grabbed a water bottle from the fridge and chugged a few sips. He slammed it down harder onto the granite countertop than necessary. “Ivy, my mother was a really nice lady. She loved my daddy and us more than life itself. When your daddy would come over, she’d make cannoli and we’d sit with her and laugh and laugh. She was very nice. But she and passed away. We have to move on.”
“But she’s your momma.” Ivy sounded so confused that I put my arm around her and glared at Bastian who in turn glared at me.
“And I have family here now that she’d want me to enjoy, huh? Let’s eat.” His command held no room for argument.
Maybe Bastian was more broken than I’d originally thought. His brother lowered his eyes and I did too.
We ate in silence until Cade announced the drivers were there. The elevator took us to the car I thought we would all pile into, but two black SUVs awaited us, surrounded by security guards and men in black suits. I froze, not sure if I was going to die right there.
I glanced at Bastian and he rolled his eyes like he knew my thoughts. “They’re just here to walk the park with us. We got Katie’s kid and she’s infamous in certain parts. She wants her child protected.”
“Jeez,” I whispered. That was momma bear on another level. Yet, every aspect of this excursion was getting more and more stressful. “Are all of you that infamous?”
“In some circles, yes.” He hesitated, like he was weighing what to tell me. “You know we’ll be photographed today. The theme park with my family is good though. It will solidify our relationship. No one will bother you after today.”
We got there in good time considering it was a few hours’ drive. Bastian groaned about us not taking the jet most of the way. “It takes away from the experience,” Cade told him.
“Get real. You haven’t had a real experience in decades with your head in that phone.”
His grin was one of a Cheshire cat. “You’d be surprised, brother.”
When we arrived at the park, the SUV dropped us at the line for people who already had tickets. When we had to scan in, they took our fingerprints.
My normal life didn’t involve my heart beating fast about getting in somewhere. If they said no, we’d go to the other line and buy tickets. Just more waiting. Cade’s skills must have been golden though because we got that green light and went through the gate without a hitch.
Ivy danced around us in a little dress that fluffed out at her waist. I eyed it. “Who got her that outfit?”
Cade shrugged. “She’s got a million dresses back home like this. I packed a few for her.”
“You’re the perfect uncle, I think.” I elbowed him and he nodded.
“I probably would have been the perfect husband too. Sorry you got stuck with my brother.”
Bastian grumbled as we walked in but didn’t pay us much mind. He was probably just happy he didn’t have to make small talk with me.
“I see the castle! I see the castle!” Ivy screeched. “I’m going to be a princess! I’m going to be a princess!”
Bastian and Cade stared out at the park and I think the gravity of it hit us all at the same time. People were swarming in and out every which way like herds needing water.