Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 95049 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 475(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95049 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 475(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
“That was fast.” I slide off the bed and head straight for my luggage. “Thank you.”
I’m about to grab the handle when the little boy, who’s hanging on Lorenzo’s hip like a monkey, leans over and reaches his arms out for me. His eyes—the same bright blue as Lorenzo’s—meet mine, and his gummy smile warms my chest. He has the same shade of brown hair as Lorenzo and an adorably chubby face. I don’t know what his mom looks like, but he’s the spitting image of his father.
He babbles something incoherently, but the way he’s reaching out and grinning tells me he wants me to hold him.
“Hey, Monkey.”
Instinctually, I reach for him, but before I can take him, Lorenzo pulls him back, glaring at me.
“Leo is off-limits,” he reminds me.
“Sorry.” I flinch. “He was reaching for me and—”
“Off-limits,” he growls before he turns on his heel and stalks out of my room.
The cute little boy glances back at me, grinning and waving happily, unlike his grumpy-ass dad, and I can’t help but smile and wave back.
I’m far too young to think about having children anytime soon, but I would be lying if I said that a small part of me hasn’t thought about what it would be like to be a mom. Unlike my selfish mom, I would be the best, hands-on, loving mom.
Which makes me wonder what happened with Lorenzo’s ex. He said he made her disappear … but there must be a reason why. Sure, he’s grumpy, but at the same time, he seems like a good guy. I mean, he could’ve thrown me out on my ass after what I did to him, yet he’s letting me stay here. He must’ve had a good reason to keep her away from their son, right?
I get to work on unpacking my luggage and plug my phone and laptop in so they can both charge. And while I wait, I unpack my antianxiety meds, organizing them on the bathroom counter. When I step out, a few men are setting boxes down in the center of my room.
“Ma’am,” one of the guys says with a nod. “This is it.”
“Thank you,” I say, glancing at the two boxes.
Since I try to avoid going to Eric’s house as much as possible, I didn’t have much there.
“Lorenzo said to tell you that they’ll be going to your apartment tomorrow to pack up what you need,” the guy says. “If you can make a list of what you want to be brought here, we can make sure to have it all packed and delivered.”
“Thank you,” I say, forcing a smile while thinking about how immature Lorenzo is being by playing telephone instead of telling me himself.
He acts like I want to be married to him. I obviously did all this to save my life. He could be a bit more understanding.
He does think you drugged and raped him, I remind myself.
I should tell him the truth, put his mind at ease, but I just can’t risk it. What if he changes his mind about letting me stay here? Or he tells someone the truth and it gets back to this Santiago chick that I’m still a virgin?
Nope. Not happening. It’s not worth the risk.
Since I’m a bit OCD about organization, I empty the contents of the boxes into the drawers and hang up the few items I have. Once I’m done, my stomach growls, and I venture out to find something to eat. I’ll just grab something simple from the fridge and bring it back to my room so I can figure out my school and work situation.
When I step into the state-of-the-art open kitchen, I’m met with Lorenzo standing at the stove, cooking something that smells delicious, while his son is in his high chair, jabbering away while snacking on what looks like Cheerios.
The moment he sees me—his son, not Lorenzo—his eyes light up, and he starts babbling at me, shaking around and lifting his arms.
I smile at him, loving how happy he is, but since I don’t want to piss off Lorenzo, I don’t interact—which is kind of shitty because he’s a freaking baby and who ignores a baby?—and go straight for the fridge to grab the simplest thing I can for dinner.
“Did they bring everything?” Lorenzo asks.
I turn around and glance at him. “Oh, are we speaking? I thought we were supposed to pretend the other doesn’t exist.”
Lorenzo glares. “Try not to act your age.”
“Me?” I scoff. “You’re the one forcing me to ignore the cute baby.”
As if right on cue, said baby lifts his arms and yells, “Up, up, up.”
I grin at how adorable he is, and Lorenzo’s resting dick face deepens.
“Oh, sorry.” I mask my smile. “Let me glare at the baby.” I spin around, open the fridge, grab a bottle of water and a yogurt since there are tons of them in there, and then close the door. “To answer your question, yes, everything was in my luggage, and they brought everything from Eric’s house. Thank you. Also, regarding my stuff from my apartment, I don’t need to make a list. I just need some clothes, toiletries, and my sewing stuff.