Page 140
Story: Climbing Everest
Tears burn the backs of my eyes, but I blink them away.
He turns and drops heavily onto the end of the unmade bed we’ve all slept in together for the past few weeks. Then he lowers his elbows to his knees and his shoulders hunch forward as though the news is too much to carry.
I get the feeling. It had taken everything in me not to burst into tears or let the rage overtake any form of rational thought.
Well, until I’d been presented with my gift in the form of retribution.
More like justice.
“Fuck, E,” he says so softly I barely hear him.
But I see the muscle jumping in his cheek and the way he’s blinking rapidly, as though he’s trying to hold back his own tears.
Why the hell hadn’t I even thought about the fact that me not being able to carry a child would affect them as strongly? They lost their son or daughter, too. And now, our chance at having a family together might be completely off the table.
I dress in silence, glancing at him periodically when he simply continues to sit like a statue and stare at the floor like he doesn’t really see it.
I’m just pulling a sweater over my head and jump hard when he shoots to his feet and declares, “We’ll just adopt. We’ll adopt ten kids. Babies. Toddlers. Even teenagers. Kids like me and Brix. Except we’ll be good to them.”
He’s still in the towel, but at least his boner seems to have gone down a bit. Might have made this conversation a little…awkward.
“Teenagers?” I say when I can finally find my voice. Those damn tears are back only this time for a whole different reason.
“Sure. Why not? We’ve got plenty of room. Guards are on the property, so it’s not like they can sneak out and do crazy shit. We’ll adopt…ten kids. Maybe more.”
A watery smile breaks free, and I begin to giggle softly. I’m both sad that this is a conversation we have to have instead of simply deciding it’s something we want but elated that Maddox would see any child as his, regardless of his or her bloodline.
Suppose that shouldn’t surprise me, considering that the three of them always said they had no desire to have a DNA test on any child we brought into the world.
Tears stream down my face, and I don’t bother stopping them.
He drops back on the bed, his eyes unfocused as though already making plans in his head.
Instead, I step closer to Madd and wait for him to lift his head and move a bit so I can stand between his knees. Taking his face in my hands, I lower and press a kiss to his lips, then say, “We’ll adopt as many as you want. Babies, toddlers, teenagers, even sibling groups, and we’ll love them and spoil them and give them the best life ever.”
Definitely a better life than any of us had.
We’ll shield them from the darker parts of my husbands’ work, keep them safe, even hire a whole new group of guards specifically for each child who comes into our lives.
And just like that, the anger I’d felt over them not telling me about the removal of my birth control implant is all but gone.
We have a life to build together. And that life has no room for grudges. At least not against each other.
No. The four of us are a united front and will cut down any and every single person who’d attempted to destroy us.
Chapter 40
Kato
“She was…fuck. It was unbelievably hot and terrifying,” Brix says after filling me in on exactly what went down in the basement.
I’m still not super happy she was so close to that piece of shit, but I imagine the experience was cathartic. She’d been able to expel some pent-up hate and rage while getting revenge on one of the people who’d hurt her so badly.
Maybe I should have joined the three of them down there, but I’d had work to do.
And now that there’s a possible location for Dima Sidorov, I’ll have even more before I can quit for the day.
Who am I kidding? I no longer get days off work since taking over the Antoniou syndicate.
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 120
- Page 121
- Page 122
- Page 123
- Page 124
- Page 125
- Page 126
- Page 127
- Page 128
- Page 129
- Page 130
- Page 131
- Page 132
- Page 133
- Page 134
- Page 135
- Page 136
- Page 137
- Page 138
- Page 139
- Page 140
- Page 141
- Page 142
- Page 143
- Page 144
- Page 145
- Page 146
- Page 147
- Page 148
- Page 149
- Page 150
- Page 151
- Page 152
- Page 153
- Page 154
- Page 155
- Page 156
- Page 157
- Page 158
- Page 159
- Page 160
- Page 161
- Page 162
- Page 163