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Chapter Eighteen

Vinny

“ T ell me everything,” I bite out before Hazel has even closed the office door. She opens her mouth to speak, but I beat her to it. “Message after fucking message all day long.” I rub my temple; I’m getting too damn old for all this shit.

“You said to let you know of everything she does and any suspicions,” she counters, and she’s right, I did.

“Tell me everything, from the start.” I roll my hand for her to start speaking.

“Well—” She takes a deep breath, then helps herself to a chair at my desk without so much as asking.

Anticipation buzzes through me, and I want to put a gun to her head and tell her to get the fuck on with it, but I remember who she is and what I asked of her.

Her direct instructions were to tell me everything and anything about Gracie, but I didn’t expect a running commentary about their day.

Despite enjoying it, the moment red flags were raised, I wanted to get back home to her and demand answers, but my little pet is skittish.

She longs for reassurance and comfort, and her big blue eyes plead for tenderness.

Yet another reason I can’t ever reveal my true self to her.

She’d hate me, and I can’t have that—it would destroy anything good I have left in me.

Hazel glances around the room like she hasn’t been in here a million times.

Annoyance bubbles inside me. “Hazel?”

“Hmm?”

“What the fuck have you learned?” I grit out, trying but failing to rein in my temper.

She flinches, then sits taller. “Oh. Well, it was very odd this morning when she handwashed hers and the baby’s clothes, then she dried them outside. I don’t think they have many.”

“Many what?” I narrow my eyes on her. “Many what, Hazel?” I bark out.

“Clothes.” Her eyes bore into mine as if I’m an idiot.

Taking a deep breath, I sit back in my chair and shake my head. That can’t be right. I send enough money to her father every month, so he should be able to care for them all. Then I think back to the comment in the bathroom about the lack of bath toys for Bonnie.

“And little Bonnie. She doesn’t have much at all.” Hazel clucks her tongue, and her words send a rush of fury through me.

My spine snaps straight, and I lean forward. If she didn’t know better, my glare alone would have her pissing her pants. “What do you mean she doesn’t have much? ”

She nods frantically, then starts marking things off on her fingers.

“No highchair, no stroller, no real toys, just a pink stuffie. No throw away diapers, they’re the washable ones, and to be honest, they look brand new, like they were recently purchased.

Gracie made a comment that Bonnie’s dress and bow was new for dinner with you, and I think those diapers are too. ”

Pure rage slithers through me, but Hazel isn’t remotely fazed as she goes on.

“I don’t think they have much at all, and Gracie was delighted she could feed Bonnie new foods.

She acted like a cucumber was a new food to offer Bonnie.

” She scoffs, and I feel like I’m having an out-of-body experience as my blood boils like lava.

“A cucumber?” I force the word out like poison. How fucking ludicrous. That little angel should be having a balanced diet, full of natural goodness and nutrients every day of her goddamn life, and I expect as much for how much money I throw that little punk’s way.

I’m feeling fucking murderous. “I want a dietitian to take a look at them both.”

“I was going to suggest that, so I researched the best in the area. If you could just get Massio to double-check.” Hazel leans forward and hands me the piece of paper. I could kiss the woman, but instead, I grunt my gratitude.

The need to wrap my hands around Robert’s throat and strangle the life out of him has never been so strong.

“She hasn’t read the contract yet,” I muse, dragging a finger over my bottom lip.

Hazel makes a tsking noise and shakes her head. “Silly girl. She could have signed her life away, hers and her daughters. You need to be putting her straight, she needs to be much more alert and thorough in the future.”

“Her future’s with me,” I state.

A smile creeps over her face, then she leans across the desk and pats my hand like I’m a child and not a sick fuck who likes to jerk off over dead bodies, imagining it’s a woman I’ve terrorized. “Pleased to hear it.” She beams, then stands.

A knock at the door alerts me to the fact the doctor has more than likely arrived. “Yeah?”

Massio enters and leads our family doctor into the office while Hazel slinks out of the room and closes the door behind her. I slide the name and number of the dietitian across my desk and tap it. “Have you heard of this man?”

Doctor Philips pushes his glasses up his nose, then nods. “He’s one of the best.”

I glance toward Massio. “Check him out and then organize a visit for Gracie and Bonnie.”

“Yes, sir.”

“You”—I point toward the man who delivered my sons—“I want her pregnant as soon as possible.”

“Y-yes sir.”

“I don’t give a shit what you must give her; I’ll do my part and pump her with enough cum her body won’t have a choice but to accept it. Assuming you do your bit, she will be with child in no time.” I sit back in my chair, and he scratches his head.

“Sir, if I could just say?”

My teeth grind on their own accord. I’m not going to like what he’s about to say, based on the fact he’s fidgeting so damn much, sweating like a pope in a whore house, and is struggling to give me eye contact.

“What?” I snipe out so loud even Massio flinches.

He clears his throat. “You’re much older than when you had your last child.” Fury engulfs me like a red haze, but he continues. “What I mean is, yo-your sperm might not be as fertile.”

I scoff. “Of course it fucking is. I need to come a lot.” I waft my hand. If that’s his concern, it’s pointless.

“Sir?” He clears his throat.

“That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s fertile.”

“I am,” I state, “very fucking fertile. Now do your job and get her up to speed too.”

“You said she has a baby?”

“Yes, a daughter.”

“Well, if the baby is below a year, she’s probably highly fertile herself.”

My muscles relax and I exhale. “Good. I will have you return in a few weeks to see if she’s pregnant.

” The thought of my child growing inside her has an overwhelming sense of pride and possession ravishing me.

My body comes alive, and a sense of hope I haven’t felt before surges through me.

My mind wanders, and I imagine trailing my hand over her soft skin and my palm encompassing her small bump, how I’ll dote on her as she deserves, make her my queen, and tend to her every need.

“Sir?” Massio pulls me out of my thoughts, and I adjust my cock, uncaring if either of them witnesses it, causing him to laugh at my action.

“You wanna get this over with?” He throws his thumb toward the doc, and I nod.

He’s right, the sooner I have her injected, the sooner she becomes mine forever.