Page 31 of Ma Belle Marguerite (Hidden Secrets #1)

She tightens her grip on my shirt, and hesitantly nudges against my skin. I can almost swear she’s going to speak again, but then she shakily exhales and buries her face in deeper.

Not knowing what to say, I just rub circles on her back. It doesn’t take long before her breathing evens out, and she is fast asleep. I’ve missed the feeling of her against me. I could die a happy man right here like this. I wish I knew why she said she was sorry.

I don’t like that she feels the need to apologize for something that is in no way her fault, whether she’s apologizing because I’m leaving the bed without sleeping or because of what she overheard about Amara. Neither should make her feel that way.

She cannot control others' actions. As much as she feels she can sway them or change their minds, people will ultimately make their own choices. I will do everything in my power to make sure she knows that I am not upset with her and show her that she is my world and always will be.

I wait about an hour before I attempt to get out of bed without waking Bella.

She looks even more beautiful when she’s sleeping.

As I try to move away, she squeezes me tighter.

I really don’t want her to regret this if the twins catch us.

She isn’t ready for them to know about us and our history, and I understand that.

We still don’t know what is going on ourselves. How do you explain that to young teens? Plus, it hasn’t been that long since they lost their father. I want to do this right. I want us to become a family. Something that I have always longed to have with her.

It breaks my heart to pull away from her, but I know it’s the right thing to do. I quietly make my way to my room. Once we’re more settled and we figure out how this relationship will work, I think I’ll make this bedroom my new office. Then I can be closer to Bella.

I slide into bed, and it feels cold and lonely. Just that small amount of time with Bella has me wondering how I managed to sleep all those years without her. I have to force myself to stay here and not sneak back into her bed.

I must fall asleep, because I wake up to my phone ringing on my desk where I had left it last night.

I get up and look to see who is calling at 6 am. Great, it’s my father. What could he possibly want now?

“Good morning, father. To what do I owe the pleasure of this wake-up call?” I ask, letting him hear exactly how I feel.

Grunting, he says, “What took you so long to answer? I have called five times.”

Skipping pleasantries and getting right to the point this morning, apparently. “I was sleeping. What do you need?” This is not how I wanted to start my morning. I can think of many other much more pleasant ways to be woken up. All of them include Bella, of course.

“Well, I heard from one of my guys that you know who it was that ran you off the road, and you haven’t done anything about it yet.

What’s taking so long?” Here goes his ranting.

“To be a leader, you can’t just sit back and allow these things to happen.

Everyone will see you as weak.” He doesn’t seem to know that there was someone in the truck with her.

I will keep that tidbit to myself for now.

I don’t need to hear more of his condescending bullshit.

“I’m dealing with it. We’re working on finding out why and if she was working alone or with someone else.” I’m already over this conversation. Father wants me to take over, but yet he constantly treats me like I’m incompetent. I don’t know why he won’t just let my brother Cole take over.

“Not good enough, my boy. If you don’t have this figured out by the end of the week, then I will have to step in.” He hangs up, so I can’t reply, as usual. He always has to have the last word, and he makes sure he gets it. Thankfully, I couldn’t care less. He can fuck off.

I pull up my texts and shoot a message off to Josh.

Josh, did you stay here last night? I need your eyes. My father is on my ass to get this shit dealt with.

I leave my phone on my desk and peek in to see if Bella is still asleep. She looks so peaceful. Her hair is a mess from our fun last night, and I can’t help but feel a bit of pride at that.

I decide to go for a quick workout in the gym before everyone gets up for the day. I need to get my head back in the game. Even though I don’t want to take over for my father, I need to be prepared to protect my new family.

After about an hour, I hear the gym door close. I turn to see D walking in and stopping in front of me. He looks tired.

“Hey, boss, I figured I would find you here.” He says, sounding concerned. “Josh told me your father called. Is everything good?”

“He’s pissed we haven’t dealt with the Amara situation yet,” I grunt out as I turn off the treadmill and step down. “He, of course, brought up how this makes me look weak and like a bad leader. I don’t see him doing jack shit lately—he always pawns it off on me. Who is the bad leader here?”

D shakes his head and looks at me, “You’re an amazing leader and do things your way, not his. There is nothing wrong with that. Rash decisions can end up causing more problems in the end.”

“I know, but he doesn’t see it that way. Let me shower, and we’ll see what we can get done.” Turning I walk towards the washrooms. “Oh, I promised Remi a ride to school, too. So I can take him in, and then we can meet at Josh’s place.”

D just nods and walks out of the gym, leaving me to my thoughts. I just need a break so I can find Amara and her partner and put this shit to rest.

After a quick shower, I head to the kitchen for breakfast and find Bella and the kids sitting around the island eating cereal and talking.

I pause in the doorway, not wanting to interrupt what looks like a happy family moment.

One day maybe I’ll be in there with them enjoying mornings as part of their family.

Bella must hear me coming, though. She looks at me and smiles. “Morning, Rex. We looked through the kitchen and found some cereal. I hope that’s okay.” God, her smile is the most amazing thing I have ever seen. “I’ll go get some groceries today while they’re at school.”

Walking towards them, I say, “No, don’t worry about that. Whatever is here is for anyone to eat. Don’t be shy.” I look at the twins, “If you’re hungry, help yourselves. This is your home now, so treat it as such.”

The twins look at each other, and I can see that they are having their own silent conversation. I can’t tell if it is in my favor or not.

Brielle answers, “Thanks, we’ll do that.”

“Let me know when you are ready to leave for school. I’ll bring you guys in.

I have to head that way anyway.” I look at Bella.

“You can take the day to relax here. Get yourselves situated. I’ll come back this afternoon to take you back to your place, and you can pack up what you need for the kids.

Do not try to sneak off—I will know.” I still know her better than she thinks.