The damn bed hadn’t felt the same since I was fucked senseless in it. Everything about Zodiac was masculine, dominant, and downright sexy. He left me with more money than two years of my salary combined and assured me there was more where that came from. Steele was going to be spoiled rotten. Between me and his dad, he wouldn’t want for a thing.
Bzzzzz Bzzzzzz Bzzzzz.
My phone vibrated on the nightstand next to me. Reaching over, I grabbed it from the charger. Seeing that Zodiac had texted me, I sat up in bed as if I were coming back to life, hurting my back in the process. I was still recovering from the epidural, and my OB-GYN assured me I’d be fine in a few months.
He’d sent a file. Above the file was the last picture I’d sent of Steele. Clicking on the picture, I smiled at my beautiful baby. I’d taken that picture just before dropping him off at Zodiac’s grandmother's house. Yak had taken us shopping on his last day in town and spent more than thirty thousand dollars. He hadto force me to pick up a bag because I was saying no thanks to everything. My heart fluttered seeing that man run through the mall like he was collecting Mario coins, buying our baby everything in sight. Steele was wearing one of the Burberry outfits from the shopping trip. Zodiac liked the picture and then called, saying how fucking handsome his boy was.
Going to the file, I waited for it to download. When it did, I stood up in the bed as if that would help me read the small print.
Dear Mr. Valor, the funds have been deposited into the account ending in 7765. As discussed, these funds are from the will of Mr. Ronald Coy, designated for his only living child, Saskia Coy. If she does not see the funds today, they should be accessible by Monday.
-Best regards, Attorney Bain Manovich.
I hadn’t used that account in a year. It was my original account, the one I had before my father died. The one I was afraid to touch. The money left in it alone was enough to change a person’s life, and over the past twelve months, I’d been checking on it to make sure it hadn’t closed. However, the Amex credit card had closed because there was no activity. Seeing the one hundred ninety-six thousand dollars in it wasn’t what I was after. I knew it was still there because I periodically logged into the account just to look at it. I knew I couldn’t access it, but I had planned to ask Canada how I could do so without putting myself at risk. That was before everything blew up.
Going to my pending transactions, I yelped and dropped my phone. Placing my hand on my chest, I bent over to calm myself. I just stared, tongue-tied and unsure if I’d been too drunk and just imagining things. I took a quick breath of utter astonishment before picking the phone back up. Eight milliondollars was pending in the account. Not eighty thousand, not eight hundred thousand, but eight million.
Another text had come through from Zodiac while I was having a mini heart attack.
Zodiac: I had the lawyer release your inheritance. Had I known it was being held until you were married, I would have been found a way for you to get it. I didn’t know shit about it. I just want you happy, Saskia, baby. I want you and my son happy, and even if staying in North Carolina eases your worry and puts a smile on your face, then I’m on that plane every chance I get. I can multitask, baby. Just know, you ain’t in this alone.Just don’t tell me no when I knock on your door in the wee hours of the morning. Just hand me my baby and take yo fine ass back to sleep.
Tears spilled down my cheeks as I pressed the phone to my chest and laughed. I wasn’t sure whether I was crying or laughing, or maybe both at the same time. All I knew was that I felt good. I felt relieved. I had always known my father was leaving me money behind. He talked about it often, even though I never wanted to hear it. I didn’t think it was eight million dollars, though. I’d trade it all just to have my old man back, though. Still, I was grateful that Zodiac had done that.
I felt my eyes burning, but I had come too far to stop now. I had been driving for hours, ignoring the speed limit. The rumble of my engine echoed through traffic as if I was on a race track, chasing the prize waiting at the finish line. The sun was rising, and Sunday morning traffic would soon be bumper to bumper. The thought of getting caught in it made me push my foot harder on the pedal and run a red light.
Make a right in six hundred feet.
I followed Siri's directions. She’d come through in the clutch all night for me. Whomever invented her deserved to have their dick sucked from the back. I didn’t know how the world had ever functioned without GPS and couldn’t imagine being a driving adult without it.
Pulling into the driveway of a multi-story house, I parked behind one of the three luxury cars lined up there. I had tunnel vision, so I didn’t pay much attention to the makes and models. Wearing my house shoes that smelled of gas from stepping in a puddle during one of my two fill-up stops, I let my bare legs carry me to the door. I was still in my nightie, except I had my Hellcat Barbie Leatherman jacket over it.I hadn’t slept and had been awake for twenty-four hours, but I didn’t care.
Before I could knock on the door, a golden-haired, shirtless Zodiac snatched it open. Confusion clouded his face as he stood there in black Ralph Lauren pajama pants. It didn’t make any sense how attractive he was. His pants sagged slightly off his waist, stopping right at the V-cut of his stomach. He had to have had strict eating habits and a mean abs routine because he was carved like a fucking pumpkin.How in the fuck can a man look this damn good at seven in the morning?
“I don’t know what I’m doing here, Zodiac. But I couldn’t sleep. I can’t believe I left our baby back in North Carolina, but I had to see you. I had to tell you thank you in person. Thank you, and I’m sorry. And before you tell me I have nothing to be sorry about, I do. I’m sorry, and even though we didn’t make it down the aisle, I’m glad it was you. I’m glad it was you that my father picked, and I’m glad it was you that I had a child with. I promise, I’ll never take anything from you ever again, and if you want us to move here, I will.My father raised me. He was the best thing in my life, and I want Steele to experience the same thing I had.” I let it all out in one breath.
Zodiac blinked and then pulled me into his chest. Looking up at him, trying to catch my breath, my eyes watered. A man shouldn’t be this beautiful. He shouldn’t be this considerate. This patient.
“Saskia.”
“Hmm?”
He held my face in his hand, lifting my head back slightly.
“The car was always yours. A wedding gift. Your father mentioned that you were in love with his Challenger, I figured you’d want one of your own.”
My chest caved.
“Baby,” he breathed.
“Don’t tell me no.”
Releasing a breath, my lashes brushed my cheeks.
“Never.”
“Will you let me love you?”
I nodded eagerly, heart pumping in my chest.
“Marry me, baby. Let’s do this shit the right way.”
Without waiting for my response, his mouth covered mine, and even though I hadn’t rested, brushed my teeth, washed my face, or pumped milk from my breast, we made sweet love on the only piece of furniture he had in the house. Canada had come through once again. A realtor she knew had just sold Zodiac this home one week after he left North Carolina, and like she did with everything else, my girl had come through with the address.Zodiac wasn’t the only one who could track someone down.
