I tilt my head enough to look at my husband and give him a smile to answer him instead before returning my gaze to my plate and taking a small bite of the chicken marsala in front of me.
I’m not going to let my father win and intimidate me or muscle his way into anything or scare me more than I already am.
eleven
CALDER
I want to take the blade out of my pocket and slice it through Reggie Campbell’s throat. This dinner idea was not something I wanted to do. I didn’t want to subject Emerie to his presence, but it was unfortunately a must. He claimed to want to see her.
The moment he spoke down to her about her outfit pissed me off. Emerie could walk around in a brown paper sack, and I wouldn’t give a fuck. She’s a grownass woman and can wear whatever the fuck she wants. I’ve learned one thing about my wife, and that’s she loves all things Christmas. She can’t get enough of it, and I can’t get enough of her.
Seeing her in the sweater dress she’s wearing right now, I couldn’t help but take advantage of lifting the bottom of it to her waist and enjoying her sweet body. It’s the reason we’d been late arriving for dinner. We were supposed to be here before Reggie, but when it comes to Emerie, I can’t keep my hands to myself. That was on me, and we weren’t going to have him figure out we don’t live here.
Midway through dinner, Emerie looks to me and asks quietly, “I wanted to ask before I forget, but do you think my friends and I could have our yearly Christmas night at home? It’s my year to host, but if you don’t want me to, we can go to Patience’s or Skyler’s.”
She’s speaking of our home, but thankfully not making it obvious about where home was. She could have easily said at our house.
I glance at Grant, and he shrugs.
We’d already dug into her friends and knew they weren’t associated in any way with Reggie or any of his men.
“I don’t mind.” I’ll find a way to be away from the house that night. “What night are y’all doing it?”
“Christmas Eve. We do it every year. Have Christmas theme drinks, games, and so on.” She smiles and tells me about this year’s theme and how they’re going with the National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation theme and making spiked eggnog and drinking out of moose-head glasses like in the movie. “You guys could all join in too if you would like,” she says, glancing around to Grant and his brothers. “We always make enough food for the fun.”
“How about we have it catered?” I suggest, seeing the look in my wife’s eyes. She wants me there, meaning I was going to have to endure the night I typically make my last kill.
Fuck.
“I think we can all make it work,” Grant says. “Catering would be easier for all of you to have more time to have fun.”
“Oh, no, please don’t cater.” Emerie laughs lightly, looking at Grant. “We love doing it ourselves. Plus, I think Skyler would have a fit, considering she loves cooking. She runs a catering business, in fact, and we always make plenty. A lot of times, we use Christmas Eve, and well, any other time we do gatherings to test out new ideas. She’s already created a whole menu for it and was even making a cake that looks like the dried-up turkey in the movie.”
“This Skyler chick sounds interesting.”
“I don’t know why you hang out with that woman or any of the others you spend time with. They’re low-class women who are only around you for money.” Reggie snarks.
Emerie stiffens and looks to her father with such hatred. “They are not. I’ve been friends with them all since school. We’re close, and they have never once asked for a penny. Skyler opened her own catering business and started it out of her home before ever expanding and finding a place to work out of. Patience worked as a stripper while paying for college to become a doctor, and didn’t want to have to deal with college loans. Now, she’s one of the leading doctors at the children’s hospital. Maggie is a successful event planner. She put together this year’s gala for the mayor. And Litzy has made a remarkable name for herself with her voice acting and being a narrator.”
Seems my wife has no problem standing up for her friends against her father.
“So, don’t sit there and look down on them because they’ve all made lives for themselves and didn’t have a silver spoon in their mouths. I, in fact, admire them for the lives they’ve worked so hard for.” Emerie huffs, her cheeks are flushed and her body tense.
If we’d been alone, I might have thrown her over my shoulder, taken her to a room, and fucked her. Hell, for that matter, I would have put her on the table and done it right here.
Reggie blusters and looks ready to go off on Emerie, but Grant speaks first.
“I’ll look forward to meeting these friends of yours. Maybe we can even speak to Maggie and Skyler about working a few events we hold ourselves,” he suggests.
Emerie smiles brightly and nods. “They would be more than happy to help, I’m sure of it.”
Grant nods and changes the subject once more, speaking to Reggie, distracting him.
Leaning into my wife, I whisper in her ear, “You standing up for your friends like you did has me ready to fuck you, Bellissima.”
I pull back enough in time to watch as her breath catches and her fingers curl into a fist, clenching her dress. Yeah, she likes the idea too.
We finish dinner, and Grant stands first, looking to Reggie. “Shall we go to my office to discuss further business?”
