It was perverse.
And there was no need for it. He loved me. I loved him. That was all that mattered.
“Holy crap, is this where you live?” Renée’s attention was diverted as we pulled up outside the apartment block. Things had moved so fast between Prince and me that I’d never had a chance to invite her over.
“Wait till you see inside,” I grinned. Her expression as we walked through the front door to the penthouse spoke volumes.
“Oh. My. God!” she said in hushed tones. “Oh my God!” she repeated as she spun around and looked about the place. “This is fucking unbelievable!”
She headed to the tall windows overlooking the city. “Look at this freaking view! I can see my apartment from here!” she said, then started laughing. “I’m joking! My apartment isn’t even in the same universe as this!”
I felt a small swirl of pride as she stared around in awe.
“It’s not much, but I like to call it home,” I quipped.
She was still shaking her head. “Okay, I’m convinced. The man’s richer than God, hotter than hell, and he’s given you a small slice of heaven to live in. I approve.”
I gave a warm chuckle. “Oh, thank God,” I said wryly. “Now the wedding can go ahead as planned.”
Prince Walker
Family Ties
“Ican’t tell you how grateful I am for all that you did for me, sir,” the earnest kid was saying to me as we sat around the patio table at my parent’s table. After his release, he’d stayed with Sasha’s mother for a couple of days before we brought them back to stay with us. They’d been our apartment all week, and were now being commandeered by my mother, who was determined to welcome her new family into her home. Of course, my father was having a shitfit.
I gave a smile and shook my head at Emilio’s words now. I hadn’t done anything for him. It was all for the woman leaning against my side. I threaded my fingers more tightly through Sasha’s and breathed in the scent of her.
We hadn’t told my family about Emilio’s ordeal; just that he’d been through some tough times back home. The extent of it would remain a safe secret. For my sake as much as his – if my business partners ever got wind of it all, there’d be hell to pay. And God knew this family had dealt with enough hell in the past months.
Emilio Ramirez was so different from his sister that it was odd to imagine they were related. Dark-haired, dark-eyed, his Latin good looks were probably half his problem. Yet there was something in his features that connected. Something around the eyes.
Or perhaps it was that their souls hid similar demons.
Sasha had said he’d never been subjected to the same sexual abuses she had. But I could imagine a childhood in foster care would leave any young person with issues. God knew I had enough of them, and I’d never faced the same challenges.
All my challenges were housed in the cantankerous frame of the man sitting across the table from us now.
“So, I guess you’ll be looking for work here now, huh?” my father asked Emilio. “What you got planned? Gonna be a gardener someplace?” I saw Sasha narrow her eyes.
Emilio smiled without guile. “Actually, I plan to finish my studies in Mexico City at La Salle,” he said.
My father raised his eyebrows. “That so, eh? What you thinking of studying? Landscaping?”
“Accounting and finance,” Emilio replied, then shot a look at Sasha. “I’ll get a job when I’m done with my Bachelors, and study nights to get my Masters. I’m going to buy a house for Mama.” He smiled up at the woman sitting beside my mother at the other end of the table. I bit back an urge to chuckle. It had been his creative accounting skills that had landed him in hot water with Razortip in the first place. Though the kid was sharp-witted and charismatic. I could imagine he’d do well if he put his mind to a career that didn’t break any laws.
“Well, fancy that,” my father said drily. “Pretty evolved of you, kid.”
“Shut the fuck up, Dad,” I interrupted. “That’s no way to speak to our guests.” My father gave me a look designed to melt metal.
“Don’t you tell me what to do, boy,” he bit back. “This is my house and I’ll speak any damn way I please.”
“Actually, it’smyhouse, Drew,” my mother spoke softly. I saw my father freeze. “And you’re being a bigot. Wind your neck in, darling.” The disaster with the Syscorp takeover was still unfolding, but in the interim, my mother had stepped in to bail my father out of his financial mess. There was something to be said for ‘old money,’ after all.
She aimed a wink at Sasha, who grinned in response. Between the pair of them, they might eventually whip my fucker of a father into place. Though Sasha had made a point of keeping her distance from him since that first dinner when he’d hit on her. I suspected this was as much for me as it was for her. She knew my insecurities about the man. Though somehow, it didn’t bother me anymore. I’d realized I no longer had anything to prove to him.
The silence grew uncomfortable for a moment.
“Can I get you another lemonade, Mrs. Ramirez?” I asked, noticing that Sasha’s mother was sitting silently with an empty glass. The woman seemed almost painfully shy. But I suspected she was just overwhelmed by it all. She lowered liquid dark eyes that were much like her son’s. Although the rest of her features strongly resembled the woman I’d grown to love these past months. Except where Sasha was fire and creaminess, Gabriella Ramirez was the quintessential Latina. Dark-haired and olive skinned. She was as much a beauty as my own mother, but in a very different way.
