I rested against him in his beautiful kitchen held in hisstrong arms, thinking this was working out great.
For me.
For Liam.
But especially, for Darius.
ChapterFifteen
Any Means Necessary
I walked up Broadway toward Fortnum’s, Toni at myside, and I didn’t have sidewalk pavement under my feet.
I was walking on a cloud.
Suffice it to say, our first family dinner was perfect.Somuch so, I knew with no doubts I’d remember every second of it for the rest ofmy life.
Sure, my boys teased me mercilessly, but I didn’t care.
I got to watch them together.
How easy they were in each other’s company.How Liam lookedat his dad with pride and respect and love all over his face.How Darius seemedso in his element with his woman and his son in his space.It was natural,relaxed, we laughed a lot, conversation flowed.It wasn’t like our first familymeal out ever; it was like we’d been doing it for years.
When we got home, I finally got a full tour of the house.
A tour that cemented the fact I was moving.
The main level had the fabulous kitchen and living room, andit also had a handsome study, a family room (there was no TV in the livingroom, but there was a huge comfortable sectional, and an equally huge flatscreen TV, replete with games console, in the family room), a dining room andfull bath, which would come in handy if we had a house full of people visiting(and with the amount of extended family Darius and I had, this could happen),and someone had to bunk in the family room.
The upstairs had Darius’s room with big walk-in closet, hisextraordinary bathroom that had a mix of teal floor tiles with an interestingdesign, white subway tile above the basin and in the shower, slate gray wallsand a clean-lined, modern, wood vanity under a double basin with brassfixtures.There was also an open shower and a statement bath.
There were three other bedrooms up there, one larger, with asmaller walk-in andensuite bathroom, two smallerthat shared a Jack and Jill bath.
None of those had any furniture.
So I guessed Darius hadn’t had any company.
But I knew that would change.
The lower level wasn’t as bad as I thought it’d be.
In other words, it didn’t look like a bachelor pad.
If there had been a kitchen down there, there was no sign ofit now.Liam’s space had another huge sectional with a TV mounted on the walland a games console and DVD player with a long shelving unit filled with DVDsunderneath it.This sectional was less stylish than the one upstairs (but stillstylish), built for comfort and hours of lounging with a massive removableottoman that fit snug in the U of the couch, so it resembled a bed.
His bedroom area was all grays and blacks, and there was nofourteen-year-old boy there.
It was a man’s room.
That didn’t mean there wasn’t any personality.But it was inthe art and the lighting (including a cool blue glow that crept from under thebed).
It was perfect for him.
He had a full bath that was all chrome and dark gray blocktiles and an interesting bowl sink sitting on a rich wood bureau.
This only took half the downstairs.
The other half was divided between four rooms, two beingstorage that were mostly empty, except some crates at the back of one, inwhich, among other things, I saw Darius’s high school yearbooks.
