“You shouldn’t be here, Carmine.”She sounds so small, hurt, and I fucking hate it.
Reaching forward, my teeth grind when she flinches, and rage escalates when I tip her chin up and see bruising on the side of her face with a small cut and swelling along her cheekbone.
Taking a deep breath, it’s hard to remain calm while the beast inside is raring to annihilate whoever touched her.“Who did this to you?”I gently trace the side of her face; her body wilts, and a sob breaks free.
Pulling her into my arms, she buries her face into my chest as I wrap her up, running a soothing hand up and down her back as she breaks down.I won’t push too hard for answers just yet, but I will later.
“Is there more?”I murmur into her ear, and her hands finally circle around my back as she nods slightly.Blowing out an aggravated breath and pausing to control my tone, I ask, “Where?”Cataloguing her injuries, no matter the reason for them, will mean a more painful death for the asshole who fucking touched her.
“My side,” she hiccups.“It’s just a small cut, though.”
Drawing back from her, I cup her face in both hands.“Doesn’t matter.I need to know it all because anyone touching you needs to understand you’re off limits.”Her lips quirk a little through her tears.“You’ll tell me when you’re ready.”She blinks the moisture away and chews on her lip before affirming.
“What are you doing here?”she finally asks as she removes herself from my hold and pulls some tissues from the box on her desk.“You made it clear there was nothing for us.”The hurt in her tone kills me.
When’s the last time someone questioned me so boldly?
“You never answered my question.Is it mine?”
Narrowing her gaze and wincing from her injuries, Noa crosses her arms, and I notice how much larger her breasts have gotten.“Why?So you can be a white knight?I think you were pretty clear when you told me it was one night only.”
“Please answer my question, Noa.”My patience wears thin.
“I don’t need nor do I want you to try and rescue us, Carmine.”She sounds exhausted, deflated.
Time for a new tactic.“Come over for dinner tonight.We can talk.”
“I can’t,” she sighs.
“Why?”
She stares me dead in the eye and says, “Because I have no one to watch my kids.”That knocks the wind from my sails, feeling like I’ve been punched in the solar plexus.
“Kids,” I hiss, wondering how the hell I didn’t know.“More than one?”
Tapping her foot in annoyance, she holds up three fingers.
Stunned, I think quickly because, having decided to throw caution to the wind, there’s not much I won’t do to make Noa mine.Even if it means fathering children who aren’t my own.“Bring them too,” I try suggesting.
Swiftly, surprise flashes in her eyes, almost faster than I can interpret it.“I don’t know,” she stalls, but there’s desire in her eyes.
“I have kids, Noa, I know how to act around them.”Hell, I have a grandson, and he spends a lot of Saturday nights with me.“I’ll even have Becky stay late so you can relax a little.She adores children.”
“I don’t need someone to watch them.”
Her exhausted appearance tells me otherwise.Noa needs a good rest, even if she doesn’t think so.
“How far along are you?”Changing the subject seems to throw her off, keeping her from denying me outright.
“Five months.”Her chin tilts in defiance.
“So, it is mine.”Good,it means she can’t get rid of me so easily.Not that another man’s child would scare me off.
Rolling her eyes, she huffs out an exasperated breath.“Yes, Carmine, it’s your baby.It’s insulting you’d think otherwise.”
“That wasn’t my intention, Noa.You know I’d never purposely insult or hurt you.”The office door swings open, filtering in the noise from the students in the hallways.
“Noa, you aren’t allowed guests during school hours,” fucking Erin Tuckwood scolds her.He turns to see who’s here with her, and the man’s face pales as he stutters out, “Oh, uh, well, just don’t make it a habit.”His glare intensifies when he looks back at Noa.
