‘Just checking it’s the right kind of busy so Sadie and I can be reunited with our daughter…’
He holds my gaze, eyes blazing. ‘Yeah. You’re good to go… and Theo?’
‘Yeah.’
‘Thank you. You and Sadie.’
‘Any time, bud. You’re lucky you’re worth it.’
‘He isn’t wrong,’ I murmur up at him.
‘Still don’t know about that, but I’m definitely one lucky son of a bitch right now.’
And then he’s kissing me: victorious, certain, mine.
26
AXEL
One Year Later…
The Eiffel Tower’s showing off beyond the glass wall of our Paris penthouse, its gold light flickering across the bed and my wife’s naked body sprawled over my chest.
We’re tangled in the aftermath, the sheets a ruined mess around us, hearts not quite steady yet. I feel every beat of hers as she traces the ink along my skin… a task she could willingly lose hours to. And I ain’t complaining. I said I was depraved, not stupid.
‘Now that I have your complete attention…’ she murmurs.
A lazy smile pulls at my mouth. She has every part of my attention – my body still humming from her, my mind still clouded with her. ‘Like you never had it before…’
She huffs out a small laugh, her thigh brushing mine and sending a warm ripple through me. ‘I’m just making sure your mind is fully focused on what I’m saying…’
‘I’m always fully focused when it comes to you…’
She presses a slow kiss to my pec, then, ‘What do you think about fostering?’
Thatpulls me out of the haze. ‘Fostering?’
She lifts her head, resting her chin on my chest to look up at me. ‘I know we’ve talked about adoption. And I’m not ruling that out, but?—’
‘We also talked about a donor,’ I remind her softly. Because Theo was right; DNA doesn’t make the father. I was just too wrecked that day to see it.
‘I know, but…’ She lowers her lashes. ‘I think I’d rather help the kids who are already here. Kids stuck in the system who need somewhere safe to live.’ Her eyes come back to mine, glistening with the Tower’s gold. ‘Kids like we once were.’
‘We were never in the system.’
A shadow flickers across her face. ‘But we should have been.’
I slide a comforting hand along her spine. I ain’t denying it. I couldn’t if I tried.
‘And with fostering, we could help so many more children,’ she says. ‘We can give them stability, love, a home for however long they need it.’
‘It’d be tough taking them in and seeing them leave again.’
‘When have we ever done life the easy way?’
She’s not wrong.
‘And I think we’d be good at this, Ax. Great, even. With our experience growing up, we have an understanding you can’t be taught in a classroom or a textbook. And I know we donate to good causes all the time… but wouldn’t it be nice to give back in a more fundamental way?’
