“Knock through?” she asked in shock. “Won’t the people that live there be a bit upset by that?
He grinned. “We’re the people that live there, baby. Dante bought both of these apartments, one for Ralen and one for me, but we like to live together. We haven’t lived apart in years.”
He sounded a bit lost as he said that, and she couldn’t help but feel for him. She knew what that was like. “I haven’t lived apart from my sisters for years either.”
Reaching over, he took hold of her hand. “We’ll figure this out together. We have each other. That’s the most important thing.”
It really was.
“So, we’ll get a contractor out here and look at knocking through. And then we can make you a playroom and an office.”
“Are you sure that Dante will be all right with that?” she asked.
He snorted. “Dante won’t even know or care. Trust me. Small details like that don’t matter to him. We’ll go take a look at it later, and then we can go to LittleLand and buy whatever you want to fill the space, baby. That’s going to be your space.”
“I don’t need lots of new things,” Addie said. “I can find some second-hand things.”
“No, we’ll get it all from LittleLand. Bonnie will have everything you need. I want to make sure it’s exactly what you want.”
How much would that all cost? It was starting to sound expensive. Although she could pay for some of it herself. She had a nest egg saved.
“I have some money saved I can use.”
“No, you won’t be paying for anything,” he said, rising. He picked her up, lifting her against him so his arms were under her ass, and her legs were wrapped around his waist. “My girl doesn’t pay for stuff. That’s my job.”
“But you can’t pay for everything. I mean, I’ll have to pay half of the bills. Groceries, utilities.”
She assumed he didn’t pay rent, but that didn’t mean that Dante wouldn’t want her to.
“I can see we need to talk about a few house rules,” Cash said as he carried her into the living room and sat on the sofa with her on his lap, facing him. “First rule, I pay for everything. Anything to do with the house, like the bills, I pay for. Anything that youneed, clothes, shoes, I pay for. But I will let you pay for your business expenses.”
Oh, that was so magnanimous of him. He was going to let her pay for her own business expenses. She didn’t even really have many, except for upgrading her equipment and making sure she had fast internet.
“Cash, that’s hardly fair,” she said.
“We’re not talking about fair. We’re talking about the rules.”
“And do you always get to make the rules?” she asked.
“Yes. Now you’re getting the picture.”
Good Lord.
“Next rule, if you need to go somewhere, you tell me. I want to know when you leave, I want to know when you arrive at your destination, and I want to know when you get home again. I need to know that you’re safe at all times.”
“You think there’s still a risk to me? Even with Monroe not here? We don’t even know that anyone is after her. We only have Limpy to go by.”
“That’s not what this is about. These rules are for all the time. I’m going to be keeping a closer eye on you until we make sure there isn’t any danger, but that never changes this rule.”
“Oh,” she said. “So you really want me to message you that often?” Not that she’d probably go out that much.
“Yes, as often as necessary.”
“Well, I don’t really like to go places by myself, and it’s not like I know anyone around here.”
“You know Bonnie,” he said. “And she likes you. I’m going to introduce you to the rest of the Iron Shadows and their women. You’ve met my sister and then there’s Aidan’s fiancée, Livvy. You can meet Ink and Stone’s women. You’ll soon have lots of friends.”
She knew that he was trying to make her feel better, but part of her was slightly terrified at the idea of being friends with all those women.
