Page 62 of The Impossible

After we left the furniture showing, we went by a couple stores where she shopped and I enjoyed the luxury of watching her try on piece after piece. She loved it, even though she kept saying she didn’t need all of it. I loved seeing her happy, in a state of contentment and easiness because it fit and she deserved everything good in this world. It would be nuts to say I’d been in love with her since we were young, but it was true. Everything I ever told her was true.

“I love you,” she said randomly when we were in the back seat of the truck headed to our next destination. “And not because you spend money on me either, but because you bathe in my joy as if it’s your own. You love me in a way I don’t think any man has ever loved me.”

I chuckled, given her statement and the thoughts just in my mind. She had to be reading it.

“You hate to hear me thank you, so for every moment I feel like saying thank you, I’ll remind you that I love you.”

I smiled, turning to look at her. “I fuck with that.”

“Good.”

CHAPTER 15

Patience

Obsession. Need. Solace. There was no way I should have been as obsessed with this man as I was but I was. Months into our marriage I was carrying his child and having trouble sleeping when he wasn’t near, all while being willfully ignorant about all he does when he isn’t smiling in my face and promising me the world.

A world I’m pretty sure he’d gift if he got his hands on it.

My obsession with my husband ran so deep that last night in bed when he told me he was gonna kill my grandfather, and maybe my father, I didn’t blink. I nudged myself closer to him and inhaled his scent like a fiend to its drug of choice. Hondo Dominic Carter had spoiled me, making me feel safe enough to soften. Of course, ever since we said our nuptials and up to twenty minutes before, someone had been trying to kill me. But I trusted him and I knew I meant more to him than I did to those I shared blood with. He didn’t have to say it, I felt it.

All that to say, Hondo killing Shamus nor my father would make me look at him any differently because he had shown me proof and told me they were the reason my grandmother and mother weren’t here. They had always been out for themselves and only reached out to me when I was useful, plotting my death before I even got the chance to live. Maybe there was no proof that my father was aware or part of anything, but he chose to be willfully ignorant. So now it was my turn to make the same choice while my husband handled everything in my honor.

“Why did Amethyst send me a picture of some moon shaped pillow?” Hondo’s voice had me looking away from the papers on the island toward him. I was working from home today with a few webcam meetings. That way I could sleep in between. While settling into this pregnancy, I found myself extremely exhausted most days. It was so bad I found myself yawning before one most afternoons.

He slid his phone my way, showing me the message, and I laughed. “She sent me the same thing this morning. It’s a pregnancy pillow.”

“Oh.” He looked so irritated and confused that I just laughed.

I slid his phone back. “I’m definitely not there yet.”

He glanced back at his phone. “Doesn’t matter. You ain’t getting one.”

“Why?”

“Because besides our kid, ain’t shit separating us in a fucking bed. Nah, we good. You need a pillow, you better take one of the million you already have on that motherfucker.”

I laughed so hard I almost peed on myself. He was so funny in his own way, overthinking things that most wouldn’t give a second thought.

“Yo, you’re laughing too hard.” He stood at the island, eyes locked on me. He looked so good I was about to salivate. He was dressed in his normal black on black suit ensemble, no tie, with the first three buttons undone.

I was about to respond, but a message came through from my sister. I glanced down and my eyes immediately grew at what it said.

Paige: I’m here. Can you send someone to get me? I’m at Terminal 3.

“What’s wrong?” Hondo rounded the counter, concerned.

I looked from my phone, my eyes locking on him. “Paige is here. She asked if someone could pick her up from the airport.”

He immediately picked his phone up and began tapping. His phone was at his ear immediately. “What terminal is she at?”

“Three.”

I leaned against the counter, watching him now order somebody on the other line.

After sending my sister a text letting her know someone was on their way, I hopped up on the counter, eyes still on Hondo. From arranged marriage to obsessed with his whole fucking soul.

He felt me looking at him because he looked up and those serious eyes were on me immediately. He was between my legs in seconds. “Yeah, her name is Paige. She’s already up there.”