Page 207 of Sins of Innocence

He just looks at me.

Right. "You're rich as Croeseus."

"No. But I do have enough money to make things happen quickly."

He's talking in full sentences and even paragraphs more these days. But only when it's just us. His family. Even around his men, some of whom I would call his brothers, he reverts to sparse speech.

"And people who work for you to make sure it does." Like Ellie.

My sister-from-another-mister didn't give a single clue this was happening and there's no way she wasn't part of the team that managed the purchase and partial furnishing of a house like this in a few days.

"Yes."

"There's a lot of space. I don't even know what to do with a formal dining room. Or a living room that isn't for relaxing."

Then an image of a big Christmas tree decorated and lit in front of those windows flashes in my brain. Us sitting around a formal dining table for Sunday dinners.

Birthdays. Graduations. Weddings. And grandchildren.

My brain skips so far ahead I nearly trip over my own feet.

I'm still reeling from my overactive imagination when Kieran knocks on a door off the kitchen.

Mom opens the door and smiles, giving me a proud tour of her one-bedroom apartment with its own small sitting room, bathroom, the mini kitchen Sadie mentioned and its own entrance to the backyard.

It's fully furnished and her ancestry research is spread over her small dinette table.

Emotion pours through me. Gratitude. Joy. Love.

Tears clogging my throat, I hug my mom. "Thank you for staying with us."

"There's no place I'd rather be." Her returning hug is fierce. "Now, go see your daughters' rooms. They're chomping at the bit to show them off."

We peek in on two empty bedrooms before we knock on another door. Sadie opens it, beaming.

Her room is furnished too. A double-sized bed she doesn't have to share is on a loft platform above a nook with a desk and bookcase. There are fairy lights on the railing of the bed platform and in the nook.

She has a futon sofa for when her friends stay over, or want to hang out.

Neeve and Joy's rooms are just as perfect for them.

Our room only has one piece of furniture. A giant king sized bed with a wrought iron headboard and footboard, perfect for attaching cuffs too.

"I wanted you to pick out the furniture in here. We can change the bed if you want to."

"I don't." I turn and step right into Kieran's personal space. "I like what we do together in bed." And out of it.

I like what we are together. Full stop.

He automatically wraps his arms around me just like I need him to.

We have an appointment to get our matching triquetra tattoos, but we don't need marks on our skin to prove we belong to each other. He is mine and I am his.

Forever.

"I love you so much, Kieran. It scares me sometimes," I admit into his chest.

"Yeah, losing you or the girls is the only thought that has the power to terrify me." His voice is a low rumble in his chest and I snuggle into him.