AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Monroe’s lips twitch but he grabs a knife and cuts the giant sandwich in half. “Start with that one.” He nudges the plate closer to me, then drops into a squat before me, blatantly waiting for me to take a bite.
It’s delicious, but he’s distracting me with how hot and heady his body and direct focus makes me.
“Why weren’t you eating, baby?” I start to look away, but he grabs my chin. “No, look at me when you answer.”
“I…was missing you. Didn’t know what had happened to you and I just…” Recalling the harrowing months of craving him, battling morning sickness and hiding it from my parents, makes my throat swell and my eyes burn.
His jaw clenches and his hands drop to my thighs, soothing me with slow caresses. “I wish I could’ve spared you the worry. I’m so sorry you had to go through that, sweetheart.”
“So…where were you?”
He’s silent for so long, I think he’s not going to answer. But then his eyes lock on mine. “We’ll never have secrets between us, but there are some things I won’t be able to tell you, baby. Okay?”
Alarm blasts through me. “The thing you can’t tell me…is it dangerous?”
“You never have to worry about losing me, Kitty, do you understand?”
“Monroe—”
He shakes his head. “We’re getting away from the important thing. The number one rule. It’s my duty and privilege to take care of you, baby. My job is to provide for you, keep you healthy and happy. So you’re not allowed to worry or neglect yourself again. Ever.”
“I won’t, not if you’re with me,” I murmur.
His eyes darken and his lips flatten. My panic rises.
“Remember the guy who was in charge at the prison when you were rescued?”
I frown at the change of subject, but I nod. “Yeah. The commander?”
Monroe nods. “He’s my old man,” he says.
Now that he mentions it, the thing that niggled at my brain that day is clear as day. Their resemblance. Although his father’s face was set with lines of cruelty I know in my heart Monroe will never have. “You look a little bit like him,” I say.
His expression turns grim. “Yeah, for my sins.”
“Don’t say that. You’re your own person. Always.”
A half-smile lifts the corner of his mouth. “Fuck, you’re the sweetest thing, aren’t you? I’m so fucking lucky.” He exhales. “Well, he’s my father and I guess I get a little kick to know he hates that I look a little like him.”
I frown. “He hates it? Why?”
He shrugs. “He believes I brought shame to the ‘family name’ with the whole incarceration thing. But he wasn’t much of a father even before then, and he sure as hell didn’t hold back from using it to his advantage.”
“What do you mean?”
He nods at my food. “I’ll tell you as long as you keep eating, baby.”
I take another big bite. He squeezes my thigh in approval.
“Back at the prison, when I called him to help, he agreed only on condition that I did something for him in return.”
Apprehension dances along my spine. “One of those secret things? Is that what kept you from me?”
He rubs a knuckle down my cheek. “Yeah. I’m sorry, baby.”
I chew and swallow, almost too scared to ask. “Will you…need to do more stuff for him?”
Regret fills his eyes. “Yes, but not for a long time. And I promise I’ll never be gone this long ever again. But you have to promise me that when I need to be away, you’ll take care of yourself? For me?”
