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Chapter Fifty-three
Good Lord! The man was crazy. Three kids. Just like that. No discussion – no let me think about this for a week or two and get back to you. No asking her what she might like. Nothing. Just take on ‘Miguel’s world’ and expect everything else to fall into place.
She didn’t work that way. Life for her was complicatedly simple. She loved her sister, loved her job and the hell with the rest of the world. No one came close or affected her organized existence. Even the friends she’d made at work were slotted into their comfortable roles and slapped back if they tried to escape, take things further… become close.
Now he wanted her to let him in, which she might have done because it had recently come clear to her that she had no choice. Not if she wanted a future that wasn’t a heartless empty landscape of pain and loneliness. He’d dug his way in so deep, she’d be a hot mess in a world without the bastard.
But to let in three more – no fucking way. She wasn’t built to love that many at once.
Dammit! But the babies were adorable. For a woman who’d given up on having children, knew it wasn’t possible – that her body had been damaged and she most likely couldn’t conceive, she’d let go of that dream.
Now here he was slapping a family pack together and expecting her to sign on. Did he have no idea what he was asking of her?
Fucking men, blind assholes who wanted everything without any thoughts of how to cope day by day.
Dammit all to hell! Blasted man was offering her a dream life with no idea as to how she could possibly handle babies and teenagers when her expertise was in taking down criminals, catching the bad guys and fighting anyone who stood in her way.
She’d like to kick his ass. And might have if she hadn’t received a message from Carl a few minutes earlier. Seems they had good intel on another more deadly adversary on board that had been tailing Jake all along, just waiting for his turn to get at the computer genius.
They knew the perp was a male, a hardened mercenary who cared only about his payoff. Previously, he’d worked under many guises, used different scams with various personalities and had never been convicted. Luckily, the FBI scanners had caught his image when they’d been on the pier during the earlier skirmish. A red light had gone off and they’d followed up on the information the computers had signalled. They knew he was on the ship but not the name or identity he was using for the voyage. Carl was working on finding out more but so far, they’d hit a brick fucking wall.
Leave him? Not fucking likely. Not when he had the three kids to take care of and the fucking pussycat he’d decided he couldn’t give up.
Jesus, give me strength! The man needed a shrink not a wife.
Suddenly, she came to a full stop, her body, her mind… everything. Wife? Married? Where the hell had that come from? No one had said anything about marriage – not Jake – and certainly not Rylee. So why did that shit pop into her head.
She glanced down at the now sleeping child held firmly in her arms and snuggled the baby closer. The small face nestled against her breasts, the pudgy fingers holding tightly to one of hers.How in God’s name can I even begin to think of mothering three kids and be a wife to a man I’ve just met recently?
I need my head read…
