AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“No. Gio’s the one who called Wyatt. Apparently, Wyatt promised Gio a Belgian waffle with ice cream the other day, and you know your kid.”
“One track mind.”
“Yup. And since Rose and Wyatt live closer to me than you…”
“My son jumped at the convenient opportunity.”
“Smart kid,” Laurent said.
“Too fucking smart, and now he’s going to come home hyped up on sugar, as if Quinn didn’t have enough to deal with.”
“How’s she doing?”
I scratched my head and glanced at the trees that surrounded my property. “She had a nightmare last night. She was screaming in her sleep. It was the most terrifying fucking thing to wake up to.”
“Did you go in and wake her?” he asked, and I shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other.
His head tilted, then his eyes closed for a second. “You didn’t have to because she was already in your bed.”
I didn’t say anything. It wasn’t any of Laurent’s business.
“Fucking the nanny is pretty scandalous. Haven’t you had enough scandal in your life?”
An irrational anger rushed through me, and I jabbed a finger into his chest. “I didn’t fuck her. It’s not like that.”
His eyes widened before a flash of understanding had them shrinking down to size. “Oh. Shit.”
“What?” I bit out.
“You’re falling for her.”
Once again, I kept my mouth shut. There was no arguing with Laurent. He’d already come to his own conclusions. Besides, he wasn’t too far off. Somewhere along the way, Quinn had sneaked into my heart, and now she was firmly planted there.
“Right,” Laurent said. “I’m guessing last night was not a onetime thing, then.”
“Not that it’s any of your fucking business, but no, probably not.”
“Are you going public?”
I almost felt like I was betraying Quinn after telling her Laurent didn’t know, but if I didn’t say anything now, he would come to his own conclusions. “Not yet. I don’t want to confuse Gio while we figure this out.”
“Smart.”
“Thanks, and I’m sure you’re gearing up to lecture me, but I don’t need your opinion.” I loved my brother; he was one of my best friends, but after everything with Rebecca, he treated me like an inexperienced moron when it came to woman. As if he was some expert. It took him twenty fucking years to figure out Phoebe was the one.
“You never do, but for thirty-nine years, I still give them to you, so don’t act like I’m going to keep my mouth shut.”
Despite it all, and as much as I resisted, I respected his opinion. “So lay it on me. You think I’m a fucking idiot who can’t keep it in his pants?”
“Not at all.” He turned away from the car and faced me. “I’m happy for you.”
Those were the last words I had expected to hear. “Excuse me?” Shock slammed into my gut like a swift uppercut. I stared at Laurent. Confusion swirled in my head. I knew he wanted me to be happy, but I honestly expected a list of cautions to be aware of.
“After Rebecca left, I wasn’t sure I’d see you give any woman a chance again. I thought you’d ignore your own urges and put Gio ahead of your own needs, too afraid of going through that shit again.”
“Gio will always be my priority,” I assured him.
“I know, but it doesn’t mean you have to ignore yourself. You can be a great dad and still have your own life outside of your son, and that’s okay. For so long you have run yourself into the ground, trying to make Gio have the best life possible. I’ve watched you fall apart in front of me only for you to shove it all down as soon as Gio was around. Allowing yourself to let someone else into your life, I know she must be pretty damn special.”
