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“Then don’t use the family attorney if you want it kept out of family business,” Finn stated with a shrug, as if it were that simple.
“Noted. But I’m here to tell you that woman upstairs has been through hell, and you will be kind to her. And that kindness extends to her daughter, Maddie, or we will have a major problem, and I will make you live to regret. I don’t care if we’re family or not.”
“We’d never be mean to a child. What the hell do you take us for, brother?” Xavier asked, sounding offended.
“Nosy busybodies with too much time on their hands. Now, if we’re done here, I need to check on my girls. You gave her a fright coming here.”
“Why? Is she wanted by the police?” Colin asked derisively.
“No. She’s a woman who has been abused and had to protect her child.”
“And why didn’t her family help her?”
That was a question he’d been asking himself. Not that he would admit it to these bozos, regardless of how well-meaning they were. But it was a topic he intended to broach.
“Jesus, he doesn’t even know.” Colin rubbed a hand over his face in disbelief.
Jasper was over their attempt at an intervention. “The conversation is over. I’m not willing to share any more information. You invaded my home and made my fiancée nervous.”
“Sophia and I will be at your wedding on Friday. You need witnesses,” Gabe stated.
“Fine. But don’t think your attendance will stop the wedding.” He was more determined than ever to make her his, and not just because he wanted to give all his cousins the finger once the nuptials were in the books.
“It’s your funeral, brother. At least you only decided to give her fifty mil and only that. I’ll be in touch later.” Xavier disconnected the call. Jasper knew his brother well, and this wasn’t the end of the conversation with him. But then, he was a few thousand miles away, and he could avoid him until after the wedding.
“I think there was mention of buying her a house anywhere in the world she wanted, but it’s none of my business.” Finn shrugged.
“You’re one to talk when you’ve all but turned into a monk, Finn.”
Finn held his hands up. “Backing out of the conversation right the fuck now, not trying to cast stones or offend anyone.”
“Then stop casting them. Let’s go. Last one out, shut the damn door.” Jasper led them upstairs.
He’d be more pissed if he didn’t understand that their hearts were in the right place. He found his girls in the living room. Freya and Maddie were sprawled on the floor, playing with blocks.
The moment Maddie spied him, her eyes lit up. With a block in her hand, Maddie left her mom on the floor and raced over to him.
“There’s my little lassie.” He scooped her up. It felt natural the way she fit. She held up the block. “I see that. You like the blocks.”
“Uh huh,” Maddie said with a mile-wide smile.
His idiot cousins then hammed it up for Maddie. Unbelievable. If only the subs at Eros could see the Ryan brothers and their brother-in-law acting like idiots to make her laugh. He noticed Freya rise from her spot on the floor and watch them with her kid. Like she was ready to snatch her back if they displayed even the faintest hint of hurting her.
This was why Freya needed him. And Maddie did too. She laughed at his cousins’ antics but clung to him for protection, like she already knew she was safe with him.
That’s the thing that his cousins didn’t understand. This was more than him helping her out of a tight spot and getting his mum off his back. He was helping them because Freya had awakened something within him. And it was something he needed to explore and draw out fully. He did not know what it was or where it would lead. He didn’t know what to do with his fascination other than to continue pursuing her.
Because it felt as if fate had interceded and brought them together.
15
Jasper grilled steaks that night while Freya swam with Maddie. And he didn’t know whether to thank Sage for the bikini she selected for Freya or curse her. She’d chosen a sapphire blue number that was little more than skimpy triangles over her tits and pussy, leaving the rest of her golden skin bare and making him salivate. He’d fought a hard-on since the moment he spied her in the thing.
Maddie loved the water. Her laughs filled the backyard. And it helped his soul, listening to her sweet joy.
A part of him wanted to adopt her and give her his name. Jasper had never been a man who thought much about kids. He always figured he would eventually have them with the woman he married one day. He never imagined meeting a little girl who stole his heart from the first.
And her mother was making it difficult for him to remain indifferent. Almost like she’d used sorcery to lure him in.
