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His lips pressed into a hard line but he didn’t say anything else.
Giving him a curt nod, I pivoted again and walked out of the diner. With the FBI taken care of and CPD chasing their tails, I could turn my attention to the things that truly mattered—family.
“That was faster than I thought it was going to be,” Marek said when I climbed into the Escalade.
“I have more important things to do today,” I replied with a smile. “God knows I didn’t want to keep you waiting.”
Marek rolled his beautiful amber eyes but he kissed me softly when I leaned in for one, despite the stifled snicker from Bri and the blatant “Eww!” from Ezra. Being five, he didn’t understand whyanyonewould want to kiss, let alone his brother and another man. But that discussion could most certainly wait until he was older.
“Where to, boss?” Anton asked, pulling out into traffic.
“The furniture store. The penthouse is getting an upgrade.”
“I know you threw it out there the other day that we’d get new stuff, but are you even aware how much furniture costs these days?” Marek asked, raising his brows at me. “It’s ridiculous. The kids don’t need new shit. The stuff you have isjustfine. It still looks brand new!”
I turned to the children and threw my thumb toward Marek. “Don’t listen to him. Pick out whatever you want.”
“Hey!” Marek swatted my bicep with the back of his hand, glaring at me. “Don’t undermine me in front of the kids. We’re supposed to have a united front.”
“The kids can hear you,” Brianna chimed in.
“We are united.” I laced my fingers through Marek’s and lifted his hand, kissing it before turning to the children again. “And afterward we’ll go to the mall.”
“I see. Sothisis how it’s going to be.” Marek shook his head, his jaw shifting irritably. “You’re going to be the fun one and I’m going to have to be the asshole. Great.”
Chuckling, I squeezed his hand. He responded in kind with a faint smirk and turned toward the window. I caught a glimpse of a real smile on his face, even a bit of a blush in the right light, and happiness bloomed inside of me.
* * *
By the timewe returned home, it was well after dark. We deposited bags upon bags of purchases in each of the children’s rooms and then settled in together on the couch to watch a movie of Ezra’s choosing.
The movie had ended a while ago but neither Marek nor I moved for fear of disturbing the sleeping children lying against us. Ezra had tucked himself under my arm and Nadia wormed her way in next to him, sandwiching him between us. Meanwhile, Brianna had slumped against Marek’s arm at some point with a blanket wrapped around her.
Thick white snowflakes swirled in the dark sky outside, throwing themselves against the large windows and sliding down like raindrops. The gas-fed flames in the fireplace added warmth and ambiance to the room, especially once the TV’s screen saver kicked on. In the years I’d lived there, I couldn’t recall ever having a fire before. I suppose I never had a reason to.
Marek slipped his hand into mine and exhaled a contented sort of sigh, one that didn’t sound exhausted despite the all-day shopping.
“It was a good day,” I said quietly, letting my gaze drift between the window and the fireplace, admiring the tranquility of both.
“Itwasa good day. Probably helped that you spoiled the shit out of them.”
“I provided the basic necessities. That’s not spoiling.”
He looked at me flatly. “Really? I’m surprised your credit card didn’t melt from all the action it saw today.”
“It’s a new year. A new life from everything that came before—for all of us. I want to do everything I can to set us up for success.”
“Ok, well, Ezra doesn’t need five pairs of shoes for us to be successful.Ora Switch. And Bri didn’t need an iPad to go with the AirPods and everything else you boughther.”
“They were practically giving away the iPads,” I countered. “And she will need it for school. That’s why we got her the keyboard to go with it.”
“‘We’ didn’t get shit, ‘cuz ‘we’ would have blown through a month’s salary at the rate those two were going. You’ve got to learn to tell them ‘No.’”
“Like you tell me ‘No’?” I asked with a smirk. Before he got too feisty, I shifted forward and pressed a kiss to his forehead.
“You’ll find a way to justify anything, won’t you?”
“Until it silences your doubt, yes.”
