Page 56 of Set In Stone

“I cancelled him. I thought we would go through the blueprints ourselvesfirst.”

She narrowed her eyes suspiciously atme.

“You knew I was looking forward to being a part of this process, Alex. Why would you cancelhim?”

Her tone was accusing, almost lecturing, and it set me onedge.

“I don’t feel like dealing with people anymore today,” I answered testily. My tone was gruff and I felt her body stiffen beside me. When I spoke again, I adapted a gentler approach. “Look, prying eyes just seem to be everywhere lately. I want a break from it. I know this is important to you, but I need you to meet me in the middle on this. I want to discuss the house plans amongst ourselves. Just me and you, angel. At least fortoday.”

Her eyes searched mine, so expressive, yet I couldn’t tell what she was thinking. Seeming to come to a decision, she placed her hand on my knee and gave it a lightsqueeze.

“Okay. Let’s have a look at what you’ve come up with sofar.”

“Thank you,” I told her, appreciating her agreeability. Leaning in, I pressed a chaste kiss to her temple before pulling the blueprints out of the clear tubular case. I unrolled the plans and spread them out on the low table in front of us. Krystina leaned forward and inspected the drawing. I had already reviewed it, so I allowed her time to absorb the layout and waited for her to speak first. After a moment or two, shegasped.

“Alex, this house is huge! I won’t be able to keep up with anything thisbig!”

Ilaughed.

“I can assure you, ten-thousand square feet in that neck of the woods is small bycomparison.”

“But why in the world would we need sevenbedrooms?”

“Maybe I want six kids,” I said, waiting to see how she would react. I didn’t really want that many children. In fact, I didn’t know if I wanted the responsibility of even one. However, I would be open to hearing Krystina’s thoughts on the subject. My statement was only meant to feel her out. A look of panic flashed across her face before she quicklyrecovered.

Interesting…

Unfortunately, that fleeting expression was all I got from her. She didn’t take the bait. Instead, she pointed to another area of theplans.

“There’s a massive carriage house on the back corner of the lot. Who is that for? And what’s this? An eight-cargarage?”

She fired off one question after another, her eyes widening more with each one. I needed to put her mind atease.

“Relax, angel. The extra bedrooms are for overnight guests, such as your mom and Frank. Westchester is a bit of a hike, so I suspect Allyson or Justine might stay on occasion as well,” I explained. My heart tightened at the mention of my sister, but I continued on. “Hale will be in charge of security on the property. Vivian will be responsible for keeping up the house and the grounds. Each of them will have their own private suite in the carriagehouse.”

“They are just going to pack up and move with us? Where do they livenow?”

“One floor down from the penthouse,” I told her, somewhat surprised that she didn’t already know that. “They are aware of the move and have agreed to it. Don’t worry about that. In fact, they are pleased with the arrangements. The extra rooms in the carriage house are for whomever Vivian decides to hire to assist her with her duties. She likes it because the staff she brings on will be right onsite.”

“The staff?” she asked, her voice sounding slightly high pitched. She was recognizablyoverwhelmed.

“Krystina, look at me,” I ordered. When she turned her head, her chocolate brown eyes seemed to grow impossibly larger in her beautiful face. I took her chin between my thumb and forefinger. “I never wanted the domestic life before you. A house in the suburbs just wasn’t for me. But now that I want it, I will only have the best for you. For us. The sooner you come to terms with that, the easier time we’ll have with planning our newhome.”

“I’m no stranger to nice houses, Alex. My mom and Frank have a nice four-bedroom. But before Frank, my mom and I lived in a small apartment,” she said, shaking her head in disbelief. “This house you planned…it just seems a little over thetop.”

Igrinned.

“Have you ever known me to do things any otherway?”

She relaxed then and returned mysmile.

“No, Ihaven’t.”

Then she laughed. Instantly, the mood in the room shifted and my shoulders relaxed. All the tension I felt twenty minutes earlier just slipped away. The sound of her laughter, no matter how bleak of a mood I was in, would always brighten my world. It amazed me. She amazedme.

I reached up to touch her face again. I ran my hand over the soft line of her jaw, before cupping her cheek and turning her head to faceme.

“You’re beautiful,” I toldher.

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