Page 81 of A Wife's Duty

She looked up at him, and there was a smile on her lips. “What was that for?”

“Because I wanted to.”

And then he kissed her again. “Just like I wanted to do that, and that.” And he kissed her again, and again.

Although Betty wasn’t happy, and she barked as if to remind them she was still there.

Lucia laughed and pulled away from him. “I better go and get her food.”

He watched his wife disappear into the pantry.

Damn. He never thought he could feel this way. Many years ago, his father had warned him that one day he’d find a woman, and the moment he saw her, he would just know that all he wanted to do was spend the rest of his life protecting her, loving her, giving her the world. That was what he wanted. Lucia deserved all kinds of happiness and he wanted to be the one to give it to her.

She came back, carrying a pouch of dog food. He continued to watch her as she fed Betty. All he wanted was to be with Lucia, to give her a good life. The only way to do that was to right the wrongs of the world she had once belonged to.

Once that was done, everything would be okay.

Chapter Sixteen

Lucia had fallen asleep in Boone’s arms. After they enjoyed his delicious steak, potatoes, cream sauce and egg, which had been a strange combination but tasty, they had made love. Boone had carried her upstairs and kissed every inch of her body, making her toes curl for more. Afterward, she laid in his arms, and he held her until she couldn’t remember anything else.

Rolling over, there was an empty space where Boone had been. She put her hand on his pillow and glanced at the alarm clock that glowed the time right back at her. Three o’clock in the morning. Boone was gone. Had he gone to finish one of his jobs?

She pulled the blanket off her body and climbed out of bed. Checking on Betty, she grabbed her robe and started to make her way downstairs.

She needed a drink, a nice hot chocolate. As she got to the bottom of the stairs, light from Boone’s office filtered toward her, and rather than go to the kitchen, she made her way toward the main office. There sat Boone, sipping a glass of whiskey.

“You should be asleep,” he said.

“I woke up.”

He looked toward her. He wasn’t drunk. There was no sign of an empty bottle, and his gaze looked exactly as it had several hours ago.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“I’ve got to leave soon, and when I do, Frank will be here.”

Lucia stepped into his office and without an invitation found herself sitting on the coffee table in front of him.

“He is?”

“Yeah. He doesn’t want to leave Amy and the boys, but I need him here to look after you.”

“You know, you don’t have to go.” She reached out and put a hand on his leg, attempting to console him the best way she could.

“I do.”

“Boone, please.”

“I need to do this. They made their choices, Lucia, and I never back out of a choice.”

“Never?”

“No.”

There was no point in even arguing with him. He’d made his decisions, and all she could do was accept them and move on. She went to stand up, but then he started to talk.

“My dad died when I was twenty-five years old,” Boone said.

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