Page 87 of Secret Bratva Baby
“You want me to read you a story?” I ask, my heart warming. “Did your mommy send you here?”
“Mommy sleeps already.”
“Okay, so Mommy couldn’t read you a story,” I chuckle.
“No, I not ask Mommy. I want to wake Daddy.”
“Oh.” Her innocence aches inside me. Her beautiful, sweet little smile. She has no idea her mother and I had a fight today. Mila must have tucked her into bed for the night next to her mother—and Lily must have had other plans.
I have no intention of chasing her away. The thought of my sweet little baby crawling into my bed for a story is so incredible, I’m fighting tears, but I have to ask her all these questions to try and understand—
It’s too incredible to be real.
She was lying in bed, ready to sleep, and instead she thought to herselfI want Daddy to read me a story.
I clear my throat, pushing away the lump forming there.
“It’s way past your bedtime,” I say with my brows raised. “Won’t your mommy be upset that you aren’t in bed?”
“I am in bed,” she grins, slapping the blankets next to her.
“Your own bed?”
She shakes her head and snuggles closer to me.
“I want to stay with Daddy tonight.”
My smile is so wide it hurts my cheeks.
Lily is lying over my chest when I open the book and start reading.
This is everything to me.
I want this.
And the understanding that Rose might not want the same thing makes my stomach knot so tightly I’m sick.
I have to win her back.
There is simply no other option.
She belongs with me.
She has always belonged to me.
Chapter 22 - Rose
Our fight was brutal and left me heartbroken.
I was waiting for him to tell me that he loves me, not to smother me in meaningless gifts. Is that all I am to him?
Does he think I just want shallow things—a physical, but empty relationship, the void of whatever love is lacking to be filled by material gifts?
I’ve never been someone who would choose money over love. I thought he knew me better than that.
It’s been two days since our fight, and all I’ve done is avoid him. I desperately need someone to talk to. Anyone who might be able to give me clear insight into my clouded thoughts.
Right now I’m sitting upstairs in one of the sunrooms. I’ve been here for an hour. Just staring out the window, my body too heavy to move. Lily is playing on the floor quietly, oblivious to what I’m going through because I insist on doing everything in my power to keep her safe from my pain. She crawls across the carpet, pushing a toy truck, her dragon teddy catching a ride on the back of it. While she moves about, she’s making little car noise.
