Page 25 of The Hottest Daddy
River took her hand and kissed her fingers. “Was there a life before you?”
“I used to think there was. Now all I care about is us, our little family. Not that I’m presuming anything.”
“Presume away. Wearea family.” River stroked his finger down her cheek. “I’m going to tell Berry about us. She knows we like each other—hell, anyone could guess that—and it wasn’t as if Lindsay and I were sleeping together when we were traveling.”
Sunday was surprised. “You weren’t?”
River smiled. “No. I had already fallen for someone.”
Sunday flushed with pleasure as he kissed her.Oh, how I love you …But she didn’t say it aloud. They had come great strides tonight, in trusting each other, in deciding their future.
For now, she only had one thing on her mind.
Stop Angelina Marshall.
Chapter Twelve
New York
Sunday’s nemesis—River’s abuser—was hosting a cocktail party at her Upper East Side party, but had long since abandoned her hosting duties, and snuck off to fuck Brian Scanlan upstairs. Not even snuck, Angelina thought now with a smirk as she sat on Scanlan’s large cock and rode him.
Scanlan was a great fuck, big cock, andnastyin the sack, but more and more she craved her fix.River. Over twenty years, he had been her obsession, her personal shot of pure heroin. To Angelina, he was beautiful, almost magical, and the fact that she ruled him was all the power she needed.
And now she had an ‘in.’ The child. Of course, she didn’t give a flying fuck about the child’s welfare, but she’d been smart enough to groom the child’s mother into a false sense of security, plying her with money and Angelina’s version of love.
When she’d heard that Lindsay had passed on, and that River now was Berry’s full-time career, she could have crowed with delight.Just as I planned. Now, with the custody lawsuit, River would have to see her.
Angelina could hardly wait. She was going to Colorado at the end of the week to ‘discuss’ Berry’s living arrangements. Her spies in Rockford had told her that he was seeing someone, his secretary or something. She, Angelina, would soon chase the girl off. River belonged to her, and she would not tolerate another woman being on the scene.
Brain sighed and lifted her off his cock. Angelina blinked back into the moment. “What are you doing?”
“There’s a lot of things I’ll do,” he said, getting up, “but being ignoring during fucking isn’t one of them.”
Angelina shrugged and rolled over to the nightstand, getting a cigarette out. “Don’t pretend you care for me anymore than I care for you, Scanlan. Don’t act all butt hurt when I know you’re thinking about your blonde bimbo.”
“Summa cum laude from Harvard is hardly bimbo material,” Scanlan said, and there was an edge to his voice that made Angelina smile.
“Still trying to find her?”
“The world is a small place when you have as many resources as I do.”
“And yet she still eludes you.” Angelina was enjoying goading him. Scanlan always had a delicious air of violence around him, and Angelina wasn’t impartial to playing it rough. “Tell me, what are you going to do to her when you find her?”
“Not that it’s any of your business, but she will be persuaded that a life with me is her destiny.”
Angelina rolled her eyes. “And, of course, an intelligent woman like Markey Locke will roll over and say‘Of course! You had my fiancé murdered yet I will still go along with what you say.’God, you’re delusional.”
Brian had gone very quiet as he dressed and now he turned to her, his eyes burning with rage. “You,” he said, venom in his tone, “have no idea what real love is. Marley belongs to me … she knows it and will eventually admit it to herself.”
“Or?”
He smiled without humor. “Do I really need to answer that?”
Angelina walked over to him, smoothing her hands over his chest. “No, but I’d like to hear it. What will you do to her if she turns you down?”
Scanlan looked down at her. “I’ll kill her, of course. What else would there be to do?”
After Scanlan had left, and her party guests had dissipated, Angelina drew a bath and soaked in it for an hour or so. She thought about what Scanlan had said and knew she understood his drive. River was always present in her thoughts, in every one of her actions. She remembered the first time she had seen him, just fifteen. God, he was beautiful, dark shaggy curls, bright green eyes, and a tall, not-quite-mature physique. His father, Ludo, was a spectacular-looking man, to be sure, but he paled in comparison to his son. Angelina had made sure she lulled Ludo into a false sense of security, had made him propose to her, just so she could be around River.
