Page 111 of Mafie Queen

I chuckle as I lean my forehead to hers. “You’re starting to sound like Dr. K.”

“She’s a very wise woman,” she says matter of factly.

“That she is.” I sigh. “Want to know my favorite thing about my mother?”

“Yes.”

A grin pulls at my cheeks as I think about her.

“She would make a joke of everything. She was good at it too. Always had these one liners that would get even my father to bend over in laughter.”

“Hmm.” Evie trails her fingers over my chest, smiling coyly. “Sounds like someone else I know.”

“She had this way of turning gloomy, dull days into adventures. There wasn’t a day she was alive that I didn’t laugh, not even when I was sick. She claimed laughter was the best medicine.”

I tell Evie how much she loved stand up comedy, and her favorite book was The Odyssey. It was the reason I fell in love with Greek mythology. She read to me every night and always encouraged my loves and passions.

“She sounds like an amazing mother,” Evie says as we start to dry off.

“She really was.” My mother was someone who had very few bad days. Even then, she would find the joy in every situation. It was something I pledged to do for myself when she passed. As much as I hated the circumstances, my father, my life, I forced myself to find the joy in it, just like she did.

“Do you want kids?” Her rapid change in subject makes me pause with the towel in my hand.

“Do you?”

“Laney told me about how she can’t believe Havoc and Arrow don’t want kids. This probably should have been something we all discussed more, but I need to know where you stand.”

She sounds hesitant, worried. And I don’t want to give her the wrong answer.

“Do you want kids?” I repeat.

“That’s not the point, Damien. I need to know, without my influence in the matter, do you want children?”

She wraps the towel around herself like a barrier, as if she’s throwing up a wall right in front of me.

“No.”

“Does Alexi or Lev?” She keeps her hands tucked in tight to her body.

“No. Alexi had a vasectomy when he turned seventeen, and Lev was told by doctors he’s likely sterile because of a genetic issue. His mother struggled to conceive him, and he was their fifth attempt with IVF.”

Evie sighs, the tension and wall before me crumbling in an instant. “Well thank fuck for that.”

“Why are you asking?”

“I have to get my Nexplanon birth control implant in my arm taken out in three to six months. Doc and I talked about how it can cause hormone fluctuations. He suggested I try to go off of any form of birth control for a while. I needed to know if we need to start stocking condoms all over the house or not.”

I grab her by the arm and pull her close. “I’ll get a vasectomy. I will not be wearing a condom with my wife.”

Her pupils dilate as she glances up at me, pure lust dripping from her pores. “Yes, sir.”

I shudder, goosebumps covering my arms in an instant with those words.

“You know, Sunshine. I haven’t had the chance to express my gratitude for how you have stepped up these past few weeks. I think it’s worthy of a reward.”

A hum vibrates in my chest. “Is that so?” I pull her towel off, leaving nothing between us.

“I think you should lie back and let me thank you properly.”

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