Marcus filled the doorway, then walked into the dark room. He pulled me to him and kissed my head. Something was wrong. I could feel it in the way he was holding on to me. Like I was his lifeline.
“Daddy,” Eli whispered, and Marcus’s head turned. He let me go and went to stand by the top bunk as Eli rubbed his eyes and sat up.
“You still awake, buddy?” he asked.
“Waiting on you,” Eli said, as if that made complete sense and Marcus should know this.
“I’m sorry, dude. I had to go see Grana and help her with something. Tomorrow it’s movie night. Me and you,” he told him, ruffling his hair, then kissing him on the forehead.
“Can Momma and Larissa watch it with us?” he asked.
Marcus paused a minute. I wondered if Tawny had returned. “Larissa is going to go visit with Grana tomorrow and stay there a little bit. But Momma can watch it with us. I bet she’ll even make us popcorn,” Marcus told him.
Why on earth was Larissa going to my mother-in-law’s? To swim with Amanda? It just seemed odd. I mean, she’d been there before, but still, why now?
“Will you, Momma?” Eli asked.
I smiled quickly and nodded. “Yes, sir. I might even make brownies, too.”
Eli did I small whoop and gave his dad a high-five.
“Shh, you two. Larissa is asleep,” I reminded them.
Marcus leaned over and kissed Eli’s cheek. Eli lay back down while Marcus pulled his covers back up. “Sleep tight, buddy,” he said. “I love you.”
“Love you too, Daddy,” Eli replied.
Marcus bent down and brushed Larissa’s curls off her face, then kissed her forehead. “My princess has some hard days ahead. But I think things are going to be okay,” he said quietly as he stood back up.
His hand slipped into mine and he led me out of the room.
He kept going until we got to our bedroom. Closing the door, he locked it, which was a habit most nights. Eli had once walked in on us doing things we’d had a hard time explaining. We were more careful now.
“My parents are together. Tawny and Dad were getting a divorce because of this. Tawny split when she found out that with joint custody of Larissa, she didn’t get child support. Dad offered to give her the house in Mobile, but she said she didn’t want that. She also left a note, with the signed divorce papers, saying she couldn’t take Larissa.”
I sank down onto the edge of the bed, letting his words sink in.
My sister had left a note. She had really left Larissa. Oh God. And Marcus’s parents? I glanced up and looked at my husband as he paced back and forth, running his hand through his hair.
“He was at my mother’s house. My dad was there like he belonged there. Like he hadn’t broken her heart. Like he hadn’t thrown her aside like she meant nothing to him. But she was holding his hand, Low. Holding his f**king hand.”
Wow. Just . . . wow.
He stopped pacing and looked at me. “He’s moving back in. Mom is going to raise Larissa and give her the motherly affection she needs until Tawny decides she can be a mother. I swear, Low, my mother is some saint. The Catholic church needs to take note of this f**king madness.”
My man was a swirl of emotions, and I was just sitting here letting him lose it. Standing up, I wrapped my arms around his waist and held on to him. “Take a deep breath,” I told him. “Your mother has always been a saint. We already knew that. This shouldn’t surprise you so much. She’s accepted Larissa and been nothing but sweet to her. You’ve seen it. I’ve seen it. She’s a good woman. The best. She raised you, didn’t she?”
Marcus sighed and pressed a kiss to my ear. “My mother is a wonderful woman, but she isn’t the best,” he said, before kissing my cheek. “I got the best right here in my arms.”
Smiling, I slipped my arms up his chest and latched them around his neck. “They’re adults, Marcus. If they are ready to fix what was broken, it’s their decision. Your mother is a smart woman. She wouldn’t agree to anything lightly. I have no doubt in my mind that man had to beg and prove himself. As for Larissa, that’s a really good place to grow up. If my stupid, selfish sister doesn’t come back, Larissa will have a life that she deserves. She’ll get to see what real princesses have in life. A mother like yours and a father who wants to be at home with his family. Not hiding from the raging, crazy woman he’s married to.” I ran my hands through the hair at the base of his neck and smiled up at the man who owned my soul. “Things will be okay. Believe that.”
Marcus lowered his head and kissed my lips gently. I opened to him immediately, and his tongue slipped inside my mouth, tasting me as if I was his last meal on earth. I enjoyed having my mouth ravished by my husband.
When he pulled back, he gave me that intense look I loved. It excited me. “You are my center. You keep me grounded. You calm me down. You help me see things in a better light. What I feel for you is so much more than love, Willow Hardy, that I don’t have a name for it.”
I loved it when he said things like this. I had a very romantic man. “Then show me,” I whispered, stepping back and slipping my T-shirt off. “You get a bonus tonight. I smell like cookies,” I teased him.
A predatory gleam lit his eyes as he loosened his tie and jerked it off, then began unbuttoning his shirt as I slipped off my shorts and panties under his watchful eyes.