he loves me. He doesn’t even care if he’s in the middle of a meeting or at a dinner table with other people. If he wants to kiss or touch me, he’s going to do it.
“No, I really should. Plus, I have to tell him we’re going to the Vine event.” I add in the last part hoping that will work. She rolls her eyes at me but finally agrees. We part with air kisses to each cheek and I watch her slip into the back of her town car. I give Luke her driver a small wave as he shuts the door behind her.
“Do you need a ride, Mrs. Black?” he asks.
“I’m catching a cab,” I tell him, which earns me an eyebrow lift. “His office is five minutes away by car. I’ll be fine.”
“Be careful, I don’t need your husband on my ass.”
“I promise,” I say with a laugh as I signal for a cab.
When one stops, I get in excitedly, more than ready to see my husband. The mood from the afternoon still bothers me and I’ve made no progress with my family. I know Daniel will be able to shake me out of my mood while I try to come up with another idea.
Chapter 2
Daniel
I lean back in my chair staring at my lawyer who looks like he’s about to throw up. His worry makes unease creep inside me. He’s the best at what he does and it’s why I pay him a fuck ton of money to be at my beck and call. But I’ve never seen the man break a sweat before. He’s a cocky bastard, but I can’t even give him shit about it because he has every reason to be.
Like him, I don’t break a sweat either. If something isn’t going to work, fuck it and on to the next. There’s no time to worry over things when you can move to the next project and make up ground. It’s how I’ve always been and why I’ve done so well in my life. There’s one exception to that rule and that’s my wife.
When it comes to her, I lose all of my calm, collected and cool demeanor. Moving to the next doesn't apply to her and it never will. It was her or death, and I made those vows the day we were married. I’ll go down with a fight before I leave her behind, but I’ll face that battle when death tries to take me from her.
“Spit it out, this should be easy,” I remind him as I glance at the clock wondering when Blakely will be done with her meeting. “We’re just crossing the T’s and dotting the I’s.”
I’m doing all of this to put my wife at ease. She’s got it in that beautiful mind of hers that her family and I need to be close. She wants them to like me and wants me to like them, too. That’s never going to happen, but for her I’ll fake it and I don’t fake shit.
I don’t know why I bother because they’d never do the same for her benefit. I know who they really are, and if it weren’t for the fact that I saved her father from losing everything, I’m sure he would have been more vocal about me walking in and taking his only daughter. He was lucky I didn’t take everything he owned. The only thing that stopped me was Blakely. They should be kissing her ass, not treating her like someone they’re stuck with. She doesn’t have it in her to be angry, but I do. I could be angry enough for the both of us.
Anger flares in me like it does every time I think about her family. It’s more often than I should allow it, but seeing her unhappy goes against everything I want and I’ll do anything to change that.
“There’s actually a problem.” Brent’s words interrupt my thoughts and my eyes go to his.
I lean forward, putting my elbows on my desk. “How is there a problem? There was no prenup and she gets everything. I just want to make sure no one can try and manipulate my Blakely. I want to know that our children will be fine and they will never end up in her parents’ hands. They’ll go to my dad or my brother and I want all of that in black and white.” I say the same words I put in the email I sent him when I