Roman opened the door before the doorbell could ring and ushered Phillip inside quickly.
“Did you bring it?”
He ignored Phillip’s eye roll as he handed him a bag.
“I said to hide it!” he hissed as he hid the bag in his coat,
“You made me drive all this way for this,” Phillip said.
“It was an emergency,” he said. “And I don’t know why you’re complaining. There’s food here, you were going to find an excuse to come, anyway.”
He walked to the stairs quickly.
“Everyone’s outside. I will be there as soon as I can.”
“Your schemes get you into trouble all the time. I don’t know why you haven’t learned that lesson yet,” Phillip grumbled.
“Mind your own business, Phillip,” he called out as he took the stairs two at a time.
He went back into the bedroom and grinned when he saw the little boy who was still sitting and waiting where he had told him to.
“I’ve got it,” he said.
And the boy answered with a grin so eerily similar to his. No one could deny they had the same blood running through them.
He took the bag out and then pulled two lollipops out.
“Hide the rest somewhere,” he instructed, and the boy happily grabbed the bag and put it under his pillow.
Not the best hiding spot. He would be caught when his bed was made, but at least the boy was smiling. He unwrapped both lollipops and handed him one before he sat down. The boy jumped onto the chair next to him and it squeezed his heartstrings. He’d gone soft in his old age. All Evelyn’s fault, of course.
“So tell me again about this car you drew.”
“It was big. And red,” the little boy said with his lisp.
And they said toddlers didn’t have conversational skills! He listened intently as he sucked on the contraband in his mouth and the boy described everything with the animation and excitement he was sure was only found in children who hadn’t yet discovered how cruel the world was.
“Well, I think_”
The door opened before he could finish, and Esther walked in.
“Roman and Asher Ashfield!”
He popped the lollipop out of his mouth and quickly took Asher’s before they both stood and waited for Esther’s wrath to fall on them.
“I said no sweets today. You’re being punished, Asher, you need to understand what that means.”
He looked down at Asher and saw the way the little boy had bowed his head.
“It’s my fault. I didn’t know, I’m sorry,” he lied.
He’d known. It was the first thing the miserable boy had told him when he had arrived. But what sort of big brother would he be if he threw the little guy under the bus?
“Somehow I find that hard to believe,” Esther hissed. “Asher, let’s go.”
He followed mother and son out of the room with a smile on his face. Esther had proved him wrong. After the lunch with Evelyn, he hadn’t seen them again until his new brother was born, and he had been shocked to see Esther’s maternal instincts kick in. She hadn’t abandoned her child or left his father, and had just given birth to his little sister.
There wasn’t any plastic in her body anymore. Esther’s figure was fuller and natural, and these days he didn’t always have to fake being nice.
He followed them outside where his family was having lunch, and the new addition was in Evelyn’s arms as she walked in the garden with Phillip.
“Charles, you need to tell Roman to stop spoiling him,” Esther said the moment she sat down next to his father.
“I’m his big brother. I heard it’s in the job description,” he grinned as he walked down the steps of the patio to go to Evelyn.
She looked perfect holding a baby. When she looked up as he approached he saw her smile and the look in her eyes. Hopefully it meant she was as broody as he was.
“Are you ready to go?” he asked.
He had plans for her tonight. It was time they made a move on.
“Yes,” she answered with a small smile.
She knew what the plans were. She’d graduated and was now a fully qualified nurse after a lot of hard work and sleepless nights. Evelyn was getting her reward tonight.
He took baby Margot from her arms and kissed the sleeping baby’s cheek before he walked back to hand her over to her mother.
“We’ll see you next week,” he said, and then ruffled his little brother’s hair when he saw the pout.
“Don’t forget that thing we talked about,” Charles said with a nod.
He grinned. His father had been asking when he would marry Evelyn since the first time he met her. It had been more than two years and that ring was still waiting in his drawer. Two years of working on himself and loving Evelyn the way she needed to be loved.
He didn’t want any doubts in her mind when he finally asked her to marry him.
“Yes, dad. Soon,” he laughed as he took Evelyn’s hand.
The drive home was too long. He could tell by the way Evelyn fidgeted in her seat and kept her gaze on him. They had both been so busy lately that they had stayed at the apartment in the city most of the time. But finally, he drove up the driveway of the house that Phillip hadn’t put on the market when he had told him to. And when they walked in, Evelyn headed upstairs straight away.
The house looked nothing like it had before because apparently, Evelyn had hated it. But she’d made it a home now, exactly as he had known she would.
He followed up the stairs at a more leisurely pace as he pulled his tie off and dropped it on the floor. He grinned when he saw she’d already shed her clothes. Her dress was on the top of the stairs. Her bra was a bit further down the hall.
And her lacy panties just outside her playroom.
He pushed the door open and saw his naked, perfect girlfriend standing in the middle of the room, facing his chair. His gaze roamed over her round bottom, wide hips and tiny waist before it stopped at the gap between her thighs.
And when he walked around her, she couldn’t hide the smile on her face as she anticipated the night ahead.
She still reacted like every time he touched her was the first time. From the moment they had both felt more secure in their relationship, the sex had become better, which he hadn’t thought was even possible.
He’d worked hard to regain her trust and he meant to keep it this way.
“You’re perfect, Evelyn Bright,” he whispered. “So fucking perfect.”
And before the night was over, she would have his ring on her finger. He couldn’t wait to finally marry her and make babies.
“Are you going to make me wait, Roman?”
So bossy.
He grinned as he walked over to his chair. His throne. It was time.
THE END