***LONDON’S POV***
I don’t know why I freak out but when I know all about the details that happened back in Montana and how our honeymoon was cut abruptly because of the little decisions I made, I breathe in hard, catching myself just in time to open the door and peep outside.
A maid was there with a trolley of food, I didn’t want her inside the bedroom so, I took it from her, a polite thank you for leaving my lips.
Zane helped me to bring the trays onto the bed and I tried hard to ignore the electric sensation my body filled whenever our bodies made contact.
“London, I didn’t mean it like that, I am sorry,” Zane blurts out.
“We should just eat, okay? Let us forget about this, I am famished, and you need to rest,” I murmur, fidgeting like a fool.
Zane just nods his head and slides across from me, the chair separating us. He snickers a little before grabbing me by the waist and bringing me farther.
“I want the toast and hams, please,” I murmur, a polite smile crossing my lips.
And that was how our little argument died out. Zane made sure I ate, he gave me a glass of fresh milk. At the end, he pushed the trolley outside and returned, slipping on a shirt over his shorts.
“Off the bed, bunny, we have to talk,” Zane’s dark voice calls out to me.
I watch him take our two pills and pop it in his mouth. With watery eyes, I slid out of bed with shaky feet, my palms already wet.
“You said you wouldn’t punish me,” I choke out fighting back the tears threatening to pool over my eyes.
Of course, they were crocodile tears, Zane knew that too, thus, the reason why he dragged me to the open balcony our room had. It faced the sea not far from here and if people walked by the beach and looked up this way, I bet they were going to see me.
My husband sat on the chair and he forced me to stand between his strong parted legs. His arms snaked around my waist and his manly cologne wafted my nostrils.
“I did say I wouldn’t punish you, baby. But if you kept enough, I also said we were going to have an adult conversation,” he says his eyes on my face.
I knew Zane was in pain, I just didn’t want to add my drama to the pain he felt.
“Daddy, please,” I burst out crying wrapping my arms around his neck. I made sure to hide my face as I sniffled.
“I haven’t even touched you yet, and you are crying. You know I don’t like it when my little girl is throwing tantrums right?” he scoffed out, his voice growing dark.
“I know, but I am sorry,” the words escape my lips.
“Up now, stand straight,” he orders.
I do as he says, my eyes searching his plain face.
“I left you in my room, how did you find yourself at the club with a man touching you?” he questions trying to decipher what happened.
“No, Daddy. You don’t understand, I woke up to the women in my room and they were so nice. We were only going to stay at the club to have a couple of drinks, and since I wasn’t allowed to drink alcohol, I had a cocktail and danced. The next thing I knew, a man was touching me and when I turned around to ask him to leave me, you were there, fighting him off,” I wailed out.
“How do I know you aren’t lying to me?” he asks.
“Fuck you, Zane. We just made love, I would choose you over any man,” I bark out at him.
“I don’t want to be an option to you, London. You are my wife, you belong to me,” he screeches, hoping that I understand.
Anger caused me to see red when I slapped him across the face, the sound was so loud that I gasped.
“Fuck you, Zane,” I bite out seeing red.
When I barged into the room, heading for the door, I felt Zane grab my arm and pull me towards his chest so hard that I gasped, my lips parting in shock.
“I hate your gut, husband. I just want to be alone, okay?” I grit out.
“You don’t get to talk to me in that tone, little human,”
A small laugh escaped my lips but it was one filled with bitterness.
“You should rest now,” I tell him trying to retreat.
Zane’s grasp on my arm tightens.
“No, you stay with me, and you will be napping with me as well. You better not be away from me when I open my eyes,” he threatens.
I want to claw at my man’s face, he carries me to the bed, and with me so close to him, I don’t fight him off. I just let him snuggle with me.
“Thank you for not fighting me,” he mutters against my hair.
I try to relax and when I turn around, I see the happy smiling lines on my man’s lips and I giggle warmly.
When he perks up against one eye, I kiss his lips just for a fraction of a second.
“I love you, big bad Daddy Zane,” I tease him.
When he grunts, I snuggle into his broad chest, sleeping.
***
***ZANE’S POV***
I wake up to laughter downstairs, I grab my woman and she isn’t beside me.
I grunt, sleeping out of the bed. When I made it out of bed, I grabbed my bottle of painkillers and headed downstairs, to where the noise was coming from.
That is when I notice my men, Reaper and Sinner, talking and laughing with London in their middle.
She looks so happy, and also, her petite frame makes me want to put her in my pocket. I love her so much, but I need to remove her from my man’s side.
“London,” I growl out as I walk right straight to her, plucking her out of Reaper and Sinner’s midst.
She wraps her legs around my waist on instinct.
“Daddy!” she greets me as I kiss her hard and long.
“Mine!” I groan between her lips.
When we part, my men are embarrassed but they say nothing. Good. They could stuff whatever they had to say down their throats.
“Zane, you didn’t tell me you men were coming,” she says, whacking my chest.
That makes me laugh as I slap her across the stomach.
“Ouch! I didn’t know I needed them until yesterday, thus, I asked them to start coming,” I confess truthfully.
It is going to be hard lying to London, but if it has to protect her, then, I sure as fuck will be doing that. For now, I love how simple we were.
Turning to my men, I place my wife on the floor beside me before giving them half hugs and pats on their backs.
“I had the maids ready your rooms. Rest, we have a lot to discuss later in the evening,” I stare them down, daring them to proceed with the conversation in front of London.
Good thing I employed men with a good brain, so I don’t have to put a bullet between their eyes.
“Can you please grab me a bottle of water from the kitchen, little girl?” I ask London gently.
She bobs her head in response before she excuses herself, walking off towards the kitchen.
I don’t know where the other men or women were, the house was too big to even go missing in it. This was one of the private wings that was given to me. With London gone, I have approximately two minutes give or take to lay out the matter to my men.
“The shipment coming in is worth over thirty-five million dollars. We need it secured. The men will be having it hot while keeping their mouths sealed and in good shape to help transport it to the warehouse.
“We have it all covered up, Boss,” Sinner says.
No one had asked about the honeymoon in Montana, and why we had landed in Sicily, instead of coming home directly. Well, they should add up to the fact that this is a continuation of what ended brusquely.
I owe them part truth though.
“London has a stalker guys, we need to keep an eye on my little wife,” I say huffing with everything that is worth keeping me in place.
They nod their allegiance to protect me, and now, London, with that cleared out of my mind, I nod my head as I lean back.
“What is taking London so long to get you a glass of water?” Reaper asks and as if on cue, I hear a crash in the distance.
I was sprinting across the house with two men closely behind. When we entered the kitchen, there was a terrified London, blood running from her hand and she didn’t even know it she was staring outside, as if she had just seen someone.
Was there someone out there haunting her again? Sicily is a far place for Michael Logan to trace her down here. She kept her eyes out there.
“Hey, little girl, are you okay?” I question grabbing her and removing her from the shards of glass on the floor.
Whatever she had seen had shaken her foundation.
What was it? Or more, who was it?
“Check around the premises, Reaper, make sure no one is looking suspicious, if you even think something is out of place, arrest the person and bring him to me. Make sure the guards didn’t let anyone in,” I order.
As Reaper takes off, Sinner follows him out and I carry London to the sink, turning the tap on and letting the cold water be the blood from her hands.
“I know you saw something, little girl, do you want to tell Daddy who it was, or should we play a small game?” I demanded, knowing that this wasn’t the way to thread.
“I don’t want to talk about it, please,” she begs.
“Of course, we wouldn’t talk about it. But I will call the names and if it is who you saw, you will say yes or simply give me a head nod,” I say, trying my best to convince her.
“I don’t want to play,” she burst out crying.
She must play, her opinion doesn’t fucking matter.
“Baby, why don’t we start with a simple question, huh? Was it a bear? I remember the last time you saw a bear, you were terrified, even though it didn’t make you freeze on the spot,” I tell her.
London shrugs, I sure as well didn’t understand what all these signs meant, but I still wanted a reply nonetheless.
When I thought she wouldn’t comply and respond, she shocked me by giving me a head shake from left to right, declining the question.
“Okay, it wasn’t a bear. I get it, little girl. Daddy chased off all the bad bears, didn’t he?” a small smile tugs at my lips when she responds to me.
“Yes, Daddy. Thank you,”
“Was it someone you know?” I ask, taking it a step further.
London freezes and I know I have my answer.
“Who?” I bark out.
Wrong move. This was a dick move from me because London breaks down in tears in my arms, the tears scratching at my heart.
“Come on, little girl, I didn’t mean to sound harsh on you. Please, don’t cry,” I beg her softly.
Well, my wife wasn’t listening to me, or maybe she was building a wall, trying to push me away.
Either way, I need an explanation for this question, I need to know more about what is happening.
“Come here,” I say in frustration, lifting her to my chest and walking out of the kitchen. I lead the way to bed and send a group message, asking the men to send their wives to my room, just barely hinting to them that my woman was going through some pregnancy hormones and would need help to navigate her emotions.
Just like that, five minutes later I received a knock on my door, three ladies walking in.
“Thank you,” I say gratefully, glad that they were here and the situation will be under control.