While Summer spoke, she sidestepped Leonardo and carried Rosie upstairs.
Leonardo’s hands were still out as he watched Summer trudge up the stairs. He then pulled back his hands and took a deep breath, seemingly deep in thought.
…
Summer gently placed Rosie on the bed. While Summer helped her to get changed, Rosie suddenly jolted up.
“Mommy!” she cried out in a panic.
“I’m here.” Summer held her hand and kissed her on the cheek.
Rosie then quickly fell back to sleep again. Summer sat on the bedside, looking at Rosie for a while before leaving the room.
She walked past the corridor and down the stairs, only to find that Leonardo was nowhere to be seen. There were merely a few maids in the living room.
She looked up toward Leonardo’s reading room and reckoned that he was probably in his room.
Just as she was about to go back upstairs, Leonardo came back down. He had changed into casual wear, looking less intimidating than before.
“Is Rosie asleep?” He walked up to her and lowered his head to peck her on the cheek.
Summer nodded. “Yeah. You changed your clothes?”
Just then, a maid came up to them and spoke respectfully. “Mr. Emerson and Mrs. Emerson, dinner is ready.”
…
After dinner, Summer went upstairs to check on Rosie.
Rosie already had her dinner, and she was not expected to wake up from hunger in the middle of the night. Summer just wanted to make sure that she was okay.
Perhaps all mothers are the same; the longer they look at their children, the more adorable they appear.
She might have stayed in Rosie’s bedroom for too long because Leonardo came looking for her. “Are you planning to sleep here tonight?”
“Shhh.” She looked back at him and put her finger to her lips.
Leonardo went over and glanced at Rosie with his head tilted.
“I think you should get some rest too.” He turned to look at Summer.
She looked at Rosie. “I think I want to keep Rosie company tonight,” she said softly.
“What about me?” Leonardo cocked an eyebrow.
His tone was no different from any other day, but Summer could detect something in it. He must have felt abandoned.
“You can sleep on your own. Are you expecting me to cajole you to sleep?” She looked at him.
“Uh-huh.” He looked at her with his arms cross as if he was waiting for her reply.
Summer pondered for a while. “What about sleeping together?”
Leonardo was silent, and she took it as consent.
She pulled the duvet away from Rosie. “Carry Rosie. Be gentle, and don’t wake her up,” she said to Leonardo.
“Sleep together?” His eyes narrowed.
“Yeah. We, the three of us, will sleep together.” Seeing his dissatisfied expression, she knew that he had mistaken “sleep together” as something else.
She meant for the three of them to share the same bed while he thought that she would sleep with him.
In the end, Leonardo still decided to give in, and he carried Rosie to his master bedroom.
When Summer stepped in, she saw him put Rosie on one side of the bed. She walked over and shifted Rosie to the middle.
“Summer!” His voice reeked of anger.
He was angry? He still had the nerve to be angry?
Summer came over and looked up at him, poking his chest with her finger. “Is Rosie your daughter, Leonardo? You should let your child sleep in the middle!”
“Of course, she’s my own daughter,” he said impassively.
“Thank goodness. At least you know she’s your own daughter!”
Speaking of which, she was reminded of the conversation that Leonardo and Rosie had on the day she was discharged from the hospital.
“You doubted that she was your daughter last time.”
Those words, which came out of nowhere, stupefied him. He had no idea what she was talking about.
“I never doubted it,” Leonardo said.
“The day I was discharged from the hospital, I was in a car right next to yours. I clearly heard you say that you doubted if Rosie was your biological daughter because of her aesthetic sense!”
Her glare intensified with every word she spoke.
“Did I?” All Leonardo could remember was the months leading up to their marriage. Tim had told him what happened after that, but he never filled him in on such detailed things.
Summer realized this. It was not that she wanted to rake up the past. It just suddenly came to mind.
“Fine. We won’t talk about that, but Rosie has to sleep in the middle.”
Leonardo went into the bathroom without saying anything.
Summer pulled the duvet over Rosie and checked her mobile phone. There were unread voice messages from Jessica.
“How are things today? I heard that you two even invited Carl to dinner.”
Summer knew what Jessica was talking about.
“What else could I do? I signed it.”
The next second, Jessica replied with an emoji, which basically said she would ride on her coattails from now on.
In return, Summer sent a money-splashing emoji.
Right then, Leonardo’s voice rang out from the bathroom. “I forgot my clothes, Summer.”
Summer heard what he said and quickly replied Jessica with a text message. “Something’s come up. Got to go.”
Jessica responded at warp speed. “What are you doing in the middle of the night? Making out?”
Summer replied with a knock-on-the-head emoji and ignored her from then on.
She put down her phone and saw the clothes that Leonardo had forgotten to bring with him. She picked them up and knocked on the bathroom door.
The door was opened, and a gust of hot air rushed out. She stood by the door and shoved the clothes into the bathroom. “Here you go.”
Leonardo did not take the clothes even after she held out her hand for a few seconds. Getting curious, she poked her head inside.
Before she could make out the situation, someone grabbed her hand and pulled her into the bathroom.
The door was closed behind her as Leonardo pressed her against it.
He stood naked in front of her, with one hand wrapped around her waist and the other resting on the door.
Summer froze for a second. “You must have too much time in your hands, Leonardo!” she chided.
“You’re right. That’s why I need to do something meaningful,” he said in a low voice.
She knew what he meant, and she blushed. “What do you think about all the time?”
“I think about you.”
He then descended on her with his kisses, pecking her delicate, white neck first, followed by her shoulder plate. Meanwhile, he coiled his hand around her waist and lifted her up so that her eyes were level with his.