“You’re right,” he suddenly says, making my heart drop. I’m not so sure I want to be right this time.
“It doesn’t matter. Teasing me or not, this was inevitable. I could only fight it for so long. The whole marriage shit might have forced my hand, but believe me, the second you would have started dating some little fucker, I would have lost my ever-loving mind. You’re mine. Period. No one else can have you. Sol is lucky I still share you with her this much.”
“Leo.” I gasp when his fingers dig into my hips more. It doesn’t hurt. It’s actually turning me on. Whenever Leo’s possessiveness comes out or his jealousy, it always does.
“Shit, sorry.” He drops his forehead to mine, his eyes closing. “I shouldn’t keep you. You’re too damn sweet and good for me, but I’m never letting go. I’ll have to be six feet under.” His eyes open, locking with mine. The intensity of his stare takes my breath away. “I love you, Tinsley.”
“Leo.” Tears slip down my cheeks at his words.
“Give me a chance. I’ll spend my life trying to get you to fall in love with me if you let me,” he pleads. “I can love you enough for both of us. I swear it.”
“Leo, stop.” I grip his shirt in a tight hold. “I love you, Leo. I loved you even when you were an asshole.” His eyes widen in surprise. “But—”
“No buts.” He growls, making me giggle. I suddenly feel a million times lighter. Everything in my life is finally settling into place. Leo loves me.
“One but.” I push back with a smile. “I’m not doing the antenuptial. If anything, I need to change my will and such. You and Sol are my family. I won’t budge on that part, Leo.”
“I don’t want your money.”
“I know,” I say without a doubt. “You just said we can never get a divorce so what's the point?”
“Fine,” he grumbles, but I know it’s only because he knows the antenuptial will never get used. “So we’re good? You’re feeling okay now?” He releases my hips from his hold, his hands starting to wander.
“Yeah.” I glance back over my shoulder toward the bathroom.
“What is it?”
“I took a test.”
“In class?” he asks, making me giggle.
“No, in the bathroom.” Leo’s whole body goes solid. “If it’s negative we can see about getting protection now that I don’t have to get pregnant right away.” Leo’s shoulders drop.
“But one day?” There is no missing the hope in his voice. Leo will make a wonderful father. Of that, I have no doubt.
“You want a baby?”
“With you, yeah. With you I want everything.”
“Me too,” I admit.
“Then you’ll have it.” He lifts me off my feet. I wrap my legs around him as he carries me into the bathroom. I reach down and grab the test. I bite my lip as I read it. “Doesn’t matter what it says. It changes nothing for us. You’re my wife, and one day you’ll be the mother of my children.”
“More than one?” I tease.
“Maybe half a dozen or so. This house is giant and too damn quiet.”
“Well, I guess it’s a good thing that I’m pregnant,” I tell him. “So we can get started.”
“Don’t fuck with me.”
“I love fucking with you.” I turn the test around so he can see the little screen that reads pregnant. Seeing his face light up with happiness fills every part of me with love.
Leo doesn’t have to spend his life proving anything to me. He’s already given me everything I’ve always wanted. A true family.
EPILOGUE
LEO
YEARS LATER…
“Daddy, my bow is slipping.” Gentry looks up at me with pleading eyes.
I tug on my collar before crouching down to her level. Bows, earrings, little porcelain teacups are my Waterloos. The big meat hooks I have for hands are great for tearing down walls and punching people in the face, but not all the fancy things that have become part of my ordinary life since marrying Tinsley a decade ago. You’d think by now things would’ve gotten easier, but behind the one hundred percent superfine Italian wool and the hand-stitched leather loafers, I’ve got all the grace of a twenty-one-year-old dock worker. The positive thing is that works out great in the bedroom, which is why we have four of these tiny humans to call our own.
I fuss with the pink satin ribbon, but it falls apart under my attempts and finally, I pull it off Gentry’s head. “It’s dead, Gentry.” I hold it up for her inspection. “I think we best bury it in my pocket and go find something to eat.”
Food is my go-to comfort weapon. Gentry gives me a dark look, uninterested in being bought off by banquet food. I don’t blame her. It’s nothing like we get at home.
“Where’s Mommy?” she asks.