My girl fetched her phone and disappeared into the bathroom. I listened to the water running and fantasized about what I would do to her in our shower at home. The water shut off after ten minutes, and she was in there for a few more before the door opened, and steam billowed out. She was wrapped in a towel, her long hair twisted and laid over one shoulder. I loved seeing her like this. Fresh-faced, smelling like the coconut shampoo she’d been using at the resort, and her skin pink from being scrubbed. She didn’t need anything to make her more beautiful. She was the most exquisite creature in all her natural glory.
Allison’s hand went to the knot between her breasts holding the towel together, but a knock sounded on the door, pissing me off because it intruded on our private time. Allison padded across the carpet and answered with a dimpled smile.
“Morning, Charlie.”
“Carpooling today?”
Since Allison and Charlie had both secured internships at K-Corp for the summer, they often shared a cab. I wasn’t particularly happy about it, but it wasn’t as if I could send her my driver. Yet.
I’d assumed it was a given, considering she was the child of one of the owners. But I’d pored over every bit of information I could find on her for the past month, and I’d stumbled across her application. It turned out, she and Charlie hadn’t been given any kind of preferential treatment. They’d more than qualified academically, applied for the position, and were interviewed and hired by a committee. If anything, I was willing to bet they’d been graded more harshly than the other candidates so that if they earned the position, it couldn't be disputed as nepotism. I was so fucking proud of my girl.
It comforted me to know she was going there each day. Jonah wouldn’t budge over allowing me access to K-Corp, so I had to be satisfied with knowing she was in her family’s care. Not that it would be for long. When I returned to New York, I was going to marry her pretty little ass immediately, then take her home and keep her on her back until I’d planted my baby inside her. She’d had such longing in her voice when she’d talked about having a family and being a mother. It had made my determination to fulfill her every wish even stronger.
“Yes,” Allison answered. “Just give me a few minutes to change and grab a cup of coffee.”
There was a pause before Charlie asked, “You sure you should be drinking that stuff?”
Allison sighed. “I don’t know. I guess I’ll wait until I talk to a doctor.”
8
Diego
At Allison’s mention of a doctor, I jackknifed up and swung around to plant my feet on the floor while staring intently at the screen and silently willing her to elaborate.
“Do you want me to go with you?” Charlie asked.
Hell yes, I wanted her to go with my girl. I didn’t want Allison going to see a doctor alone. I jumped to my feet and started pacing, my mind running in a million different directions.
I needed to know what was wrong with her, and the fact I wasn’t there to comfort her and protect her from whatever news she received from the doctor was eating me alive.
“No. I need to do this on my own.”
“What about asking your mom?” Charlie pressed.
Allison sighed. “I know you are trying to help, Charlie, but I’m a grown-ass woman. I don’t need my mom to explain the birds and bees, and I don’t need her to take me to the doctor.”
“You’re right. Sometimes I forget we aren’t in high school anymore.”
Allison chuckled. “Working for our fathers doesn’t make it easy. Even moving out…”
“Well, your doctor appointment will probably put it all into perspective for you. Maybe if I actually had sex—”
I blanched as Allison rolled her eyes and shut her door, cutting off Charlie’s sentence.
Something had been niggling in the back of my mind as the conversation went on, and now it was like a glaring neon sign. Allison had mentioned going to her mother if she needed birth control. And Charlie’s joke...my heart practically stopped. If Allison was planning to go on birth control so she could sleep with someone else—both of those things would happen over my dead body.
I would kill anyone who dared to touch what was mine.
“Diego.”
My father’s voice brought me up short, and I spun around to see him sitting up in his bed. He motioned for me to come over and sit in the chair beside him. “Only one thing puts that look on a man’s face.”
My eyebrows rose in surprise, and he chuckled. “Give me some credit, son. I’ve been married to your mamá for forty-one years. I’ve seen it in the mirror from time to time.”