Page 34 of Taken In Trade
He chuckles. “No, I can assure you, I have no children.”
“Well, with the money you’re saving from letting Francesca go, you should hire someone to help out with everyone’s laundry. Angel mentioned being too tired to get to it.” I plant my hands on the arms of the chair, moving to climb off his lap before I do something stupid.
His scent is too potent, and my system is way more sensitive to smells without the suppressants.
Moretti’s hands move to my hips, and he leans forward in the chair, making it easier for me to get settled on my feet.
“Thank you.” I step around his desk, putting more space between my nose and his stormy scent. “Did you talk to my family about my things?”
“I did. Once you find something suitable to wear, Hawk will accompany you to your family’s home. I would go with you, but your father isn’t very pleased with me at the moment.” He shrugs. “He’ll get over it. He can’t hate his son-in-law forever.”
I snort.
We both know he’s delusional.
“Thanks, Moretti. It means a lot that you didn’t go back on your word.”
“Don’t get sentimental on me now, darling.” His blue eyes sparkle, and my heart skips a beat.
I wish he would flat-out clarify what he wants our relationship to be. I don’t think he would lie about us being married. I’m sure the first thing my father did this morning was order someone to verify that it’s real. Even being legally bound together, I have no idea how he wants things to play out between us.
“Ahh, by the way, I meant to ask. Would you like me to have my physician stop by over the next few days?” Moretti asks. “Or do you plan to retrieve your suppressants today?”
“No.” My eyes narrow, and my head shakes before I fully think it through. “I’m going to take a break from thesuppressants. They’re not supposed to be taken for longer than two years, and I’ve been on them for a long time. There’s no telling what kind of health consequences there could be if I keep taking them.”
A look crosses his face that makes me wish I could telepathically pluck his thoughts from his head. He’s very touchy-feely, or he has been since last night. It’s not how I thought he would be, and I want additional touches and maybe some cuddling. That’s a bad sign, considering how vague he’s been about where we stand.
“If you stop taking the suppressants, you’ll go into heat,” he says simply.
“Yeah, probably.” I actually have no idea when that might happen, but there is a high likelihood that it will be soon.
“Do you have a plan for that?”
“I’m sure I’ll figure something out.” I shrug, spin around, and head for the door. “Hawk’s scent was soothing last night. Maybe I’ll try my luck by asking him. He has a perfectly good knot at the ready…”
A low growl fills the air as I make my way out into the hallway, and a smile tips at my lips. If he wants to be confusing, we’ll just have to see how long it takes him to break.
Chapter Eleven
Hawk
Vanessa finds something that fits in the second batch of clothes from Francesca, but she says she wants to change into her own outfit while we’re at her family’s home. Hell, it might be an excuse to kick me out of her room.
I’m not going to call her on it.
She’s lived in this house for her entire life, and she deserves some time to say goodbye. With how tense things are between her father and Moretti, I’m guessing it’ll be a long time before she’s able to visit—if she even wants to.
I’m not sure what’s going through Emory’s head, but we’re going to have a shitstorm headed our way. If Julian doesn’t already know that it was our doing that the doctor never showed up for Vanessa’s appointment, I would be shocked. That’s not even taking into account what Grigoryan will do in retribution for his building.
Not much rattles me, but I’ve never had such an important assignment. When I’m watching Moretti’s back, there’s the assurance that he can protect himself in most situations.
I’m not supposed to let Vanessa out of my sight, but I stay just outside the door to her bedroom. If Moretti doesn’t like it, he’ll get over it. There’s only one way in and out of her bedroom.
Once she’s done changing, she calls me in, and we pack everything she wants to take into plastic bins that we brought with us. I was worried they might really try to show their ass and refuse to let her take any of the bigger stuff, so I grabbed the bins from the garage before we left, and I think it was a good call.
While we haven’t seen Julian, her brothers follow us up and down the stairs for every load of packing up the SUV. They’re not outright confrontational, but they don’t go out of their way to talk to their sister. She tries to hide it, and it’s still plain to see that it gets under her skin.
We make our final trip out through the front door. I have two stacks of tote bins, while Vanessa has her pillows piled in her arms with a quilt tossed over one shoulder and a duffel bag on the other.
