Page 30 of His Son's Wife
“No one gets to call you a whore,” I said, kissing her palms.“Unless it’s me and we’re fucking.”
She tried to yank her hands away at that.
“Men never get called out,” she huffed.“I’m glad you got me a female penguin.”
“Forever. Remember?” I said, pulling her onto my chest.“The divorce papers are drawn up as is my will. It’s time for Gabe to grow up. I’m done with him.”
She gasped and tried to pull back, but I didn’t release her. I couldn’t quite contain my smirk.
“You’ll give me more babies. Three is a lovely number.”
Another gasp.
“Two?”
“You’re serious, aren’t you?” she finally whispered against my chest.
“I’m eating avocados for you, aren’t I?” I said dryly.“Choking on them even.”
Her laughter made her body shake against mine and I slightly loosened my grip. I stroked the top of her head, down to her nape and rested my hand there.
“I’ve been waiting for longer than you can imagine,” I murmured.
“Not gonna lie, that sounds a little creepy, Daddy.”
Her voice was muffled against my chest. I kept my hand on her nape hoping she wouldn’t ask any more questions, but this was Sayla.
“I may have been tracking you on social media. My handle is @ukfroggsunited.”
Her head snapped up.
“The frog breeder?”
“There’s no such thing, Princess. The pictures are from the internet. I knew you liked frogs.”
“No wonder I ended up with Gabriel,” she muttered, but she placed her cheek on my chest.
These little moments of truth and trust were falling into place perfectly.
“I’ll always protect you. When you’re ready, we can visit your family.”
A tremor ran through her—deep and involuntary, the kind that started somewhere she couldn’t control. I kissed her head and whispered soothing words against her hair. She was strong, brave and the most perfect Princess on the planet. Not a single word was manufactured.
I despised what was done to her, but I couldn’t deny that his brutality brought her to me. That was something I would need to live with.
Her family were out there missing her. Worrying about her. That tremor told me everything about the shame she carried—shame that belonged entirely to him and not a breath of it to her. Getting her back to them would take time. But I would get her there.
I really needed to have a chat with her about internet safety at some point.
I held that thought while I swayed her gently against me, mentally slotting it onto my to-do list between divorce Gabriel and build frog pond.
My Princess was far too gullible.
???
The following day the work on the pond was underway. It would have some fish, frogs and toads along with some form of foliage. Twelve hours of her grumbling about my fake account pushed me into action.
A new feature on the estate was the right thing. It had been too long since the gardens had the same aesthetic. Sayla injected me with a type of enthusiasm that I thought I’d lost in my youth.
