Page 164 of Unchained

She is so damn perfect.

I grab her purse and place it on my lap, opening it, but I don’t rummage. I hold it out to her. Mom always told me never to go through a woman's handbag. I think Mom would have liked G; she’s full of fire, like Mom was. They would have had a blast over a cocktail.

“You’ve had your hands inside me. You have permission to go in my purse, Colten.”

I scrunch my face up. “My mom always told me never to.”

“You have my consent. I need my red lipstick,” she says like it’s the most normal thing in the world for me to dig through her bag of who knows what. Knowing her, it’ll be lipstick, knives, and maybe a few spare bullets floating around the bottom.

“Fine,” I huff and dig in.

My hand hits more items inside here than I thought could even fit, and I swear to God there are bullet shells in here. “What the hell is in here?”

“Everything in case of an emergency,” she replies flatly.

I grab the box of cigarettes and pull it out, and then I frown. “Gianna, when’s the last time you had one of these?”

She would normally have one while driving.

She sucks in a breath. “I haven’t had one since I went to LA. So nearly five days?”

My eyes go wide. “Are you feeling okay?”

She laughs, snatches them out of my hand, and for a second everything goes back to normal, but then she tosses them behind her onto the back seats. “I can’t look at them. I quit.”

“You quit?” I can’t hide the surprise in my voice.

“Yes. For the things I want in my future now, I have to,” she says confidently.

Her eyes sparkle, and it takes my damn breath away.

I rest my hand on her thigh and squeeze. “What new things?”

I think I know the answer, but I want to hear her say it. I’m hoping I’m on the right track, and not that she wants to start running marathons or some shit.

“Oh, you know. I need to get my cardio better, to help on the ranch. And I might forge a career in taste testing, and need a clean palate.”

I huff out a laugh, and she leans over to tap my cheek. “Would you like the truth?” she asks.

I nod. “Lay it on me, baby.”

She takes a deep breath. “Before, I knew I was heading into a coffin, so smoking didn’t bother me. Whether that sent me there or a bullet. It didn’t matter. Something was going to kill me; why not let it be the cigarettes? But now? I went back to LA, Colt. And I hated it. I missed this place. I missed you. I want to live until I’m eighty. I want to have kids. I need to get healthier and start respecting myself more. We’ve got an empire to build and a family to make, Colt. We need to be alive for that.”

The smile on my face hurts my damn cheeks. I love the fact she said ‘we’.

“You realized you want to live?” I say, trying to stop my voice from breaking.

“I do.” She rests her dainty hand over mine.

“And you want to have my babies?”

Even if she didn’t want to have my kids eventually, that wouldn’t have changed a damn thing. I want Gianna for who she is, babies or not. But the fact that she wants that too, that she sees her future as a mirror of mine, that’s everything I ever wanted.

Her cheeks flush a bright red. “Babies, plural? I was thinking let's start with one. Violet has kind of scared me, to be honest.”

I lean over, pressing a kiss to her cheek as we pull up beside Hunter’s house. She turns off the ignition and the truck hums as she turns to face me. “The way you keep going, Mr. Sterling, I might already be pregnant.” She gives me a very pointed look.

I swallow past the lump in my throat. “That don’t scare me, sweetheart. If anything, you’ve just spurred me on to fuck you more. You gave me one hell of a breeding kink.”