Page 93 of It Must Be Love

"Yes, mother."

Once the door was closed, Naya let out a breath and began to breathe like she'd gone on a run.

"What was that?"

"I think, darling, that was Vivianna Westbrook welcoming you into the Westbrook family."

"And I just decided to move in with you without even asking you." She dropped her face in her hands.

"Come here." I urged her to me, and she leaned into me, her head on my shoulder. "You love me, Little Warrior?"

"I do."

"I love you too."

"This place is too big," she finally told me.

"Okay. Let's look for a smaller place. And you can decide where you want us to live."

She sighed. "I can't afford—"

"Shut up, Naya."

"You can't just do that whenever we talk about money," she protested.

"Okay, fine. Let's talk about money. You have very little. I have a whole fucking lot."

She chewed on her lower lip, something she did when she was nervous.

"You're used to nice things, and I can't…don't yell at me…afford those. It feels wrong for me to have them because I'm with you."

"Okay. Let's flip the situation. Say, I didn't have a lot of money and we were together, how would you feel if I slap at you every time you try to give me something? Would that hurt you?"

She looked stricken. "Oh, Amias. I never meant to hurt you."

"But you are." Fuck it. I'd use emotional blackmail to get her where I wanted when she was unreasonable about irrelevant shit like money. Granted, if I didn't have much, I wouldn't think it was irrelevant, but it was when it came to our relationship. "Wouldn't you want to share what you have with me? Why won't you let me share what I have with you?"

"I don't want people to think I'm with you because you're rich."

"Who gives a fuck what people think? I care about what very few people think. You think Darren would think that?"

She shook her head.

"Hayes?"

She shook her head again.

"My friend Jackson wouldn't think that. If your father was alive, would he think that?"

"No. Absolutely not. He knows me."

"So, the people most important in your life and mine know we're together because we love each other. And if someone does think that, they don't deserve to be in our lives. Most importantly, you and I know why we're together."

"I love you, Amias."

"I know."

She kissed me then and straddled me. "I never ever thought this would happen."

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