Page 30 of His Paradise

“Just be ready to work tomorrow.” He says.

“I haven’t found a sitter for Gabby yet.” Grayson frowns.

“I’ll watch her.” Olivia and I say at the same time, smiling at eachother. After we have all said our goodnights, Aden and I take Leo to our room. It’s still early enough that we sit in bed, watching Leo try to balance on his bottom, but he ends up flopping onto his tummy with a giggle anyway.

“What did Grayson mean by the clothes and bed?” I ask Aden. He shrugs, but I jab a finger to his ribs and squint at him until he sighs and leans back against the pillows.

“He hurt you, and dammit Nina, I want to snap his neck with my bare fucking hands each time I see him. But in the end, he protected you. He was willing to die to save you and as a father, part of me can see why he did what he did. Somehow, my heart, you forgave him. So I’ll tolerate him.” He says, rubbing a hand over his tired face.

“Percy told me that Grayson and his daughter were coming with the clothes on their backs. I asked him and Olivia to order them each enough clothes to hold them over, and Gabby needed her own princess bed. They deserve a fresh start, that little girl deserves it.” He says. My hand clutches the front of my nightgown as I blink away tears. The man before me, willing to put aside his own aching heart, was the same one who had David pleading for his life. I reach for his hand, taking it in mine as I wait for him to look at me.

“I may be your heart, but you are my home Aden.” I say, kissing him gently at first. His hand fists in my hair as his lips devour me, searing every inch of my body and soul as he steals my breath.

Leo sneezes, drawing us apart as we both breath hard, our foreheads pressed together.

“No one will ever take you from me again, Nina. Do you hear me?” He asks and I nod, kissing him gently. “Except your son, who needs a diaper change.” I giggle as he sits up with a sigh.

“You should feel special, I don’t do well with sharing. Just ask your aunt Luna, she almost lost a finger for taking my crayons when we were kids. In my defense, it had the sharpener in it.” He smirks at me over his shoulder as he scoops our son into his arms. Watching him sway as he walks, whispering to our grinning baby, makes my heart thud even harder inside my chest.

I would sacrifice everything for him. For them. His phone buzzes on the bed and I check the screen, the message makes my stomach curl. The way it did before our family was nearly ripped to shreds when this entire disaster began.

A message from an unknown number flashes, bright like a warning of what was coming.

“Nina?” Aden says, but I can’t look away as my mouth dries and I struggle to swallow. “Talk to me, sweetheart.” He hurries next to me, his hand catching my jaw to force my eyes to his. I don’t have to look at the screen when I speak, the words burned to my eyes.

“Our patience has run to its limit. You will all pay with your lives and land.” I mutter, turning his phone so that he can see the screen. A series of photos follow the message, one of Jared and Luna kissing in her hospital room. Another of me holding Gabby. The last one is Isabelle as she straddles Markus and uses her mouth on Alec, the picture taken through a window of their intimate moment.

“Isabelle is going to go nuclear,” Aden says, his footsteps muffled as he begins pacing. “Markus is going to want it framed on his wall and Alec is going to print it out to carry it in his pocket, the fucking pervs.” He snorts.

“How can you be joking right now? Those are all from today, Aden.” My voice rises but I can’t dial back the panic as it grips my throat. He stops, raising a brow at me as his lips curl into a devious smile.

“Because this is exactly what we wanted all along. His entire family is going to pay for what their threats and the sins of the son that they helped cover up. That beast beneath the shed brutally beat every woman he ever touched. His parents bailed him out and buried it each and every time. His brother hurts children, Nina. Children. That entire family will be wiped from this earth before I take my last breath.” He turns away, answering his phone. I can hear Luna shrieking in the background, her curses jumbling together into one long word. “I’lllfuckingcutthatpervertedlittlebitchtwithmytoenails.”

“Toenails?” Aden says, looking at me as I just shake my head.

“We’re going to put an end to this. Get on with it before Luna burns the hospital to the ground, our insurance doesn’t cover arson.” Jared grumbles, before the sound of something breaking makes him sigh and the phone call ends. Before he can take a step, it rings again and he pinches the bridge of his nose.

“They sent it to all of you?” I ask. He answers, dropping the phone to the bed between us after setting it to the speaker.

“Isabelle is in the yard threatening every guard with a knife.” I can hear the amusement in Alec’s voice.

“What she will do to you is fucking cuddles compared to when I shove my boot down your throat and watch you fucking choke.” Markus roars, and even I flinch. Alec’s laugh is dark, twisted and terrifying.

“You don’t wanna toss around some threats?” Aden snorts as he lays on the bed, massaging my feet.

“I don’t need to. When we find the one responsible, I’m going to saw his useless little dick from his body and force him to eat it while his loved ones watch.” Alec yawns over the phone and I don’t think my eyes could widen any further. Aden’s snicker has me ready to climb the walls.

“How can you be so calm?” I ask him. Alec speaks up, “Have you seen anyone stand against us and live to see another miserable day?”

Chapter twenty-six

Aden

Markus kept putting his damn froggy rain boots on my table and I was moments away from stabbing him with a fork for it. Nina comes back downstairs with Isabelle on her heels and Amelia skipping proudly ahead of them. She stops, frowning and she rests her tiny fists on her hips and glares at her father.

“Shoes on the table are bad.” She huffs out at him and Markus drops his feet, looking ashamed as I smother a laugh. Amelia runs up to Gabby, the two form an immediate friendship and rush off to cause trouble in another room.

“Those two are going to be fierce when they’re older.” Isabelle shakes her head, letting Markus pull her into his lap. “When they’re older? I saw the look in Amelia’s eye, they’re plotting something.” Percy tsks, his smile dropping when he catches sight of Olivia. She’s leaned close to Grayson, the two of them talking as they watch something on his phone.

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