Page 11 of The Marriage Auction 2: Part 2

I gritted my teeth. “If she is pregnant with my child, are you going to leave me?” I whispered, sounding weak and defeated even to my own ears.

She closed her eyes and shook her head slowly, then let out a long breath, her shoulders slumping. “You think so little of me?” Her gaze lifted, eyes filling with unshed tears. “After all this?” She spread her hands around the bed and then between us. “We’re married, Gio. We just consummated our commitment…fantastically, I might add.”

“I agree,” I rushed to explain. “It’s just,” I let my gaze fall to the bed. “I couldn’t ask you to stay and help raise another woman’s child. Your husband’s child, with yourbrother’s wife,” I almost gagged on the truth in that statement, because the entire situation was repugnant.

Julianne cupped my cheeks, and I cast my gaze to hers.

“You and me, we are in this together. Not only as man and wife, but as life-long best friends. We may not have ever believed we’d be right here, married, about to take on the world as we know it, but we’ve always been there for one another. That will never change, regardless of what the future might bring.”

“Or what a demon might birth.” I scowled, refusing to believe I would have to raise a child with a woman I loathed. Then again, thousands of families did it every single day. I wasn’t special by any means.

I pressed my forehead to Julianne’s. “I don’t deserve you,” I admitted for more reasons than just this new development.

“No, you don’t, but then again no one does,” she teased before pressing her lips to mine.

We kissed for a full minute, reigniting the fire that had been banked by Bianca’s message. Now it was a raging inferno once more.

I slid the satin sheet from her naked body and pressed her back down on the bed. Ready to worship my wife in every waypossible. Delete the last half hour as if it never existed until we were forced to deal with it again.

Her hand went to the button of my slacks then slid down the zipper. “Just so you know, I have an IUD. No unplanned pregnancies happening for us.”

I rubbed my nose along hers and stared into her eyes. “I wouldn’t care if you were the one who was pregnant, Jules. If I’m being honest, I may have imagined a life over the years where we were together, and chasing a couple redheaded little ones running around the family estate.”

She beamed in response. “Maybe I had similar dreams at one time.”

I closed my eyes as her hand wrapped around my hardening shaft. “Are we sure this new thing between us can handle another hit from Hurricane Bianca?”

“I’m more sure of you and me than I am of anything else in my life right now. And ewwww, don’t say her name when we’re being intimate,” she grumbled and then stroked my cock until I moaned. “When we’re in bed like this, it’s me and you. The rest of the world slips away. Deal?”

I leaned down and took her mouth in a wet, deep kiss.

“Deal.”

* * * *

Julianne was a force to be reckoned with when we got off the plane in New York and into the limo for the ride to her penthouse. She didn’t even ask if I wanted to go to my home, immediately instructing the driver to take us to hers. It didn’t matter to me. Already my staff were flying from the lake house to my Manhattan home. Muriel was shocked but elated when I called her from the plane and told her I’d married Julianne. My longtime assistant hated my ex-fiancée with a passion.

We exited the limo, and I held Julianne’s hand as we entered the elevator and rode up to her home.

“I hope you don’t mind coming straight here instead of your place. I couldn’t stomach the thought of sleeping in the same bed you’d shared with her.” Julianne’s pale cheeks reddened and her brows pinched together in what I could feel was a deep loathing for the woman in question.

“Fair enough. I’m not even sure if all of her belongings were removed since I went to the lake house immediately after the rehearsal dinner.”

She nodded as we exited the elevator into the foyer of her apartment. I followed her through the living room and into a long hallway. There were large, framed pictures and canvases lit from above by track lighting, highlighting each piece. I’d always known Julianne was a lover of art, and now she was revealing a piece of herself I imagined not many got to see. It made me feel special to have been invited into her sanctuary.

Julianne opened a set of double doors into the master bedroom at the end of the hall. A huge king-size bed was positioned across from a luxurious sitting area, complete with an electric fireplace with a television hanging above it. This must be where she watched TV since I didn’t notice one in the main living area. The bedroom was large and filled with sleek birch-colored furniture trimmed with gold hardware. A sumptuous, cozy-looking plush couch and loveseat also surrounded the fireplace, inviting visitors to sit, put their feet up and stay awhile. A glass, gold-framed coffee table and end table with modern crystal lamps completed the space. Her bed was covered with a buttoned-back gold-toned shiny fabric. A puffy white comforter with gold swirls and several king-size pillows finished the look. Julianne planted her ass on a bench at the foot of the bed and removed her shoes.

“Do you want take a shower and sleep some more?” she asked, glancing out the window where the sun was just rising over the New York City skyline.

I shook my head, all that occurred buzzing through my mind like a horde of angry wasps. “I think I need to call Bianca, see if she’ll meet me somewhere. Maybe pop into my place and grab more of my things. You’re good with us both staying here for the foreseeable future?”

“Honestly, that would be preferred. I think we’ll have more clarity here and be able to relax better away from things that might hold some difficult memories of your time with her before…”

I completed her sentence. “Before everything went to hell in a handbasket?”

She grinned sheepishly. “I wouldn’t have put it like that exactly.” She stood and walked over to where I was standing in the center of her room. She lifted her arms and wrapped them around my neck, plastering her body against mine. “You know we’re going to get to the bottom of all this, right?”

I sighed and hugged her, enjoying the simple act of being held and cared for by someone I knew with my entire soul wouldn’t ever screw me over.

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