Page 16 of October's Ride with Atlas

“Then during one deployment, I noticed he was acting really off. Sneaking off on his own a lot and just not acting himself. I didn’t think anything of it because I trusted him. I had no reason not to. When we got home from that deployment, we were debriefed, and one thing they kept talking about was all the black market dealings that were happening, and that it somehow involved our unit. During the time he was talking, it kept sitting in the back of my head that it was your father.

Well, next deployment rolled around and he volunteered to go again, and this time, so did I. I wanted to know one way or another. Honestly, I wanted to prove to myself I was overreacting. Only I wasn’t. I caught making more than one deal, and yes, I was the one who turned him in. One night, we caught him making a deal with some known smugglers and he was arrested. It wasn’t just hearsay,” I tell her.

“What happened after that?” She urges me on.

Once we were back stateside, they looked into his banking and everything he’d done, and there was a lot of unexplained money he couldn’t account for. I think the total was over two million dollars from that deployment alone. There was more inoffshore accounts they couldn’t get access to. Still, it was enough to send him to jail.”

Her whole body stiffens at that.

“Did you say millions?” she asks.

“Yes.”

“My mom and I lived in a building in a gang neighborhood and there was never any money for food, but he had millions in the bank?” she says with a slight laugh. Not quite how I expected her to react.

I flip her on to her back and look down at her.

“You will never want for anything ever again, Princess. You are mine, and I take care of what is mine. I fell for you the moment I saw your photo, and you stole my heart when your eyes locked with mine. I’m sorry you had a shitty childhood, but it led you to me and I can’t be sorry for that,” I tell her. At my words, a tear falls down her cheek.

“Atlas….” she says, voice trembling.

“Now lie there and let me show you one of the many ways I plan to make up for it all,” I tell her. Then I smother her body with kisses, with the intent of not letting her feel sad again for the rest of the night.

CHAPTER 8

BEX

As I snuggleup with Atlas in bed, I don’t remember the last time I was this happy. And I don’t even try to keep the smile off my face.

He woke me up with his head between my thighs, and a few orgasms later, he slid inside me and made love to me. If I ever wondered what the difference was between fucking and making love, Atlas showed me this morning. Eye contact alone did funny things to my heart.

“What do you want for breakfast?” I ask him as I stretch and try to sit up.

He rolls over on top of me and pins me to the bed.

“Where do you think you are going?” he asks, peppering kisseson my jaw and throat.

“To get breakfast going.” I giggle, loving this playful side of him.

“Not a chance. You are going to be lazy and stay in this bed all day. Take a long, hot bath and have a chance to read through as many books as you can,” he says, nodding to a book on his end table with an alligator on the cover.

“That is your book, not mine.” I giggle.

“Still, there are plenty of books in this house, and I know the girls packed you some in your bags,” he says.

“I can’t remember the last time I had a few hours to relax, much less a whole day,” I sigh.

“Well today is that day. Get a book and chill while I make breakfast,” he says before getting out of bed and going toward the kitchen.

I lay there for a minute, soaking it all in and not wanting to get out of the nice, warm bed. But I do, and after visiting the bathroom and getting ready for the day, I check the box in the closet that Atlas brought with us. After rummaging around, I find a romance book Luna was talking about yesterday.

I debate hopping back into bed naked, which I’m sure Atlas would enjoy, but I know I wouldn’t. Instead, I slip on a pair of clean underwear. When I spot Atlas’s shirt he was wearing yesterday, I pick it up, and it still smells like him. Smiling, I slip it over my head.

The shirt is so long it goes down to my knees and is perfect to cozy up with on a lazy day. So, picking up my book and getting back in bed, I rearrange the pillows before settling in. I’m only a chapter in when Atlas walks in with a tray of food.

Looking at me with an appreciative gleam in his eye, he smirks. “I really like my clothes on you.”

I smile, knowing my cheeks are flushing. He takes it in stride and sets the tray of food down before joining me in bed.

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