Page 23 of Dangerous Devotion

I sat up and brought Jemma with me. “And then there’s the hacking situation. We need to figure out who’s behind that, too. Not to mention, we still haven’t dealt with your father.”

Jemma nodded slowly, her eyes never leaving mine.

“So, as much as it pains me to say this”—I sighed and hung my head melodramatically—“you’re right.”

Just because our situation was shitty right now didn’t mean it wouldn’t be better with a little bit of humor.

I gave her a lopsided grin when she jabbed against my chest. “Glad you can acknowledge that, at least. Maybe there’s still hope for you.”

“Maybe, maybe not. You know how we Italians like to be right more than anything.” I winked at her.

She sighed. “We should definitely hold off on starting a family. Solve these problems first. Get our lives in order. Maybe give you a couple of years to grow up.”

The expression on her face was one that could be used as a meme for “You’re so childish.”

I cupped her face in my hand, my thumb brushing her cheek, and stared at her until we both were back to serious. “For now. Because I want to give our children the best possible start in life. And right now, with all this chaos…it’s not.”

The expression in Jemma’s eyes softened slightly, a mix of relief and something else—disappointment, maybe?—flickering across her face.

“Yes,” she whispered. “Let’s definitely wait until we’re not dodging bullets, attacking helicopters, and unraveling conspiracies.”

I pulled her close and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “We’ll get through this, Punk. And when we do, when it’s safe…then we’ll revisit the idea of starting our family.”

She nodded.

“We can use the time to find out how good of a team we are.”

She cocked her head. “Find out how good of a team we are… So you’re done dictating everything?” she countered.

I could not promise her that. Would not promise her that. Being in charge, making decisions—it was too deeply ingrained in me to just change with the flip of a coin—not that I could tell her that.

I groaned as another knock interrupted our moment. “For fuck’s sake!” I shouted, my temper flaring. Couldn’t we have five fucking minutes of peace? “Can’t a man have some damn time alone with his wife?”

“She’s not your wife yet,” Alex’s voice came through the door, tinged with amusement. “And you two better get dressed and come downstairs ASAP.”

I felt her tense in my hold, her eyes widening. “My dad,” she whispered, a mix of panic and resignation in her voice.

“Your dad,” I muttered, running a hand through my hair. I looked down at Jemma, still wearing nothing, her short, green hair mussed from our activities. As much as I loved seeing her like this, it wasn’t exactly the image I wanted to present to her father.

“We’ll be down in five,” I called out to Alex while Jemma scrambled to get up, and I did the same.

“Make it three,” Alex replied.

I turned to Jemma, who was frantically looking around for her clothes. “Hey,” I said softly as I rounded the bed, catching her wrist. “It’s going to be okay. We’re in this together—a team, remember?”

She nodded, but I could see the worry in her eyes. I pressed aquick kiss to her forehead before releasing her. Then hurried to make myself presentable.

And as much as I put on a mask of cool aloofness, I couldn’t help but feel a mix of anticipation and dread.

This wasn’t exactly how I’d planned to ask Craig Donnelly for his daughter’s hand in marriage or introduce myself to him as his future son-in-law, but then again, nothing about our relationship had been conventional so far. So what did I expect?

I grabbed a fresh shirt from the closet, pulled it on, and watched Jemma struggle with her clothes from earlier. She looked beautiful, even flustered and rushed and disheveled. I couldn’t resist pulling her close for a kiss.

“Vince, stop,” she protested, pushing against my chest. “We don’t have time for this.”

“You two better hurry up!” Alex’s voice came through the door again, surprising me. Why the hell was he still out there?

I growled in frustration but released her. She was right, of course, but that didn’t mean I had to like it.

---