Page 92 of The Devil's Daughter

He pulls up a real estate app and shows me a handful of listings for houses that are mind-bogglingly gorgeous, not to mention huge, with more than enough outdoor space to make a dozen dogs happy.

“What about that one?” I ask, pointing at a listing he skipped over. He scrolls back and makes a soft grunt of dismissal. “What’s wrong with it?”

“Nothing’s wrong with the house. I just don’t fancy the idea of owning a place next door to your dad. Arturo owns the property adjoining that one.”

I blink as I let that sink in. I’m not sure why it didn’t register until this moment that my father isrich. But then, so is Drake. Exactly how rich, I don’t know. In all my digging into Drake’s secrets, I avoided looking at his actual finances, but living in an apartment, no matter how opulent it is or how big his yacht is, it’s easy to ignore their monetary value. It isn’t until I’m viewing the list of potential houses he picked out and seeing their price tags that it hits me.

“Elle?” Drake says. “You look pale. Are you okay? You’re not having second thoughts about all this, are you? It’s a pretty big deal, all things considered.”

Closing my eyes, I shake my head as I take a deep breath. “No, it isn’t you, or the idea of us buying a house. I guess I knew you were stupid rich, just nothowrich, and I think I kind of didn’t want to know what the number was because I was worried it might influence how I felt. It doesn’t, by the way.”

He smiles and nudges my knee with his. “I never thought it did.”

“It just never sank in that my father might be just as wealthy. Especially if he owns a house like the one he has in LAandthat one.”

I point at Drake’s phone. The house he just showed me that’s for sale has an eight-figure price tag, and it’s next door to one that’s easily as beautiful.

“I couldn’t tell you what your father’s worth, but I do know some of the antiquities he deals in are worth ten of those houses. Chances are the sole purpose of the one he owns is just to hold some of the art in his personal collection. I have to admire the guy for making the shift to art smuggling instead of drugs and guns, though. It’s still illegal, but at least nobody’s getting hurt.

“You know the only way he’d do business with Typhon again was if I promised I’d never follow in my father’s footsteps. In fact, I hope to do exactly the opposite. Starting this week, I’m going to start donating money to charities that combat sex trafficking. I should’ve done it long ago, but my goals for the company were all about putting that behind me. After what happened to us, though, I can’t deny that it’s still a problem, even if Typhon isn’t facilitating it. It needs to stop.”

“That’s a great idea. What if we start our own? When I graduate, I could run it.” A zing of excitement races through me at the thought of having something of my own that could truly make a difference in the world.

“Tell you what, we’ll work on it together over the next two years so it’s ready to go when you’re ready to take it on. Until then, I think it’s time for you to go back to school, don’t you?”

I flop down onto my back, jostling the puppy on my lap. She rouses and crawls up my belly to start licking my face. “Fine! I’m actually looking forward to it. But who will take care of these little cutie pies, huh?” I shift into baby-talk and glance at the twins with puppy-dog eyes.

Ben cracks one eye and snorts. “I see how it is. Now that you no longer need bodyguards, we’re getting demoted to nannies.”

“Who could say no to this little face?” I croon, holding Scylla up with both hands and flopping her little ears at him. She twists around and licks my nose.

Ben rolls over and crawls to me, looming close until his nose hovers inches above mine. “This is the face I can’t say no to,” he says, then proceeds to swipe his tongue from my jaw to my temple.

I twist around with a shriek, and the puppies go wild with the excitement of a new game. The twins tackle me, and the next thing I know, I’m being assaulted with tickles and obnoxious licks to my face. When the licks turn to nibbles on decidedly more sensitive parts of me, I force myself to call a halt to the fun.

“Enough, guys. We don’t want to traumatize the kids.” I grin like a fool, though. This might be the best day of my life, even with the itchy, sore back from the final session of our tattoos. But I turn serious when all three guys look back at me with sober expressions. “What?”

“We haven’t exactly talked about … um …kids. For real, I mean,” Baz says.

“Well,” I say, sitting up and gathering my thoughts, which are only half-formed anyway. “There are probably a lot of things we haven’t discussed that we need to. One thing I’m positive I want, no matter what, is to be with the three of you. As long as that’s not changing, I’m open to whatever else comes our way. You guysareopen to kids, right? I don’t expect them to happen soon. Ideally not for, like, ten years, at least. And if they never happen, that’s okay with me too.”

Both twins relax. Ben lets out a heavy breath. “That’s a relief. That you’re happy to let things happen in their own time.”

I turn and study Drake. “You’re older than us. What are your thoughts? Do you want a big family?”

He reaches out and pulls me to him, hugging me close. “The four of us are more family than I’ve ever had. I’m in no hurry to add to it beyond a couple pets. Just promise me you won’t hold back if you ever want more, because there is nothing I wouldn’t do for the three of you. Got it?” He shifts his gaze between me and the twins.

Both twins hold their fists over their hearts in a small salute and vow their honesty.

I gaze up into Drake’s eyes, tears pricking at the corners of my own. “There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you too.”

48

Marco

“One week isn’t nearly long enough,brother,” Maddox says, shaking his head. “When this op is done, are you coming back for a proper vacation? I’ll take time off. Hell, we all will, if you want us to.”

“I learned years ago not to commit to major plans. But yeah. When I get back, I’ll be more than ready for some downtime. Maybe take that boat trip Elle’s new boyfriend offered.”

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