Page 37 of The Devil's Demise

I chuckle, my palms landing on his shoulders and I kneel, looking into the eyes of the boy who I love as much as his mom. “Thank fuuu—fudge.”

“Were you gonna curse? I won’t tell Mom.” He shakes his head, all serious.

“We don’t keep secrets from her, okay?”

“Okay.” He shrugs as I tilt my head to the side with a smirk.

“Fine,” I throw in. “Maybe some secrets should be between us.” I wink. “Like the extra cupcakes I give you after dinner when she isn’t looking.”

“She already knows.” He giggles. “She just pretends she doesn’t to you.”

“Is that so?” I narrow my stare, and he continues to laugh. I love the sound. That’s what children should be doing—laughing, having fun. Not be locked up in cages. Fuck. My chest tightens and anger swells in my gut.

I release a deep sigh, still amazed at what I ended up with—a woman I’m insane about and a kid who may as well share my blood. “You know what it means for us once your mom and me are married?”

He shakes his head, and a wide grin rolls over my face.

“It means I can adopt you.”

“What does that mean?” He looks curiously at me, widening his stare.

“It means you get to officially be my son and I get to be your dad. Do you think you’d want that?”

“You wanna be my dad?” His eyes swell larger.

“Very much. It would mean a lot to me.”

“Could I call you that? Now? My dad?” Tears rain within his eyes, and shit, I feel them too. I swallow hard.

“Yeah, son. You can.” I blink rapidly, trying to keep my emotions in check, but when he throws his arms around me, and grips me tight, I’m lost to them. I squeeze my eyes shut, my breaths rapid.

“I love you, Dad.”

Tears roll down my face, and I didn’t even know I could do that.

A sniffle comes from behind Robby, and when I look up, I see her, wiping under her eyes. I didn’t even notice her come out of the room.

Our gazes meet and her features are overflowing with love. “Hey there, beautiful,” I say, just as Robby pulls away and I rise.

“Enzo ... you’re amazing.”

“I try. For you, baby.” I make it to her, Robby beside me. I tuck her chin in between two fingers, looking deep into her eyes. “I love you.”

“I love you. So damn much.”

I kiss her, both hands holding her face as I let her feel my love. Reluctantly, I draw back, knowing this will get out of hand quickly if we keep going, and we kinda have a kid staring at us.

“We ready to go?” I clear my throat, my palm running up and down her back.

Her mouth paints with a gleaming smile. “I’m most definitely ready.”

“Let’s eat.”

We make it out of the villa, walking down the bridge to the sand. Robby rushes down before us, while we stroll, holding hands, her long pink dress, flapping behind her.

“What you said back there? About adopting him?” She turns to me, and our walking slows. “Thank you. I was nervous to bring it up. I wasn’t sure if you wanted that.”

“I want everything with you, Jade. When are you going to see that? I’m in this forever, baby. You two are my whole damn world.”

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