Page 79 of Vex

“Love you, little sis. You did good in there. The prick had it coming,” Vex tells the top of her head before dropping a light kiss on it.

Turning to me, I get a light kiss from Vex also.

“I’m sorry you two had to go through that. She never said one word about bringing him, or I wouldn’t have brought you guys with me. Hell, I wouldn’t have come myself,” Vex mutters as we reach his truck.

“You’ve met our father, Vex. We can’t really say much about yours,” Tessie says with a grin as we all climb in the truck.

“It’s fine, Vex. I’m sorry about your mom though. I know you were looking forward to seeing her,” I say softly.

“Yeah, I was. But you two were right. She’s to blame as much as Dad is. She doesn’t fight for what she wants and spending time with her son isn’t worth a battle, I guess.”

“She’ll have to figure it out on her own, baby,” I tell him.

“Now that the drama is over, where we eating tonight? Because I’m starving back here,” Tessie interjects from the back seat.

“Call Suki and you three pick a place. Have her meet us there. Dinner’s on me. Might as well have the whole damn harem together,” Vex mutters with a grin as he starts the truck.

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“You have lost your effing mind, Vex! What the hell? Nobody can actually afford this place!” I shout at his grinning face.

“We can. Just walk through it with me before you pass out, okay?”

I give in and decide to humor him. Rex hands over the keys and we walk inside. I hear Tessie gasp and then see her start running through the big ass living room, stopping long enough to look out each window. And there are a lot of them. They circle the entire room except where the fireplace is. The fireplace is large enough for me to walk inside and not be touching my head. It’s humongous and beautiful with its flat stones and glossy wood mantle. Tall cathedral ceiling over the living room portion. Balcony on the second floor overlooking it. The rooms organically blend from one to the next. Open floor plan and every inch of it’s gorgeous. The kitchen is all white cabinets with black granite counters, and everything shines. I’m in love already but don’t want to admit it. No way anyone I know can afford this place.

The exterior of the house is made of flat stone and huge wood timbers. It has a deck that circles it all the way around to the pool. The pool’s a work of art with natural stone surrounding it and making up a small waterfall on one side. Hot tub in one corner with a huge BBQ pit made of brick. The entire lawn is beautifully landscaped and well-maintained.

“The basement is finished. Game room with pool table and a pinball machine. Small bar with fridge and sink. Huge ass TV that would be perfect for watching the game. A few small rooms that could be made into anything you’d want. Craft room, maybe. A large bedroom and bath for guests. On the main floor is the master bedroom and bath. It has huge closets and a connecting bedroom that would be perfect as a nursery. Come see,” Vex says excitedly as he pulls me by the hand.

Standing in the door of the master bedroom, I feel my mouth drop open. It’s as large as the downstairs of my house. French doors that open to the deck. I slowly walk to the bathroom and forcibly close my mouth. Again, it’s huge. Double sinks, a large claw footed tub sitting in front of a window overlooking the backyard. The shower is like walking into a stone cave. It has a large arched doorway with no door. Eight people could easily stand in it. Shower heads are placed in several locations around it. What looks like a state of the art security system is mounted on one wall. It’s the control panel for the showerheads, temperature, on/off, steam and God knows what else. Walking out of there, I open the door to the connecting bedroom and my heart sinks. I love it, and I want this for our baby, but I know it’s way the hell out of our range. The room is empty and looks like it was never used. It would need painting, but I can easily picture Vex and I in here with our little one.

“Taja! Taja! Come see this!” Tessie hollers down the staircase.

I hear Rex and Vex chuckle as I brush past and go looking for my sister. I find her twirling in circles with her arms out to the side, huge grin on her face and eyes twinkling.

“Tessie?” I ask to get her attention.

“Check this out! This would be my room! French doors that go to a balcony overlooking the Front Range and the pool. My own friggin’ bathroom. No more sharing with you! It has a tub, a separate shower that’s big enough to throw a party in, and the toilet is closed off in its own little room. It has a makeup table that’s lighted and about a dozen plugins. And I’m guessing they don’t blow the breakers when I have my blow dryer and the coffee maker going at the same time! This is the bomb!” Tessie ends on a shout.

“Tessie. Honey. You know we can’t afford…”

“Yes, we can afford it,” Vex cuts in.

“Vex, no we…”

“Let the man talk, Taja. It’s rude to interrupt,” Tessie interrupts me to say while walking to Vex and wrapping her hands around his bicep. “Talk to me, pretty boy. Are you serious that we could actually live here? And still have food to eat?”

“Yes. If you ladies like this place, we’re buying it.”

“I call for a vote. Majority rules. I vote yes,” Tessie says while waving one hand in the air.

“It doesn’t work that way!” I shout at her.

“Should. Be a lot easier if it did,” Rex mumbles. “Not sure I’ve ever seen a woman so hell bent onnotspending money, Vex. You need to have that talk with her. Now. Tessie, why don’t you and I go explore the pool and property and let Vex convince Taja that you all need this place.”

“Great idea! Use whatever means necessary, Vex. We’ll stay gone until you call us back inside. Just please, use another room to convince her in,” Tessie says while tossing a wink at Vex and walking out with Rex.

I watch as Vex chuckles over Tessie’s sassy remark and then I brace as he walks up tight to my chest. Grabbing my hand, he bends and places a sweet kiss on my mouth. Then pulls me behind him until we’ve walked through all the rooms upstairs. We move down to the main level and he leads me to a table and chairs. We sit and Vex rocks my world.

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