Page 65 of Rectify

He cupped his crotch, looking at her reproachfully. “Aww, no need to threaten the family jewels.”

With a snort, she turned and sat. “Family jewels . . . right. As if you have anything that fifty percent of the world’s population doesn’t have.”

“I’ll have you know that my family jewels are of a very fine quality.”

“Seen a lot of other men’s junk, have you?” she asked.

“Well, not men. But I did go to boarding school for six years.”

“You did? When?” she asked. That was the first she’d heard of it.

“When we lived in Ireland. Before my father lost his job and we moved to the States.”

“You must have been young.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

She couldn’t even imagine sending Mateo away.

“Don’t you like what I have?” he asked, in a clearly disgruntled voice as he worked the comb through her hair.

She patted his leg, glad he couldn’t see her grin. Men were so easily upset when they thought you were disparaging their package.

“Of course I do. You’ve got the finest family jewels in this apartment.”

“Hey!” he protested.

“Mama? What you doin’?” a sleepy voice asked.

“I’m combing your mama’s hair,” Aedan replied, placing his hand on her shoulder as she went to move.

Mateo stared at them curiously. She should get up and go to him. Was he scared? Upset?

Was getting involved with Aedan really the best idea?

But Mateo just shrugged and moved over to the blocks. “Okay, but after you’ve finished, you’re going to play with me, right?”

“Right,” Aedan said calmly. “As soon as I’ve finished brushing Mama’s hair, I’m all yours.”

Maybe things would work out. Maybe.

10

“Here, Lovely, I thought you might like this bedroom.” Aedan opened the door to the bedroom he’d chosen for Natalya.

Much as he’d love to have her in his bed, he didn’t want to push. It was enough that she’d agreed to move in with him. Over the past eight weeks, he’d spent most of his time with her and Mateo. He’d had to shift some things around and delegate a lot of stuff, but it had been worth it. Mateo now ran to him, a wide smile on his face, and Natalya had become far less tense and stressed.

He’d found them both a counselor and he escorted them back and forth to their sessions so Natalya wouldn’t feel vulnerable and unprotected. Remarkably, last week he’d actually managed to get them both out to the park. Natalya had spent the whole time on edge, looking around her. After thirty minutes, she’d insisted they return to the apartment, but he’d taken it as a win.

“Your room, Aedy?” Mateo asked, tugging on Aedan’s hand.

His nickname wasn’t the most masculine, but he didn’t care. Reaching down, he swept Mateo up into his arms. “This is your mama’s bedroom. Mine is across the hall.”

“Oh.” Mateo seemed to think that over. “Okay. I play my room. Bye.” He scrambled down out of Aedan’s arms and raced off. They’d already shown him his bedroom and he’d been so excited.

Aedan chuckled. “Full of energy.”

Natalya smiled ruefully. “I know. Thanks for everything, Aedan. You’ve been wonderful through all of this. Mateo is thrilled about moving in here; he’s talked about nothing else for the last two weeks. He really likes you.”

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