Page 61 of By the Letter

Ben flipped his hand over, his palm up. “To be fair, he was always that. You just looked past it because of your daddy issues.”

“Fuck off,” I said without any venom. He wasn’t wrong. I’d gone to therapy for my insatiable need to make my dead father proud and still ended up in this position. Obviously, I had more work to do, but I’d taken the first step of removing my head out of my own ass. Hopefully, it would remain that way.

“For what it’s worth, I’d say she’s forgiven you.” Nate nodded toward the peacefully sleeping Shira. “I like her. Quite a lot, actually. She doesn’t strike me as conniving or opportunistic. I’d say she’s pretty down to earth.”

“I agree, and I like her too.” I brushed my fingers over her forehead again. “She’ll be a really good mom.”

Ben waggled his brows. “Sure, sure, but do youlikeher? I’m getting vibes…”

“She’s the mother of my child,” I stated.

“Leave it,” Nate snapped. “Not everything’s a joke.”

Ben raised his hands. “All right, I’ll drop it. I was just saying what we were all thinking.”

Shira woke later in the evening, soon after my brothers left. Her eyes sprung open, and she sucked in a breath, her head whipping left and right.

“Have a nice nap, Goldie?”

Her wide eyes landed on me, still seated beside her. “I fell asleep?”

“You did. Looked like you needed that nap.”

“I guess I did.” She rubbed her eyes and yawned. “Nate and Ben are gone?”

“Just left. Ben’s never been quiet a day in his life. Him slamming the door on his way out was probably what woke you.”

“He managed to be quiet enough for me to nap for over an hour.”

“Miracles happen once in a blue moon.”

Straightening, she arched her back, her waves cascading along the curve of her spine like a waterfall. I tried not to be captivated, but it was impossible. It was just as well she usually wore her hair tied up when she went out. The general public didn’t deserve to see her this way.

Not that I did, but I wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

“Shira, I need to assure you Adrian doesn’t know about room ten. But even if he did, he’d keep it to himself. Discretion is of utmost importance in his line of work.”

Her soft mouth opened then closed. Finally, after moments of what looked like indecision, she whispered, “Okay.”

“I thought it would be better to keep it between us. If it were just me, I’d tell my brothers all about that night, but I’d ratherthem not know that about you. I assumed you would prefer that too.”

She nodded. “Thank you. I still can’t believe that night happened.” She smoothed her hand over her belly. “If not for this, I might think I dreamed it.”

“I take it that was your first time at MHC?”

She snorted softly. “Oh, yes. Bea told me about the app. I don’t know why I downloaded it, but once I did, I was curious, so I looked at profiles.”

“And that intrigued you?”

“You know me, Roman. Going to a bar to be picked up is out of the question. I wanted…an experience—to feel good about myself and not be alone for one night. Then I talked to Wim—toyou—well, I still didn’t think I’d go through with our plan. Then I was there, and it happened, and…well, what about you?”

“Curiosity on my part too.”

Her brow arched. “I would think, since your brother owns the club, you have sated your curiosity quite a bit.”

“You’d think that, but that was my first time doing something like that as well. I went through a breakup a few months back, and I’m not one for picking women up in bars. Ade told me about his new app, and I skimmed through it just to see who was on there. When I came across a shy woman who wanted to be used, I was too intrigued to pass that up.”

Her shudder was subtle, but I didn’t miss it. Nor did I miss her pink tongue darting out to wet her lips. “Have you been back many times since?”

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