Page 47 of Property of Big Daddy

“Baby, I don’t have to sleep alone.”

“Ouch,” I whisper as a tear rolls down my cheek.“Don’t let me stand in your way.”

“I didn’t mean it.”

“Sure didn’t sound that way.”

“I’m sorry.All right.Can we go home and talk about this?”

“No.”I stomp my foot and he stalks toward me until I’m falling back on the couch and then he’s scooping me up and throwing me over his shoulder.

When he slaps my ass and spanks me, that’s when I truly lose it on him.

Chapter Eighteen

IfollowGwyneeupto the bedroom as she continues to ignore me.

“Are you done throwing your little tantrum?”

“Keeping me safe doesn’t involve tracking my every move.”She lets out a huff and kicks off her sneakers.

“We’ve been over this, babe.I have enemies who will hurt you to get at me.You think it fucking feels good to be terrified that whenever you walk out the door, it could be the last time I see you.”

She does a slow blink.“Why would you think that?”

“The last time I laid eyes on Sissy’s mother, she was laying in a fucking ditch with one of her arms ripped off.”

She flinches at my words.“But that was an unfortunate accident.Not to mention an entirely different situation and you didn’t know that would happen.I understand wanting to protect me, but you’ve got to give me a little breathing room.”

“You’re right.For the record, I wasn’t tracking you.Kidd told me where you were.Do you forgive me?”

“For being overprotective?Yes.For telling me that if I want to be with you, that kids are off the table?No.”

“I told you how I feel about that shit.I’ll be pushing fifty before long.Having another kid at my age would be selfish.”

“Or maybe you don’t want to share me with anyone.”

“Is that so wrong?I just found you, baby, and I’ve already got twenty years of living on you.Who knows how many good years I’ve truly got in me before my heart gives out or someone gets the drop on me?What happens to you when I’m gone?”

“I’d hold on to every piece I had.I’d have a part of you and a part of me forever.”

“We’ve still got time to think about it.This isn’t a decision to rush into,” I tell her as calmly as I can without losing my temper.

“You say that like we have forever, but seconds ago, you were talking some bullshit about how you could die tomorrow.Newsflash, big guy.Any of us could be dead tomorrow.Nothing is promised.”She goes into the bathroom to get ready for bed and I remove my wet clothes.

The way her bottom lip wobbles as though she’s about to cry sends a pang of guilt slicing straight through my gut.

“Let’s not stress ourselves over what ifs.”

“Says the man who worries about my hypothetical demise every day.”

“Listen, things are tense right now, with Lucie and Sissy and everything else the club’s got going on.We’ll revisit this when things have calmed down.”

“And when will that be?”

“I can’t see the future.”

“No, you can’t.And apparently you don’t see a future for us in the long-term.”

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