Page 48 of Lorenzo's Claim

“Right, I’d better get going. I got sh—I mean,thingsto do.” Red let out a relieved sigh that he caught himself from cursing.

“I love him!” Jack beamed. “Now, where is the bathroom?”

“It’s just down this corridor. Count five doors, and you’ll reach it.” I pointed him in the right direction.

“Got it! Wait here for me!” he said sweetly before hurrying off to count doors.

I sat on the bottom step of the stairs, picking at the frayed knees of my jeans. The afternoon with the girls was exactly what I needed. I knew they had different opinions of Lorenzo, and that was completely understandable. They didn’t know him, and I hoped they’d never truly want to, either.

“Ana?” Lorenzo appeared before me, catching me off guard. He must have been holed up in his office since returning home.

“Lorenzo,” I replied, matching his tone.

“Why are you sitting there?” he quizzed, looking genuinely confused.

“I’m just waiting for Jack.” The second I opened my mouth, it dawned on me that Lorenzo didn’t know who Jack was.

“And who the fuck is Jack?” he quizzed, his brows furrowing more with each word.

“That’s me. I’m Jack.” An overly confident Jack piped up from behind Lorenzo, causing his face to drop when he realised Jack was, in fact, a child.

Lorenzo turned. He stood beside me as he came face-to-face with an adorable little boy who flashed him a smile.

“You know you just said a swear word, right?” Jack scrunched his nose, looking exactly like Tay when he did. He furrowed his brows, challenging my husband.

“I just said a what?” The look on Lorenzo’s face was priceless. I had never seen him look so surprised and confused all at once.

“A swear word… You know, a really bad word.” Jack’s face relaxed a little, amused that Lorenzo didn’t understand.

“Well, forgive me, little man. I am sorry.”Holy shit, did he just apologise?I never thought I’d see the day.

“Do you have ice cream?” Jack asked with a sweet smile.

“I do, why do you ask?” Lorenzo crouched down onto the balls of his feet, his lips lifting ever so slightly at the corners.

“Well, I can forget the swear word if I can have some ice cream?” he whispered close to Lorenzo’s ear.

“Alright, you’ve got yourself a deal.” He held out his hand that was decorated with a variety of scars. “How many scoops?”

“I was thinking of nine. You know, because I’m nine.”

“Well, I didn’t know that, but I do now.” Lorenzo chuckled as Jack shook his hand.

They wandered through to the kitchen together while I followed behind.

Had someone asked me this morning how I would have envisioned Lorenzo today, I would never have pictured him like this. His crisp white shirt was rolled up to his elbows as he scooped endless flavours of ice cream into a sundae dish before decorating it with sprinkles and a chocolate flake.

“There you go, little man.” He slid the ice cream over to Jack, whose eyes lit up with delight.

“Woah, Ana, look! He added sprinkles. I like him.” He fist pumped the air before devouring his first spoonful.

"It's a good job she's married to me then," Lorenzo quipped with a mischievous grin, his eyes twinkling with humour.

“Yes! Good pick, Ana!” Jack hopped off the stool, heading back out to Tay.

I turned my attention to Lorenzo. He cocked his head to the side, watching me silently.

"I never knew you were such a softy," I teased, batting my eyelashes dramatically. My voice was light and filled with mock surprise.

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