Page 60 of Ruthless Vengeance
Once Rosa leaves us alone, He lets out a breath as he rests his chin on my head and wraps his arms around me.
“Are you going to be this protective over our daughter?”
“I’ll be so much worse.”
“I feel sorry for Zoe already.”
“Feel sorry for all the boys whose asses I’m going to kick if they so much as look at her.”
I tighten my arms around Marco, savoring the warmth of his body.
He might be overprotective, but that’s something I love about him. I know that he will protect Zoe and me no matter what, and that brings me a sense of peace that I never thought I would feel.
My eyelids start to droop. “Is Zoe all right?”
“She’s still fast asleep.”
“That’s good.” I yawn.
Marco’s chest rumbles as he laughs, and then his lips brush against my temple, and my entire body breaks out in goosebumps at his touch.
I want more of it, but I also desperately want to sleep. And something to eat. And a shower.
“You need to get some sleep, love.” Marco strokes my hair to try and calm me down, as if he can hear the loud buzzing of my thoughts. “Go and lie down, and I’ll wake you at eight.”
I hum, sinking into the warmth of his touch for just a second longer before I unwrap my arms from around his waist and shuffle out the room.
My limbs feel like stone as I head down the hallway toward Marco’s room, or ratherourroom.
The exhaustion is finally catching up to me, but the hard work is far from being done. In just a few hours, my entire future could change.
But for now, I just need to focus on getting some sleep.
Chapter Sixteen
MARCO
As soon asI send one of my girls off to bed, the other one wakes up, so I quickly head into Clara’s old room to get Zoe before she has a chance to wake up the whole house with her crying.
“Morning, princess.” I smile as I reach over the side of the crib to pick Zoe up.
Her dark hair is sticking up at all angles, and she has the biggest smile on her face when she realizes it’s me.
She reaches for me, and my heart swells in my chest as I pick her up and cuddle her against my chest.
I swear this feeling will never get old, and I dread the day when she’s all grown up and no longer wants a hug from her dad.
I stand there gently swaying on the spot, savoring this moment with my daughter until she starts to whine, and I know it’s time for breakfast.
Lila and Holly are already up, so we have breakfast together in the kitchen before she has to get Holly ready for her music class.
Once I take care of the dishes, I take Zoe through to the living room for some playtime, making sure that the alarm is set on my phone to go and wake Clara up at eight.
It doesn’t take long for Zoe to grow tired of the basket of toys that are kept on hand, so I settle on entertaining her with a good old-fashioned game of peek-a-boo.
It seems to do the trick as Zoe giggles loudly, her little hands smacking against her chubby cheeks as I hide my face behind my hands.
“Where’s Daddy?” I peek at her through my fingers.
