Page 126 of Grand Love

Nina

I’manxious as I climb from the Audi. I’ve barely said a word to Vinny on the drive over, although he has had plenty to say to me.

You wouldn’t believe that I struggled to get a word from him when we first met. No, now I have this brute of a man, giving me advice, and trying to always steer me to the right path. I love him for it, but if he tells me everything is going to be alright one more time, I might just snap.

“You want me to come up?”

I turn to him and find Ellis already out of the car and in his arms, the changing bag on his shoulder.

“What if I want to leave?” I swallow the bile that rises in my throat, then lift my shaking hand to smooth my hair off my face.

“You won’t leave, but I’ll be right here, okay? I have emails to catch up on anyway.”

I nod. He has told me this already. I lean in to take Ellis. “Thank you, Vin.”

“You’re going to be just fine, my girl.” He places a kiss on my hair before I turn towards the elevators.

“Shall we go see Daddy?” I smile down at Ellis.

“Da, Da, Da, Da.”

The temperature has dropped, so I move quickly to the elevators to get Ellis out of the cold. With nerves fighting their way up my throat, I take my time to key in the code that Vinny gave me. Before I step inside, I turn and call over to him, “You go home, Vinny. Don’t wait out here.”

He dips his head, a smile tipping his lip up. “See you a bit later, love.”

I’ve seemed to have lost the confidence I had in the gym yesterday, and I’m pretty sure it has everything to do with the penthouse, but I know I need to do this. I want to.

The keypad flashes green and Ellis bounces in my arms.

I give myself a pep talk on the ride up. I need to do this for Scar. She wants him at the ball, and I want to fix my family.

I can do this.

The doors ping open, and Mason is standing right there, waiting.

He’s wearing a fitted navy button-down shirt and suit pants. His sleeves are rolled up at the arms, but the man is anything but casual. I don’t know if the sight of him puts me at ease or sends me further up the anxiety ladder.

“Hi,” he says, flashing me with that killer smile.

I dip my head. “Hi.”

“You look lovely this evening. I appreciate the change of attire from last night.”

My head lifts at that, a smile playing on my lips. “Better than my work clothes?”

“Hmm, just a very different kind of perfect tonight.” He eyes his son who sits in my arms, hugging me tight.

My wide grin seems to encourage Mason’s, and the tension is momentarily gone.

“You two coming in?” he asks, flicking his head behind him.

Stepping out of the elevator, I’m instantly immersed in everything Mason. The penthouse is big—bigger than a man and his child could ever need, but it’s every bit of the home I’ve always wanted. I don’t know if that’s because of the way it feels being here, or because of the fact that it’s where I fell in love with Mason—the home we started to build our family in.

“Do you want a drink?”

He asked me that on my first night here. The night he brought me home. The first night I slept in his bed. He wouldn’t touch me. I remember the need I felt to have his hands on me.

“A drink would be good, thank you.” I let the air caught up in my lungs whoosh out of me as I will myself to calm down.

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