Page 62 of Deal with the Devil

“I was only trying to play.”

Her hands stroke the sides of his hair. “I bet Carlo would play dinos with you if you asked.”

“Carlo likes video games, and he says I suck.”

I do a quick scan of the small yard, spotting a stubby Ankylosaurus tossed next to the pool. Not my first choice, but I say, “If you got a T. Rex or an Ankylosaurus, I’ll play with you.”

“Really? You?”

“I’m the dino battle master. I’ll take your Spinosaurus down.”

“You know the dinos?”

I crouch, reminding, “Dino master, remember.”

The boy laughs a hilariously maniac laugh as he races, on the hunt for a dino I can play with. I stand, catching sight of pure emotion on Nevaeh’s face as I lean in and press a kiss to her cheek that has a smallintake of air sounding sharply between her lips and a hot blush stinging her cheeks.

“I’m off to battle.”

She flashes me a cheeky smile. “Win for me.”

I vow, “I’ll take him down.”

“He’s only five,” she tells me. “Just so you’re aware.”

“They’re vicious at that age,” I deadpan. “Tiny psychopaths in the making.”

She laughs, loudly. I can’t help myself. I lean in to kiss her lips, stealing just the smallest taste of her before I force myself to turn with a battle roar fitting of the biggest, baddest T. Rex. I’m met with an equally intense roar from the small boy.See? Tiny psychopath in the making.

Should be a fun battle.

Belly full of a homecooked breakfast, I lean back in my chair next to Nevaeh’s father. The man has been silently appraising since our snap marriage was ousted over breakfast when Nevaeh’s aunt spotted the two rings on her finger, gasping something in quick Spanish that had the entirety of her family shouting in tithers.

There was anger, a lot of it.

There was offense, a lot of that, too.

There were questions about pregnancy and demands about the rush, and Nevaeh protested loudly when her mother muttered something before pulling out her phone and calling someone, a threat in her eyes that had Nevaeh shrinking into herself as she protested quietly.

It was after that call that I stood up and said firmly, “I love this woman with everything I am and everything I have. I’ll love her until I take my last breath. I’ll serve and protect her every day that I live. The rush to marry her had nothing to do with a big day, pictures, or slighting our families. It had everything to do with the fact that we wanted to begin our lives together as soon as possible. We will still have that big day, if Nevaeh wants it. I know my mother is going to want it and will probably do her best to convince Nevaeh to give her that, so I hope for her sake Nevaeh does want it. But we did this for us. And we’re happy.”

Tempers cooled some with my speech, but not much. Her father said nothing as he sat back in his chair, appraising me with a cool kind of distance.

Nevaeh is in the house, helping to clean after brunch and surely getting an earful about the disrespect of marrying without her family present. Still, I can’t bring myself to regret making that play. I can’t bring myself to regret making her mine.

I can say if this continues much longer, I willremove my wife from this situation until tempers cool enough that people see this was never about them.

The back door opens and a big man steps into the yard. His face is scarred and he’s wearing biker leathers. Brown hair is speckled with gray, and his flesh is liberally inked, probably why no one here batted an eye at my ink. They’re already used to seeing it.

His eyes lock on me fast, and I rise from my chair as Nevaeh slips from the back door around the man to come stand at my side. I realize she’s afraid for me. She’s afraid that this man will hurt me.

Charming, really. Not only do I have a couple inches and about fifty pounds on this guy, but I’ve got my father’s training. If I’ve got a mind to, I can snap a neck in a few seconds flat. Beating someone to a pulp? Not my favorite thing, but also not an issue. Torture? Been there.

So, restraining a member of my new wife’s family? Well, that’ll be an uncomfortable breeze, but a breeze all the same.

“Are you the man who married my niece without permission?”

That’s what this is about? Archaic, but if my father had a daughter and a man took the liberties I have with her, he’d be seeing red, too.

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