His Love Read online

  I sighed—pretending I didn’t already know why he was there—and speared her with a reproachful glare. “What the hell, Patti? What happened to being the gatekeeper?” Patti had been my secretary since my brother and I started our investment firm, K-Corp, fifteen years ago. She was in her early fifties now, had been married for over thirty years, and had three kids who were grown and lived in the city.

  She’d been the first person to apply for the job, and my brother and I had instantly fought over who got to hire her as their assistant. Luckily, I won the coin toss. But she’d been more mother to both us than our own ever had been. Her husband and kids were family to us, too.

  “Language, young man!” she snapped, pointing her pen at me.

  I rolled my eyes since Patti could curse with the best of them. “Sorry, ma’am.”

  She nodded and patted her short, brown bob, brushing hair out of her face as she turned her attention to her computer screen.

  “Um, Patti?”

  “Hmmm?”

  I put my hands on my hips and scowled. “Thatcher?”

  “Oh yes, he’s in your office,” she repeated distractedly.

  “Why?” I pressed.

  “Because you’re a selfish son-of-a-bitch and I have a fucking bone to pick with you.” My brother stepped out of my office as he spoke, clearly fuming about something. Again, I pretended not to know why and simply raised a questioning brow.

  “What he said,” Patti added with a grin. Shit, she obviously knew why Thatcher was there too.

  “Et tu, Patti?”

  She just shrugged and started typing.

  “I’m surrounded by crazy people,” I grumbled with a shake of my head as I brushed past Thatcher into my office. “Enlighten me,” I said to him as I took a seat at my glass desk, my back to the spectacular view of the Upper Bay and the Statue of Liberty.

  “You seriously didn’t expect me to put up a fight when you foisted the Benson account on me?”

  “Mr. Benson is one of our biggest clients, Thatch”—I leaned back in my chair and looked him straight in the eye—"He needs the best of the best, and that’s you.”

  Thatcher’s gray eyes, so much like my own, narrowed. “Don’t bullshit me, bro. You just don’t want to deal with his vapid wife.”

  I shrugged and picked up a silver pen from the desktop to fiddle with. “Maybe it’s both.”

  “She’s already sent me five texts this morning, called twice, and emailed about setting up a ‘private’ appointment.” He walked to my desk and bent over so our faces were level. “I get why you did it. I know you don’t want her showing up in the lobby and causing drama while Blair is in the building.” I glanced at the open door to my office, then back to Thatcher frowning in warning. My brother and I were only a year apart and had always been close. We were best friends, and he was the only one who knew about my obsession with Blair. I wanted to keep it that way. He nodded in acknowledgment and lowered his voice. “But, pawning that succubus off on me?” Thatcher furrowed his brow and scowled. “You owe me big time, bro.”

  “I do,” I agreed. My immediate capitulation seemed to un-bunch his panties, and the tension left his body.

  He slumped down into one of the chairs across from me and put his feet up on my desk. “She starts today?”

  I nodded, attempting to appear calm and unruffled, but the pen tapping a fast rhythm on the glass betrayed my agitated state.

  Thatcher dropped his feet and sat forward, resting his elbows on his knees and steepling his fingers. His expression was dead serious. “You have to stay away,” he said quietly.

  Irrational anger streaked through me, but I managed to keep a damper on it. I opened the center drawer and tossed the pen inside with more force than was necessary. “I know.”

  * * *

  Unable to resist another minute, I picked up my phone and swiped to open it. Then I found the app I was looking for and loaded it.

  The daycare had several mounted cameras that allowed me to keep an eye on Blair while she was there. But, I’d worked out a curriculum with the instructor for her practicum that also required her to use a new app that was becoming standard in the industry. It was a real-time app that allowed the teachers to have instant access to medical history and other notes, as well as reminders and notifications from the parents. Parents could receive screenshots and video throughout the day, even using the app to request a photo or video update.

  Blair had been given a phone—one I’d provided that allowed me to keep track of her location. Theoretically, so that I would worry less about her safety. However, while it helped a little, I knew I wouldn’t be satisfied until I was personally seeing to her safety.

  The app was another tool to help me keep from doing something stupid. I’d made sure it came already installed and set up on her phone. Blair was instructed to use it throughout the day to keep a sort of video diary, especially while she was working in the daycare. I was sure she assumed the information was going to her professor, but I was the only one who had access to her app.

  I was excited to see that she’d already uploaded a couple of videos, some notes, and screenshots. I went through them over and over until I had them memorized.

  When my alarm went off at six, I closed the app and woke up the screen on my computer. After a few clicks, I was staring at the series of camera feeds in the daycare. They closed at six, so the last of the parents would be picking up their children.

  Blair was standing by a window cradling a baby boy, no more than six months old, and swaying from side to side. She was cuddling him, once again reminding me of a sweet little bunny. She looked so natural and at ease. The expression on her face was practically blissful. I imagined it was a hint of the way she would look when I made her come.

  A woman walked into the room and called to Blair, who turned around and smiled. If it were anyone but me, they might not have noticed that her smile was off. I leaned in and studied her more intently, anxious to know what was upsetting my girl.

  The woman took the baby from Blair and kissed him on the head. She smiled and said something to my bunny, then turned and walked towards the exit. My eyes remained glued to Blair. It was clear that she thought no one was looking because her mask had dropped away. Blair put her arms around herself, and her face was awash with pure longing as she watched the mother leave with her baby.

  Soon, bunny. Soon.

  Chapter 4

  Justice

  Thirty days. Thirty fucking days. I repeated this in my head over and over as I watched Blair reluctantly say goodbye to the babies in her care. Every fucking day of the week, I struggled to keep from running down to her and sweeping her away to take that look off her face.

  I only had to endure 30 more days. Then I would be free to take her and give her what she obviously so desperately wanted.

  Marriage and kids had never been in my plans until the day Blair became mine. Now, all I could think about was putting the ring burning a hole in my pocket on her finger and filling our penthouse with our little ones.

  My eyes stayed glued to the monitors until Blair had slung her purse over her chest and left the daycare. I hated that I couldn’t keep watch over her when she wasn’t in the building, but I was somewhat appeased by being able to track her phone.

  Every day, she would leave after they closed at six and head home to the penthouse next to mine. Whenever possible, I timed it so I would bump into her in our building lobby so we could ride the elevator together. I knew I wasn’t strong enough to give her a ride home. If we were alone in the back of my car, I wouldn’t be able to withstand her irresistible mix of innocence and sexy and she’d never make it to her eighteenth birthday with her virgin cherry intact.

  Instead, I followed her at a distance—something that annoyed Benjamin and made him ridiculously cranky—so that I was sure she was protected. When we were a block away, I flagged down my driver and we pulled up to the building just as she arrived.

  Yeah, I was well aware of ho
w fucking crazy I seemed. I could only imagine the field day a shrink would have with this level of obsession, but I honestly couldn’t manage to muster up even one fuck to give.

  Today was one of the rare days when I wasn’t able to personally make sure she got home safely, and it made me grumpy as fuck. I sent Benjamin, who also happened to be former Italian Special Forces, to trail her and make sure she got home without incident. If he wondered at my odd actions concerning Blair, he never voiced it and I didn’t offer an explanation.

  Thatcher sauntered into my office, drawing my attention away from the app where I was staring at the little green dot representing my girl.

  “Remind me why this meeting had to happen tonight?” I scowled.

  “Jamison is getting married this weekend, and he’ll be gone on his honeymoon for three months.” Thatcher leaned against the doorway; his hands stuffed in his pockets. “We need this merger to go through before the fiscal year ends.”

  “Okay,” I dragged out the word. “But why a dinner meeting? This couldn’t have been done during lunch?”

  Thatcher’s gaze was on the wall of windows that made up the left side of my office, matching the one I sat in front of. He meandered over to look down the forty-five floors to the ground beneath us. “I’m not available for lunch meetings,” he finally responded, his tone inattentive.

  I stood and walked up beside him, staring in the same direction, trying to discern what he was staring at. The Statue of Liberty? Battery Park, maybe? “Want to give me a little more explanation than that, brother?”

  Thatcher cursed and turned away from the window. “She’s there. Every day. It’s the only time I have to see her.”

  My brow shot up, probably getting lost in my hairline. This was the first I was hearing of a “she.”

  “The one,” he clarified before turning his dark, churning eyes on me.

  I’d never known Thatcher to be anything less than completely confident. Seeing him unraveling at the seams told me how serious he was about this woman. “So, what’s the problem? Why are you hesitating?”

  He shook his head and pulled his hands from his pockets to cross his arms over his chest. “I’m not hesitating,” he disagreed. “I’m just not ready yet. Everything has to be perfect.”

  “Everything?” I asked, still confused. Why hadn’t he just gone and gotten his girl? “What are you waiting for?” The second Blair was legal, I was going to have her moved into our home and installed in our bed with her legs wide open so I could fuck my baby into her unprotected womb. And, I wouldn’t let her leave until she’d made me a daddy. Possibly not even then…

  Thatcher shook his head. “I’ll explain another time. We’re going to be late.”

  I decided to allow him to table the subject for now, but I’d be getting to the bottom of it later. I returned to my desk and grabbed my suit coat from the back of my chair, donning it. I gathered a stack of files for Patti and set them on her empty desk as we passed by. She’d gone home early for her daughter’s birthday dinner. Another event I was missing due to this stupid meeting. Not that I would have gone. I knew I’d been a son-of-a-bitch lately and wasn’t fit company.

  I was surprised that Benjamin wasn’t back yet, but I figured Blair must have stopped at the store on the way home. She cooked for her and her dad most nights. It was something she’d mentioned that she loved to do. Since my driver wasn’t available, we grabbed a cab to the midtown steakhouse. I did my best to pay attention to the topic at hand and participate in the conversation, but I kept glancing at my phone, waiting for a text from Benjamin telling me that Blair was home.

  Finally, at around eight, I excused myself and made my way outside. The phone only rang once before he picked up.

  “What the fuck, B?” I nearly shouted.

  “Calm down, Justice. She just got home. I’m headed in your direction.”

  “What was the holdup? It wouldn’t have taken her this long just to go to the store.”

  “She went to a doctor’s office in a building on Park before going to the store.”

  My whole body stiffened, and my heart leapt into my throat. “Doctor?” I croaked. Was something wrong with my girl?

  “I don’t think it’s something to worry over,” he assured me. “The only names listed on the directory were Gynecologists.”

  I let out the breath I hadn’t realized I been holding. It was probably just her yearly checkup. Except…I frowned as I did the math in my head. No, she wasn’t due for another three months.

  “She did come out with a piece of paper clutched in her hand, though. And when she left the store, she had a pharmacy bag.”

  My eyes narrowed as his words sunk in, and the most likely scenario formed in my mind. A birth control prescription?

  Over my dead fucking body.

  “Get your ass here and get me home fast,” I growled before hanging up. I shot a text to Thatcher, telling him I had an emergency and he could handle the meeting on his own. We had complete trust in each other, so I wasn’t at all worried about leaving it in his hands.

  Benjamin rolled to a stop in front of the restaurant and double parked so he could get out and open my door, using it as an excuse to do a visual sweep of the area. He shot me a frown, conveying his displeasure at my choice to dispatch him elsewhere and leave me unprotected.

  He was in for a big surprise in a month when he found himself permanently on Blair’s detail. Initially, I’d only intended to hire a bodyguard temporarily after some serious threats had been made towards Thatcher and myself while we were in the midst of a huge international deal. But, Benjamin and I had become friends and when I realized the role Blair was going to have in my life, I kept him on, knowing he would eventually be assigned to her. Though, I hadn’t shared that plan with him yet.

  I climbed into the car and lowered the partition as he got settled into the driver’s seat. “I don’t care what you have to do,” I seethed. “Who you have to bribe, what the fuck ever. Make sure that doctor and all the others in her office refuse to write Blair another prescription.”

  Again, if Benjamin had questions about my demands, he kept them to himself. He simply nodded and tapped the screen in the dash to search his contacts. I rolled down the window next to me and stopped paying attention. I was lost in thought as I stared out into the dark night and enjoyed the spring breeze. I focused on the goal of getting rid of the birth control because if I thought about who she’d gone on it for, there was a good chance I would lose my mind.

  I honestly had no idea what I was going to do when I got home, but I wouldn’t rest until I was sure that Blair’s body remained ripe and ready for me to breed.

  As luck would have it, maybe it was a reward for my patience, Blair would be ovulating when she turned eighteen. I knew because in my fanatical need to know everything about her, I paid close attention. The day her backpack had spilled, a small side pocket had been partially unzipped and a few tampons had fallen out. From that day on, my eyes strayed to the pocket every morning, and I noticed that it was only full once a month.

  “Taken care of, Justice.” Benjamin’s voice pulled me from my thoughts, and I lifted my chin in acknowledgment when he glanced at me in the rearview mirror.

  My building came into view, and I was out the door before the car had come to a complete stop. I raced inside and used my fob to unlock the penthouse elevator. I swore a blue streak at the slow ascent and vowed to call the maintenance company and order them to speed it up.

  At long last, the car reached the top floor, and the doors whooshed open. My long stride ate up the distance to the door at the opposite end of the hall from mine, but I hesitated when I finally reached it.

  The smell of something heavenly was seeping under the door and filling the hallway. My stomach growled, and I pictured the day when I would come home to smells like this coming from my own apartment. And the sight of my barefoot and pregnant wife in the kitchen. Which wouldn’t happen as fast as I wanted if I didn’t take care of those
fucking pills.

  I raised my hand and rapped on the door with my knuckles. Heavy footsteps got louder as someone approached the door. Probably Paul, Blair’s father, since my girl walked with a light, graceful step. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought she floated everywhere, like the angel she was.

  After a few more steps, the lock disengaged, and the door swung open. However, it wasn’t Paul greeting me from inside the apartment. It was a boy, a teenage punk in a school uniform with the same insignia as Blair’s.

  Chapter 5

  Justice

  The little fucker had a cocky smirk on his pretty boy face, but it fell away the minute he clocked my expression. I imagined it looked as deadly as I felt.

  “Uh, can I help you?” he stammered, though he tried to sound confident.

  I ignored him and pushed inside. “Blair?” I called. Her apartment almost mirrored mine—though mine had a second floor—so I easily navigated straight to the kitchen. I almost fell to my knees at the vision in front of me. Blair’s white-blonde hair was piled on top of her head, and she was wearing a white T-shirt and jean shorts that went to just above her knees. Thank fuck, I didn’t think I could have handled anything else without my head exploding. She had on a frilly pink apron and her feet were bare, showing off her cute, pink-tipped toes.

  Something bubbled on the stove, and she stirred it until I rasped her name again. She jumped, clearly noticing me for the first time. Her cheeks bloomed with that pretty blush I loved so much.

  “Where’s your dad?” My tone was harsher than I meant for it to be from trying to control myself, and she took a step back. Fuck fuck fuck. I hated that I scared her. When I spoke again, I adopted a softer tone. “Is your dad here, bunny?”

  I hadn’t meant to let the nickname slip, but I enjoyed the slight widening of her eyes and the way the flush of her skin spread.