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I couldn’t help but laugh as I gave the wiggling lump in the bed a light pat
A small yelp followed and a moment later, the covers were thrown back to reveal a round–faced little girl with a missing tooth–kya.
“You smell, Uncle Zane!” she declared, wrinkling her nose dramatically as she scurried past Zane and threw herself into my arms. She nuzzled against me like a tiny kitten, inhaling deeply. “But Livia smells so good! I wanna sleep with her!”
*You absolutely will not! Come here, young lady!”
Before I could respond, a woman rushed into the room, exasperated and pried the little girl off me. “I’m so sorry, Livia. Kya can be a little wild sometimes. She’s acting up today, probably too excited from the festive. I’ll take her away now.”
I shook my head, smiling. “It’s alright. She’s adorable.”
As they exited, I could still hear Kya making her case. “But Great–Grandpa said I could I could play with Aunty Livia!”
“Yes, but not tonight! Tonight, Uncle Zane and Livia will sleep, I mean, they need their own time. No more sneaking up to their room, understood?”
Dont Love You Like i Dvd westerday
“Will it takes long? So, when can I play with her, Mommy?”
“Well, that depends on whether your uncle’s been keeping up with his workouts.”
thick with
Even so, the air between us had suddenly shifted. The teasing words lingered, turning the atmosphere thick something unspoken. I swallowed hard. Even though I knew Zane couldn’t see me, I could feel my face burning.
“You like kids.” His voice was husky, laced with something I couldn’t quite decipher. The soft glow of the room made the hints of red on his slightly flushed cheeks more prominent, his dark eyes deep and unreadable.
Thesitated for only a second. “Yeah. I do.”
The moment the words left my lips, warmth engulfed me. Zane had pulled me into a gentle yet firm embrace. My body tensed instinctively, but before I could pull away, I felt him stiffen slightly. His hand grazed my arm, then withdrew.
He let out a self–deprecated chuckle, but it lacked humor. His fingers briefly brushed against his temple down to his eyes.
‘Right, because …”
“No, that’s not
Something about the way his voice dipped sent a sharp pang through my chest. Without thinking, I grabbed his hand. “It’s not you, Mr. Kensington. I’m not ready because… something.”
Memories flooded in–Cassian’s betrayal, the way I had been discarded like a useless object, the way I had tried to convince myself that none of it mattered. I felt tainted Ruined. If Zane had been some spoiled, arrogant heir who only saw me as a trophy wife, maybe this arrangement would have been easier to stomach. Just two damaged people fulfilling a contract, going through the motions, neither expecting anything from the other. But he wasn’t like that. He was kind. Too kind for someone like me
I took a steadying breath and decided to lay everything on the table. “Mr. Kensington,” I began, my voice steady despite the turmoil inside me. “I know this marriage wasn’t your choice. If there’s someone else you care about, I won’t stand in the way. We can live separately after the wedding.”
His grip tightened slightly, but he said nothing, so I continued.
“I know I can’t fulfill the responsibilities of a wife, not the way a real marriage should be. But if you need me for social events, if you need me to keep up appearances for your family, I’ll do that. We can make this work, in whatever way you need.”
I was glad he couldn’t see my face. I was sure it looked as awful as I felt. I had never imagined saying something. like this on my wedding night
During the reception earlier, I had received a call from Mrs. Montclair. She asked if the Kensingtons had made things difficult for me because of the drone display
That was when I found out what Cassian had done.
The moment he had learned I had married Zane, he lost his mind and run havoc. Not only had he trashed his own engagement party, but he had also attempted to come here, to Langston Hill, to stop the wedding.
The only reason he hadn’t made it was because his public meltdown had gone viral. The scandal had caused several major investors to back out of deals with his family’s company, sending their stock plummeting. Had played out differently, Cassian might have been here right now, banging on the doors, demanding I take him back. A shiver ran down my spine at the thought. And suddenly, the moment Zane ordered for artificial rain made perfect sense. He had been preventing Cassian from coming anywhere near me.
