Walking to her, he pulled her and his son into his arms, whispering in her ear, “Only you, Princess. No one else.”
She wanted to believe him, but everything was so new. She was in a foreign country basically running away. Her life seemed to be hanging by a thread, and this man and his adorable son were prepared to steal her heart.
*****
Dom could see the doubt in her eyes. He should have told her about Jax but was afraid she wouldn’t come with him. Then on the plane, she’d been terrified, so he didn’t want to stress her any more than she was. Now, he wished he had.
Nuzzling her neck, he enjoyed the feel of her body against his, the way she melted into him even when she was mad at him. With Jax hanging onto both of their legs, he was able to keep his cool. Just barely.
What he really wanted to do was take her to bed and show her just how much he planned to take care of her. He was becoming a man obsessed and didn’t mind one bit.
“Dominic?” she asked quietly.
“Yeah, baby?”
“Can we make this work?”
Leaning back, he looked into her stunning eyes needing to see what she wasn’t telling him. Fear and longing were so prominent. “We can, baby. I’m not letting you go.”
As she gazed down at his son rubbing his blond head, he saw love on her face for Jax already. He couldn’t blame her; the kid was a lady killer.
“I want to,” she whispered still not looking up. Just sharing secret smiles with Jaxson.
*****
Deedee spent the better part of the night tossing and turning, never able to get her mind to settle long enough to rest. She was still in a state of shock that Dom had a little boy. He was a wonderful father, attentive and loving. Everything her own wasn’t.
Jaxson was the sweetest little three-year-old she’d ever met, too. So inquisitive, he couldn’t let the fact Dom called her by three names go. He wanted an explanation that she couldn’t give because she didn’t understand it either.
At dinner, she’d watched all three men banter back and forth with a sense of love she envied. They could joke and tease with a familiarity that she had a hard time understanding. It had been so long since anyone had cared about her. Had just been there for her.
Now, here was Dom. He made her think he wanted to take care of her, maybe have a relationship with her. But he had yet to say the actual words. She felt like she was in limbo. Not really belonging here, but not belonging anywhere else either. She always thought she’d lose this feeling once she was back in Dublin. Now? After seeing this pure love they shared, she doubted it.
She loved her mam, but it had been years since she’d seen her. Only being allowed to speak to her on her birthday, they didn’t even know each other anymore. They’d written letters in the beginning, but somehow that slowed down, too.
The creaking from her bedroom door brought Deedee out of her depressing thoughts. The first thing to hit her was fear. Had her dad found her? Was he making her go back to England? But then she knew no one would get past Dominic’s intricate security system that even she didn’t understand.
A small body slipping through the entrance had her relaxing. Looking at the clock on the bedside table, she saw it was nearly five a.m. already. Shocked, she looked back to Jaxson as he made his way to her bed.
“Pincess?” he said in a loud whisper that had her laughing silently.
“Yes, sweet man?”
“I have ta know. Are you a weal pincess?” If she had a little boy of her own one day, she sure hoped he would be as sweet as this one.
“No a stór, I’m not,” she told him. Calling him the name her mom used to call her had shock rendering her speechless.
“What does dat mean?” he asked crawling in the bed with her.
She had to think for a moment. She’d asked her mam the same thing around his age. “A stór is Irish for my treasure.
“Oh. Why don’t you jus’ say my trwesure?”
“I don’t know. Me mam used to call me that when I was your age. It always made me feel special,” she explained, remembering how much she loved it.
“Me mam? You talks funny, pincess.” He giggled.
“I suppose I do. But Mam means Mom.”