Breathing a sigh of relief when he heard the faint steps on the nearby stairs and his wife’s melodic voice wafting toward him, Devil felt his shoulders begin to relax. His grin was automatic as he watched Molly ease into the room with them, their daughter tucked against her shoulder.
Yeah, it was a fact, his woman had him by the balls – and he didn’t even care. In the past, Devil had been proud that he’d never allowed any woman to lead him around by his dick. Right up until he’d fallen in love with his Molly. That’s when he’d realized that if a man was with the right woman… his woman, he’d allow her to pull his cock any direction in the world that she wanted to go.
And damn if Molly hadn’t been that woman for him. Then and now.
His smile only widened as Devlynn’s dark head popped up from her mother’s neck as they moved into the room, the alert baby’s attention drawn by the change in scenery.
He was certain that he would never cease to be amazed by the sight of this tiny, perfect little combination of Molly and him. From the moment she’d made her loud, irritated entrance into this bright, shiny new world and screamed her displeasure, this child had held him in her thrall. He was unashamed to admit that he was unapologetically hooked on his gorgeous kid. Her birth had forever changed him and every time he saw her, something deep inside of him warmed.
Not that he’d be sharing that shit with anybody but his wife and his kid. He did have a reputation as a master asshole to uphold and cultivate. No, as far as the rest of the world was concerned, he was still the biggest, nastiest badass corporate takeover genius south of the Mason Dixon line. With a heart of stone and blood like ice, he decimated his competitors with cold skill. That was his story and he was sticking to it.
His wife, he accepted, knew otherwise. And if the amused look in her eyes was any indication, his grandmother saw right through his act, too.
Oh, well, he thought confidently, he’d make sure he was on top of his game before his precious Devlynn began to date. Grunting as his Nana pushed aside the arms he was already holding out to his daughter, he sighed as the elderly woman pushed herself out of her comfortable chair and couldn’t help laughing. Kathleen Delancy might have most of the world fooled into thinking she was just a harmless, feeble geriatric, but he knew better. When it came to claiming time with her one and only great granddaughter, Kathleen Delancy had the strength of an NFL linebacker and the cunning of a fox entering the hen house. In short, grandma got game.
Reaching automatically for her favorite little person in the world, Nana cooed, “Come to your nanny, wee one. It’s been a whole three days since I’ve held ye in me arms and they feel empty without me little darlin’ in ‘em. I think ye papa has been tryin’ to keep ye all to hisself, hasn’t he?”
Knowing he’d lost his chance to spend time with his tiniest fan, Devil watched as Molly laughingly handed over their only child to the woman who’d raised him. He’d simply have to console himself by copping a feel of his wife. Slipping one arm around Molly’s waist, he pulled her back against his chest as he bent to nuzzle her ear. Keeping one eye on his Nana and kid, he murmured, “Well, the good news is that at least if she’s holding Devlynn, she won’t be tryin’ to assault our guests with kitchen implements. Think I should make a grab for the spoon while she’s occupied?”
Turning her head to press a kiss against her husband’s cheek, Molly grinned. “That depends,” she whispered back, “Do you actually need all of your fingers or not?”
“Good point,” Devil averred, rocking his pelvis against the curve of her ass. “Well, now that the old one is occupied and our daughter is in capable hands, I say you and me ditch this party and find a quiet corner to get to know one another again,” he suggested huskily, deeply inhaling Molly’s intoxicatingly unique scent. Vanilla and honeysuckle. It was a smell that went straight to his dick every damn time.
“And poor Nick?” Molly asked softly, inclining her head slightly toward where their unhappy friend sat alone, morose and silent, on the sofa. “What do we do about him?”
“Hell if I know,” Devil grumbled, wondering how much longer Sofia and Gino Santino were gonna keep them all waiting. “Hopefully, in a couple of hours, we can come off his suicide watch. Speaking of, where’d you stash Mr. Bitchy McBitterness? I haven’t heard Armando whine about something in at least a half hour. Did you give into temptation, gag him, and stuff his ass in the pantry?” he asked, perhaps a bit too hopefully. The truth was he loved Armando like a brother, but if the guy didn’t find something better to do with his time than ruin Devil’s chances of getting laid soon, he was gonna have to kill him and put them all out of their misery.