“Are you going to move in now?” Ava’s voice cuts through the living room, and we pull apart. Her eyes are bright and filled with hope, and despite myself, I laugh. She’s about as carefree as they come.
Dislodging from me, Baz heads toward her, dropping down to his haunches. “Maybe one day, if that’s what you and your mom want. But right now, why don’t we get dressed, and I’ll take you both out to dinner? A friend of mine owns a restaurant that serves your favorite.”
Ava cocks her head to the side. “Better than Mom’s spaghetti?”
I place a trembling hand over my mouth, trying to stop the impending sob that wants to fly free. I’ll never get tired of hearing her call me that. I didn’t think I’d ever get here with her, where she’d love and trust me so much that she’d view me as her mother. It’s the best feeling in the world.
Baz leans in and whispers loudly, so I can hear, “Way better.”
“Hey!” I complain, and Ava laughs at my expense.
Setting my glass down on the table, I spare them another look, my chest full of love and hope, as I head toward the hallway to get dressed. I’m almost to my bedroom when I hear Ava’s next question, and my heart pounds as I wait to hear Baz’s answer.
“Does that mean you’re going to be my dad now?”
“Is that what you want? Do you want me to be your dad?”
There’s a slight pause, then, “Well, yeah. You’d be the best dad ever.”
A choked sound tumbles past my lips. It’s a sob filled with happiness because Baz’s response only confirms what I know to be true.
I love this man with my entire heart.
“There’s nothing I’d love more than to be your dad, Ava.”
With a scotch in hand, I watch both of them sleep. There’s the low hum of the engine on the jet that most people find soothing, but it’s quite the opposite for me. Holding hands, Ava has her head leaned on Mackenzie’s shoulder while she sleeps, and Mackenzie’s head is resting on top of hers. They look peaceful and beautiful, a golden hint to their skin after the trip we’ve taken.
It was their first time in Brazil, so I wanted to make it memorable for them. I plan on taking them back often, but as far as first impressions go, they love it there as much as I do. The culture and the people there are different than they are here, and it was beautiful, watching both of my girls take in the one place I’ve always considered to be an oasis.
My girls.
I never thought I’d get to a point in my life where a woman would mean so much to me, let alone two of them. But that’s exactly what’s happened. Mackenzie and Ava are my life. They are my heart and soul, and I’ll go to the ends of the earth to protect them. I find myself wanting to spoil them and give them everything. Ava is innocent and bright-eyed with an uncanny love for art and swimming. Mackenzie is as feisty as she is broken, and she is the strongest, most beautiful woman I’ve ever encountered. She reels you in with those stunning eyes and holds you captive with her heart. She is beautifully broken, slowly piecing her life together, and it is fascinating to watch her do it. Watch her overcome the pain of her past. I want to show her the world and give her the world while I am doing it.
The trip went as perfectly as I had hoped it would. That is, until just a few days before we boarded the flight and I got the news from Dan. The good in my life always seems to be clouded by the bad.
Mackenzie and Ava met my parents and my mom’s family in Brazil. It was love at first sight for them all. Especially my mother. She’s fallen in love with Mackenzie and has already started calling Ava her Neta, claiming her as her granddaughter. Blood relation or not. I am even more surprised that my father approves. He didn’t say it in words, but he didn’t have to. We are the same. I know what approval on his face looks like, and though I don’t need it from him, I appreciate it.
Things were a bit awkward with Mackenzie and my father at first. He pretended he had no idea who she was while she knew that wasn’t the truth at all. It was obvious she was holding a lot of anger back still, but she was working through it. Learning to let the things in the past go that she now has no control over. By the end of our trip, Benedict and Mackenzie were on the same wavelength as they discussed her publishing deal, and he praised her for being a shark. There is nothing he approves of more than savvy business ventures.
As promised, my mother took Ava to the art studio in Rio while I hung back with Mackenzie and fucked her senseless in the villa I own on the beach. I bought it when I racked up my first hundred million. It’s been a prized possession of mine since. It was the first time I wanted to share that piece of my paradise with someone else. And it’s no surprise that someone was Mackenzie. She is mine, and every time I’m inside her, I have this insane need to fill her with my cum and have her scream my name because it is music to my ears. The way she comes is beautiful, and the way her pussy feels wrapped around my cock is heaven.
She still tries to hide pieces of herself from me. The scars that now litter her body, because of the accident, are what she’s most ashamed of. She works overtime to shield them from me, so I go out of my way to worship the imperfections on her skin. The scar that travels the length of her abdomen is the hardest to look at, not because of the brutality of it, but because it’s a reminder of everything I could’ve lost.
I’m in love with this woman, scars and all.
I could tell on the last few days we were there that Mackenzie and Ava didn’t want to leave. I understood the feeling well. It was leaving paradise for the real world, something none of us wanted to do. If I could stay here with them, keeping them safe from the Savages, the media, the people out to print stories and bury us in lies, I would. But that isn’t our world. That isn’t my world.
The cabin lights are dim, the sky outside a blend of purples and oranges as the sun sets. My gaze narrows on the wispy clouds that we’re coasting through, my gut clenching with anger and worry. Dan called just a few days before we left Rio because of an incident at the resort. Zach had gotten onto the property and vandalized what he could before he was dragged away by security.
This wasn’t his first outburst. They’ve been happening more and more frequently. He was ranting off to the media about theories, about Mackenzie and me ruining an innocent man’s life. He’s angry and lashing out because, slowly, I’ve stripped them of everything he ever relied on me for. His actions were the main reason I wanted to fly to Rio with Mackenzie and Ava. I wanted to give them that reprieve, but I also wanted a moment with my father, so we could talk.
I needed to know he and my mother would be there to step in and protect Mackenzie and Ava in the event something ever happened. Because I’m not pulling any more punches. I am paying a good amount of money to put Zach and the rest of them away in order to protect my family.
Benedict offered to get rid of them another way, but I refused. This is my mess, these are my brothers, and I’m not going to be a coward and make someone else do the dirty work for me. I’ll get rid of them, once and for all, if they continue to threaten the safety of my family.
And that’s exactly what I plan to do once we land. I need to make the necessary moves to remove the Savages from my life.