If this was a movie, it’s right now, as I’m pulling into the garage, that I would have some big fucking breakthrough thought about all that’s going on around us.

I don’t get it though. It’s been a busy two weeks since I spoke with Simon. The city has gone from a hornet’s nest of activity to absolute quiet.

Nothing is happening—no wars, no violence, no tension. The world it seems is going on with life. Everything is normal. We’ve got Abigail in school, been house shopping, clothes shopping, grocery shopping…

Shopping out my fucking ears.

I don’t like the normal. Normal is the bad part. Normal is when the villain springs a trap on the unsuspecting adventurer. It’s like the longer things go on in life like nothing happened, the worse I know the next event is going to be.

Fuck, I hate the waiting.

And life around the house has been getting a little crazy. We’ve gone from me having to keep my girls in the house, safe and sound, to getting them out in the real world again.

Amy was scared shitless when I told her Ivan was gone. She doesn’t like the thought of him being alive any more than I do, I think. She hasn’t said anything, but I can tell she wishes I had taken that fucker’s life. Taken the man who threatened her and her daughter. I wish I had. Fuck the consequences.

I’d like to kill that fuck like the pig he is.

Amy’s been coming out of her shell bit by bit. The news of Ivan being released terrified her, but she knows she’s mine now. She has nothing to worry about.

And every night I try to drill that into her mind and body.

She’s not going to be simply a wife to me or the woman who warms my bed. No, she’s my possession.

My fucking obsession.

Mine down to the very core of her being.

I can’t even stand the thought of anyone else coming near her, smelling her, or touching her.

There’s an inky blackness that surrounds my mind. What we have consumes me. It burns like a fire raging through my soul.

Amy represents something to me that I will never have. Something I’ve never touched before. Something inheritably good and pure. She’s so beautiful to me, so fucking ethereal, that it can be painful to think of for any length of time.

She’s the good side of the darkness that I bring to the world. She has a fucking halo, not the horns I wear.

I’m not a good guy. I kill people and I don’t feel bad about it. I’ve done and seen things I should never have, but her light tugs at my soul.

I shouldn’t allow myself to be drawn to the sun, but I have no choice. The more I watch her, the more I must have her. The more I must hoard her.

She is the corner of the universe I want to keep to myself.

Stepping out of the new smelling car, I grin widely. It’s a thing of beauty. Cost an arm and a leg, but it’s worth it.

Fuck, for half a million dollars, this thing better see Abigail through high school. Not that it will, I plan on my girls and unborn child having the best they can.

If that means dipping into the considerable nest egg I’ve built up over the past few years, then so be it.

Leaning my head into the kitchen from the garage, I shout, “Hey sex-on-a-stick, get out here!”

“What did you just call me?” Amy all but shrieks across the house to me.

“Come here, I have a present for you,” I say as she comes into the kitchen. The annoyed look on her face gives me a chuckle. She hates it when I objectify her.

“Why?” she asks me.

“Because I want the best for you. There’s no trap in my presents, Amy. You’re safe with me,” I say before ducking back out of the doorway.

I haven’t closed the garage door and the sunlight streaming in from the outside shows off how sparkly the new car is.

Eyes wide as can be, she takes a step into the garage. I toss the key to her but I guess she’s not paying too much attention because it bounces off her chest and drops to the floor.

“What do you mean a present for me?” she asks as she eyes the car.

Pointing to the car, I say, “A present, as in a gift, to the mother of my children. You know, the woman I keep claiming in the bedroom every night?”

I walk over to her and bend over to pick up the key. Straightening, I wrap an arm around her and help her walk around the car as I slip the key into her hand.

“This is yours. You’re going to need something safe to drive around in when you are dress shopping for the wedding.”

She stops at the word wedding, pushing the key back into my hand. “What do you mean wedding?”

“We’re going to be married, Amy. You’re the mother of my unborn child. You are the mother of my daughter Abigail.”

“I have a say in these things! And Abigail isn’t your daughter! I’m probably not even pregnant!” she shouts.

She pushes the key back into my hand and starts backing away from me.

Taking two large steps to her, I grab her hand and yank her back to the car.

Spinning her around, I bend her over the car’s still warm engine hood.

My hand comes down in a solid whap three times. Each time it connects with her bottom I hear her breath gasp out.

“Fight it all you want, Amy, but you need to come to the realization that you’re fucking mine. You’re pregnant with my child. And nothing, and I mean nothing, is going to change that. You can fight this all you want, but if you yell at me like that again, I’m going to start treating you like an obstinate child.”

Pulling her back up, I look her hard in the eyes. “You could’ve had a say in these things if you hadn’t put yourself in the position you did. I told you once, be a good girl and I would keep you safe. I’ve kept my word on that. I will never allow you to be hurt again. Not by anyone. You’re fucking mine. Do we need a reminder of that?”

Shaking her head, she doesn’t speak. I don’t know if it’s the spanking or the vehemence in my voice… It’s probably a mixture of them both leaving her mute as she stares at me.

Leaning in, I rest my forehead against hers. “You need to give up the silly notion you’re not pregnant. It’s a fact.”

She shakes her head again and turns away from me. “How can you be so certain?”

“Because, like that night in the limo when I chose to take you as mine, I know that you’re pregnant. I know it in here,” I say pointing to my chest.

It’s a bold statement, but it’s true. Pressing my lips against hers, I hold her to me. I won’t stop until she’s panting.

Her hands push at me as always. Always fighting my little angel is. Always fighting the demon whose stolen her.

Slowly those soft lips of hers part and her breath comes out in short little bursts as my tongue skims across her own. Melting in my arms, she allows me to pull her tight to my body.

When we finally stop, I force myself to not push her over the engine hood again. Force myself to not thrust my cock into her achingly tight pussy.

Rolling my shoulders, I step back and smile. “That’s the angel I know. Now let’s look at your new car.”

She shakes her head and says, “It’s way too much, Andrew…”

I growl at her and resist the urge to spank her again. “No, it’s not. This is for your safety and I won’t skimp on that. This car is armored against most bullets. I want you three as safe as possible when you start driving Abigail to school.”

She nods her head hesitantly and squeezes my hand. Then her trembling fingers take the key fob I hold out to her.

I nudge her towards the shiny silver S550 Benz.

She looks at the car, then back at me like she just can’t believe it. I nod at her and keep nudging her.

After sliding behind the wheel and getting comfortable, she finally cracks a smile.

That smile fills my chest with warmth.

I’m happy with my life, I think, and that worries the fuck out me.