Irreplaceable (Underneath it All Series: Book Three) (An Alpha Billionaire Romance) by Ava Claire Read Free Book Online

shut.
    "I never imagined that I would need to protect you from me." She tilted her chin in my direction, glancing at our hands before she raised her eyes to meet mine. "When he was-" Her nostrils flared and her hand jerked slightly, like she was about to bring it up to protect her face from some invisible blow. "It hit me that if I died, I would die without ever telling you something." She paused, licking her lips again, then used more energy than she should have to bring her other hand over, cupping mine. "I have done some awful things in my life. I've been selfish and mean and ungrateful. I am so sorry. And I know you have no reason to believe anything I'm saying. In fact, you'd be wise to think I was lying." Her nostrils flared a second time, and I knew she was right. Not believing her would be easy. The smart thing. But there was something more genuine, more real in her than I'd ever seen, and I knew she spoke the truth.
    "You and Rose are the best thing that's ever happened to me, Sadie."
    All the years, all the pain, was nearly erased. I almost forgot that she was seriously injured and nearly leapt onto the bed like I'd longed to do a million times when I was younger. In those fantasies, I'd laugh until I cried as she tickled me, her face as bright and carefree as my own. Rose would come toddling down the hall, woken from her nap by the noise and her annoyance would quickly be replaced by joy as we pulled her onto the bed with us.
    Catching myself, tears of happiness swarming in my eyes, I settled for doing something else I hadn't done in years. I leaned down and brushed my lips against her cheek.
    "Thank you, Mom."
    She didn't push me away or shrug off the affection, her usual reaction to anything other than blind obedience. Home was a cold place before, but I had the audacity to hope that we could both change.

Chapter Eleven: Jackson
    I couldn't take my eyes off her.
    When we first met, I was awash with lust. A cocky urge to make her mine. To make her beg for me. For my touch. Looking back, it was hard to believe my desire for Sadie McLeod had ever been so two dimensional. Even in the handful of seconds that we were parked at the red light, I found something new to crave, and it had nothing to do with how badly I wanted to fuck her. When she was nervous, like now, she lassoed her hair around her pointer finger and twirled it like a forkful of spaghetti. And just that word, spaghetti, once so ordinary, was a rocket ship to memories that made me smile. The look of shock, horror, and she'd never admit it to me now, but delight was there too when she saw me at her door.
    I had my own delights, my own desire to comb my fingers through her scarlet hair and pull her lips to my lips. In time, I'd wrap her body around my body and thrust my tongue into her mouth as my cock explored her velvet, warm folds. For now, I just wanted to stroke my lips against hers and whisper, "I told you so".
    I didn't know what to expect when we walked into Falcon Memorial. Both Sadie and Rose had been pretty hushed about their mother's condition, but Rose's question in the car made it obvious that things were serious. Sadie had marched right up to the charge nurse. The woman had gawked, then glared at her, like she went from surprise at seeing some ghost from the past, then remembered it was a trip down Memory Lane that she had no interest in taking.
    When Sadie emerged from the patient rooms, her eyes bloodshot from crying, Rose had gripped my hand so tight that she left fingernail indents in my skin. I could take the pain, and then some. I'd take all their pain if I could. I didn't know their mother, knew nothing of her other than the fact that she'd hurt them, but some sentimental part of me clung to the fact that someone who created Rose and Sadie couldn't be all that bad. My chance to reconcile, to build something with my own mother, had been taken away long ago. I didn't want that for them. They made me want to believe in happily ever after