Thin Lines (Donati Bloodlines Book 2) by Bethany-Kris Read Free Book Online

wasn’t in the mood to spread her legs and act
like she gave a damn that evening.
    “You have that doctor’s appointment tomorrow for
bloodwork, don’t you?” Affonso asked.
    “ Sì .”
    “Maybe I’ll come along.”
    “Sure.”
    Emma felt Affonso’s hand pat her hip a second before
the lamp was turned off. Affonso shifted around in the bed until he found a
comfortable spot.
    Then, in the dark, Affonso said, “Should Calisto
happen to come around more often because he feels like he needs to keep an eye
on you now, I’m going to let him.”
    Oh, God.
    Emma chewed on her lower lip, not quite knowing where
to begin. Affonso had no idea what he was letting in by doing that. Her own
husband could very well lead her right back into the temptation she had tried
to stay away from once, and failed miserably.
    “Is that so?” Emma asked.
    “Yes. And if I know Calisto like I think I do, he’ll
feel like he owes the child something. He’ll want to be around to make sure
everything is fine, even if the baby isn’t born just yet. You’re to encourage
it, Emma. I prefer Calisto close, as I told you already.”
    Fucking hell.
    “You want me to manipulate him. Is that what you’re
asking me?”
    “I never used that word,” Affonso murmured.
    “You didn’t have to.”
    He reached back and patted her ass lightly. Emma grit
her teeth, said nothing, and waited until his hand was away from her backside.
    “Do with it what you will, but I want him close. If
that means you use the pregnancy as a way to keep him coming around more often
to check up on the baby and things around here, then so be it.”
    “Fine,” Emma managed to say.
    “ Dio , Emma. Don’t sound so sullen. It isn’t you
Calisto will care about, it’s the child. My child. He can’t help it,
he’s obsessed with caring for his family. He thinks where I fail, he has to
pick up the slack.”
    Except with you , Emma held back
from adding.
    “Why do you think I let him handle my daughters? They
don’t need me, they have him.”
    Emma didn’t correct Affonso, but he was wrong on a
dozen different levels. Affonso’s teenaged daughters would forever resent their
father for being a distant figure in their lives, buying their love with
meaningless possessions and pretty things. Emma and her own father were the
perfect example of how that kind of relationship would turn out. She hated her
father.
    It didn’t matter.
    Affonso’s games weren’t important for now.
    “If Calisto even comes around, you mean.”
    “He will,” Affonso said, strong and sure. “I know the
man. He will.”
     

     
    Emma bent down to hook the strap of her kitten heels
around her ankle, only to find Affonso kneeling down in front of her. His hands
stopped hers, and he offered her a charming smile.
    It was far too sweet to be true.
    What did he want at eight in the morning?
    “Let me help,” Affonso said.
    Emma let him hook the straps, and ignored the way his
fingers danced up her calves before coming to a stop on her thighs. His hands
were still under the skirt of her summer dress.
    “Smile, Emma.”
    She did.
    “Beautiful,” her husband praised.
    It did nothing for her. Just the same way as his hands
stroking her bare thighs did nothing for her. Despite worrying the night before
that Affonso might want something from her, the man hadn’t actually asked for a
lot since she found out she was pregnant a month earlier.
    They’d had sex once.
    Nothing else.
    That was weeks ago.
    Instinctively, Emma reached for Affonso’s waist. It was
her go-to trick to sedate and please him if he wanted, something without
actually having to do very much. She much preferred taking him that way than
needing to fake her way through an entire round of sex.
    It wasn’t that Affonso wasn’t attractive. At his age,
fifty, he appeared a decade younger. He had the virility of a much younger man,
and the stamina to match.
    Emma just … couldn’t.
    She tried.
    She couldn’t.
    Affonso stopped