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“I had mine brought over, and we have personal shoppers on staff for all of you girls. Anything you don’t like can go back. I thought this would at least get you started, and then you can shop for yourself, of course. Charlie’s closet is full too.”

She turns and blinks at me. Her face is so sober, so fucking serious, and her eyes are dull.

“Baby, I need you to tell me what’s going on in that beautiful head of yours.”

“You’ve been planning this all along.”

I eat up the gap between us and frame her face. “I made it no secret that I eventually wanted the two of you here in Vegas with me. The timeline moved, that’s all.”

She pulls out of my touch and walks into the bathroom, then comes out again.

“You’re fucking killing me,” I tell her. This is worse than any torture I could hand out, and I’ve handed out plenty.

She takes a deep breath and wraps her arms around her middle, walks to the glass doors that open out to a balcony, and stares outside.

“I need some time,” she says softly.

“You’ve had seven fucking years.”

She shakes her head and bites her lower lip as she turns to me. “I just need an hour. Carson, I’ve never asked anyone to help me, not like this.”

“Just tell me what you need, and it’s yours.”

“I need you to go be a dad for an hour. Take care of our son. Play with him, get him settled, let him play in the pool. But he can’t swim, so don’t take your eyes off him and keep him in the shallow end.”

“Ree—”

“I just need an hour,” she says again, and swallows hard. “To myself. That’s all.”

I’d change the tides of the ocean if she needed it.

“I’m always happy to spend time with our son,” I assure her. “And you can take all the time you need, but I’m not going to lie. You’re scaring me, and I’m not scared of anything.”

She shakes her head and pushes her hands through her hair.

“Give me the hour, and I’ll be fine.”

Rather than leave, I cross to her and pull her into my arms, and to my relief, she collapses against me, wraps her arms around me, and holds on tight.

“I’m having a lot of feelings,” she whispers, her voice breaking. “And I don’t want Charlie to see it. That’s all.”

“Okay, baby. Take your time. We can talk more later.”

She nods and presses a kiss to my chest, but I hook my finger under her chin and lift her face so I can brush my lips over hers.

Then, I kiss her forehead and walk away, closing the door behind me.

When I check on Charlie, he’s not in his room, so I go downstairs and find him in the kitchen, talking with Spider, who’s making the kid a sandwich.

“You’re so domestic,” I say to my second in command, who just grins at me.

“Where’s Mom?” Charlie asks around a mouthful of chips.

“She’s settling in,” I reply. “I think it’s been a long day, you know?”

“Yeah, she’s probably tired. Sometimes, she says that she’d like to nap, but she can’t take her eyes off me for two minutes because I get into trouble.” His smile is just a little sinister. Makes me love him even more. “I wanna swim.”

“You shouldn’t swim after you eat,” Spider says. “It makes your stomach hurt. At least, that’s what they say.”