by J. S. Scott
Simon looked at the bleary-eyed boy, his chest aching. Santa had never found him and Sam when they were kids either, but he wanted Tim to believe in Santa Claus for the rest of his damn life. The kid had gotten majorly screwed throughout his early life, and he needed some magical time. All kids did.
Honestly, Simon had found his magical time with Kara, so he no longer thought much about his unfortunate early life. What he shared with her more than made up for having a crappy childhood. But Tim deserved more. “Kara’s pretty smart.” Simon swallowed a lump in his throat as he looked at Timmy’s sugar level, relieved when it looked fine. “And yeah, I know Santa exists. I think he brought me Kara because he accidentally missed me a few times when I was a kid,” he explained carefully. “Santa isn’t perfect, but he generally makes up for it later if he misses your house a few times.” He disposed of the strip and the trash from checking Timmy’s sugar and sat down on the boy’s bed.
Tim’s face scrunched up in concentration. “So, maybe being with you and Kara for Christmas is my big gift for Santa missing me before.” He looked satisfied with that explanation.
Jesus. It sucked when a kid was just grateful to be taken care of and have a roof over his head.
“Santa will find you this year. He knows where I live,” Simon told the child gruffly.
“Do you think so?” Tim’s face lit up like a lantern.
“I know so,” Simon told him adamantly, ruffling the boy’s dark hair.
Maybe he shouldn’t be encouraging a lie, but hell, the boy had done plenty of living in cold, hard reality. Some fantasy wouldn’t hurt. Tim deserved at least one damn extraordinary Christmas, and Simon was determined to see him happy.
“You don’t think I’ll get taken away before then?” Tim asked anxiously.
Fuck. Simon hated seeing that uncertain look in the little boy’s eyes. “No. I won’t let anybody take you away. Do you trust me?”
Tim nodded and flung his small body toward Simon. He caught the child as Tim slammed against his chest, hugging him tightly, protectively, settling him on his lap.
“I don’t need nothin’, Simon. You already gave me more than I need. I just want to stay here with you, Kara and Ginny for Christmas,” Tim mumbled, his voice full of longing.
Simon gulped and held Tim tighter as he vowed, “You’re not going anywhere. You’ll be here.” They’d have to go through him to get to this child in his grasp. “Now, get some sleep before Kara gets mad at us.”
Tim giggled as he flopped back onto his pillow. “She never gets mad. She just gives me this look sometimes when she isn’t very happy about something I did or said.”
Simon nodded in agreement. “Tell me about it. I’ve seen that look a lot more times than you have.” He knew all about ‘the look’ and he hated it. When Kara wasn’t happy, he wasn’t happy.
“Night, Simon,” Tim said sleepily.
Simon stroked a hand over the boy’s neatly trimmed hair, a cut that Kara had done herself. “Sleep tight, Tim,” he answered in a shaky voice. The kid was getting to him, making him feel protective, as though the boy were his own child.
Getting up, Simon clicked off the overhead light, leaving only a nightlight to illuminate the room.
“Simon?” Tim called tentatively.
Simon turned around. “Yeah?”
“I don’t have nothin’ to give anybody this year. It’s only a week until Christmas, and I want to give something to you, Ginny, and Kara,” Tim murmured, his tone upset. “Can you help me make something?”
Simon smiled in the darkness. “We’ll go shopping tomorrow if you go to sleep right now,” he muttered happily. “I like to Christmas shop.” Kara would kill him, but hell, he had to let the kid buy some stuff.
“I’m sleeping,” Tim vowed adamantly.
“Good.” Simon left the door open a crack and made his way back to his bed to snuggle with his warm, sleeping wife.
Personally, he felt he never needed to receive another gift for the rest of his life. Kara was the best damn gift he’d ever gotten.
But hell, it was great to be a billionaire, and he was damn good at buying stuff. Smirking deviously, Simon was happy because he could buy more stuff for Kara and Ginny. His wife couldn’t get irritated if the presents were from Tim.
Chapter Six
“Da-da,” little Ginny Hudson said happily as Simon spread a mashed banana and some cheerios on the plate of her high chair.
Kara watched as he grinned hugely, right before his daughter threw her arm out and accidentally smacked him in the face. He completely ignored it as he straightened, boasting to Kara, “See how smart she is? Who is mama, Ginny?”
She moved over to her daughter as Ginny babbled, “Ma-ma,” waving her arm toward Kara.
Simon had a silly grin on his face that said he thought he had the smartest daughter in the universe.
She leaned over and kissed her darling daughter on the head, Ginny’s face already covered in mashed banana. “That’s right, my sweet girl,” she cooed, watching as Ginny flung Cheerios, only a few of them ending up in her mouth.
“Damn,” the toddler muttered clearly.
Kara folded her arms in front of her and gave Simon an irritated glance.
“What? I didn’t teach her that!” he protested.
“Then where did she hear it?” Kara asked curiously. Really, it was rather hard to keep a straight face, the sound of that word coming out of her daughter’s mouth startling. “Little ears have to learn from somebody.”
“I’m sure it was just baby talk,” Simon argued, but he didn’t meet Kara’s eyes. “It only sounded like she was saying da—” He halted quickly and finished, “Um…a bad four letter word.”
“It might be my fault,” Timmy said unhappily as he joined them in the kitchen for breakfast. “I used to say it sometimes until Simon said it wasn’t a nice word,” he confessed, looking at Kara warily. “I’m sorry.”
Kara’s heart melted because Timmy looked so sad. She bent over and kissed the top of his head. He’d been raised in an environment where he’d constantly heard that word and probably many other four letter words that were much worse. It wasn’t his fault. “It’s all right, sweetheart. But it is a bad word, and we don’t want you to say them or for Ginny to pick them up.”
“I won’t say it again. I promise.”
Kara beamed at him. “I know you won’t.”
“Tim,” Ginny squealed excitedly, obviously happy to see him.
Kara watched as Timmy went to Ginny and patiently helped her eat her cheerios.
“How come she doesn’t use a spoon?” he asked curiously.
Kara smiled at him. “She isn’t quite grown up enough to coordinate a spoon yet, but she will eventually.”
“I’ll teach her someday,” Timmy offered.
Kara looked at her husband. Her heart clenched and they exchanged a melancholy glance. Would Timmy still be here to teach Ginny anything? She felt teary-eyed at the thought that he wouldn’t. He was so good with their daughter, and Kara already loved the little boy. She was pretty certain Simon was getting attached to him, too.
All four of them together in one room, they just seemed to…fit. They felt like a…family.
Simon grabbed Timmy around the waist and sat him down at the table, putting his breakfast in front of him. Kara watched as Simon mentally calculated the carbs in the food, and got the appropriate amount of insulin for Timmy’s meal. Her husband did it with such ease and such a lack of fuss that it had become part of their morning routine. Amazingly, he didn’t shy away from what the diabetic child needed, even though it would have been far easier to leave it for her since she was a nurse. Nope. Not Simon. He attacked everything with gusto, learning everything he needed to know from books and from Timmy’s team of medical consultants, which he himself had chosen. Her hubby already handled everything like a seasoned professional.
Kara went over to Ginny, her bare feet crunching down on fallen Cheerios. Her daughter was a compl
ete mess, banana smeared all over her cherubic face. She grinned up at her mother with an innocent look in her dark brown eyes.
She looks so much like Simon.
Ginny had been born with blue eyes and dark hair, but her eyes had started turning brown months ago, and her resemblance to Simon had become even more defined. Her daughter had a generally sunny disposition, but when she got obstinate, Kara swore that Ginny had inherited every one of Simon’s ornery, stubborn expressions.
“You’re going to be a handful, baby girl, if you get as stubborn as your daddy,” Kara said adoringly as she scooped her messy child out of the high chair to clean her up.
“I heard that,” Simon called from the dining room table. “I’m not stubborn,” he refuted in an obstinate voice.
Kara sniggered as she cleaned up her daughter and then the mess she’d made of her breakfast, while Ginny toddled over to see what her daddy and Timmy were doing. Simon was pigheaded, but he was also heartbreakingly sweet, and his gruff, bossy demeanor all revolved around protecting the people he loved.
It was funny now to think back to the days when he’d intimidated the bejesus out of her.
Grabbing her bowl of cereal and her coffee, she joined her family at the table. Finished with his breakfast, Timmy had Ginny cuddled on his lap and he was listening to her babble as though he understood every word she said.
Simon had his tablet on the table, flipping through some documents and finishing off his coffee. He was dressed casually, looking damn handsome in jeans and a forest green, long-sleeved, button-down shirt. He was expecting Sam, Max, Kade, and Travis any moment now, the four of them getting together to discuss the programs and investments for their charity for abused women. All four billionaires were heavy donors to the cause, and Kade and Travis wanted to keep everyone involved and informed. The charity had been the brainchild of the Harrison brothers because Kade’s wife, Asha, had been badly abused, but Sam and Simon raised and donated money, too, and were one hundred percent supportive.
Kara was happy. The men were all bringing their wives and children, so she’d be together again with Maddie, Mia, Asha, and Ally. Their hectic lives made it pretty difficult for them to meet up as often as they liked.
She heard her cell phone ringing a few minutes later, and she jumped up and scrambled to the kitchen, thinking it might be someone who was going to be late dropping by.
It wasn’t. And the news that the unwelcome caller relayed was information Kara definitely didn’t want to hear.
Hanging up the phone, she walked back toward the kitchen, having stepped into the living room so Timmy wouldn’t overhear her conversation. Her husband was just greeting all four men and their families in the hall right inside the door. “Simon. We have a problem,” Kara told him loudly enough so he could hear her over the greeting taking place in the hallway.
His dark gaze landed on her with concern. “What is it, sweetheart?”
“That was the Department of Children and Families. They found a distant relative of Timmy’s—somebody who might want to take him in.” Kara’s voice was anxious and tremulous, her knees shaking as she filled him in on the phone call.
“Bullshit,” Simon exploded. “This apparent distant uncle never gave a shit about Tim before. I doubt they’ve ever met.”
“They haven’t,” Kara admitted. “And I don’t think they’re going to turn him over anytime soon because this person has had some problems with the law in the past. It was the only family of Timmy’s that they were able to find.”
“Fuck. Tim is not going away with a goddamn criminal he doesn’t know. The kid has been through hell. They’ll have to go through me to get to him.” Simon’s voice was protective and rough, his hands clenching at his sides.
“They’ll have to go through me, too,” Sam offered his support.
“You can add my name to that list,” Kade stepped forward.
“And mine,” was the short, sharp response from Travis.
“I’m in,” Max Hamilton said angrily.
“I’ll call right now to have the papers drawn up for the bastard to sign.” Sam handed Noah over to Asha, who was holding her arms out for her nephew since Maddie was already holding Brianna. Sam pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and stepped outside the door to talk.
Despite her anxiety, Kara’s heart melted as she saw all five powerful men ready to do whatever it took to make sure one small child wasn’t mistreated. “How will Sam know who the relative is?” Kara queried softly, laying a hand on Simon’s muscular forearm.
His body was tense, his jaw clenched tight, but his expression morphed into one of reassurance and tenderness as he looked down at her. “He’ll find out. There aren’t many people who don’t owe Sam a favor. Important people. I’ll protect our boy, whatever it takes.”
Our boy.
If Kara hadn’t been so uptight, she would have smiled at Simon’s slip of the tongue. Judging by the look on his face, Timmy was already his to protect, and he was taking it damn seriously.
She knew from experience that once Simon claimed someone, his protectiveness and affections never wavered.
Stroking her hand over his tight jaw, she answered softly, “I know you will.”
Sam got all of the information he needed, and the men all filed out the door, their faces stony and determined.
Kara closed the door behind them and sighed heavily, hoping they could make things right. She didn’t want Timmy to be afraid again, worried that he’d be taken away by somebody he didn’t know, even if that person was distant family.
“Love is thicker than blood,” Maddie called over her shoulder at Kara as all of the ladies and the kids gathered together in the living room. “And can you really doubt that anybody could stand up to all of our men?”
“No,” Kara admitted with a weak smile. “One of them is fearsome. Together, they’re completely terrifying.”
She busied herself with getting something to drink for all of the ladies, a confident smile finally appearing on her face.
Simon had never, ever let her down, and she knew he wasn’t about to start now.
Our boy.
She passed by a joyful Timmy on her way to the kitchen, who was happily carrying Ginny with him toward the living room so they could play with Noah and Brianna. Asha’s baby did very little except sleep since he was a newborn, not even a month old, but Kara knew Timmy would keep the twins and Ginny busy.
Our boy.
Kara was mollified by Simon’s words, knowing that Timmy really did belong with them, and her husband would never let him go without a fight.
Fortunately, he wasn’t afraid of conflict, and he’d never lost a battle since she’d known him.
He’s too damn stubborn to lose.
Kara was comforted by that thought the rest of the day.
Chapter Seven
“What happened?” Kara murmured softly from their massive bed, watching her husband as he started to shed his button-down shirt.
Simon had called earlier and asked Kara to arrange for all the women and their children to be sent home amidst tight security since the men were going to be tied up. She’d agreed, and hadn’t gotten any word from him since, except for his texts that all was going well.
It was late, but Kara hadn’t been able to sleep. She’d waited up for him, every moment seeming like an eternity, slumber eluding her because of her overactive brain.
The bedside lamp was lit, and she could see her husband’s enormous grin. “Mission accomplished. We took an attorney with us to draw up the papers for this asshole to sign off any rights to Tim. He lived in a shithole in Georgia, a drunk just like Tim’s mother. He was so fucked up that he was barely coherent. We had to sober him up just to get him to sign.”
She shuddered at the thought of Timmy being in almost the same situation again. Kara’s eyes narrowed. “Did you pay him off, or beat him up?”
“Neither,” Simon answered neutrally as he shrugged out of his shirt and tossed it onto a chair
. He started working on his jeans before he answered, “Let’s just say we confronted him with a little bit of dirt about his criminal activities we found on him, and he decided he didn’t want to fight against us. He didn’t really want Tim when he found out he had health issues and he’d need special care. I guess he thought he could take the check he got for fostering him and get some slave labor out of him. Bastard. Tim is only seven years old.” He stepped out of his boxers and jeans, leaving him completely nude.
Kara sighed as she surveyed Simon’s gloriously naked body. He was strong, so muscular and incredibly beautiful. “You’re so handsome,” she murmured softly, her eyes roaming over his six-pack abs and muscular chest. He bore the scars of his childhood, but they made him even stronger, more powerful, and completely irresistible.
Simon crawled onto his hands and knees on the bed, stalking her. “Woman, if I didn’t love to hear you say that so much, I’d swear that you’re blind.” He tossed back the comforter and the sheets. “Holy hell, you’re naked,” he croaked.
She smiled at him seductively. “I was waiting for you.” After she’d had Ginny, she’d starting wearing a nightgown because she had to get out of bed so many times every night. But she’d missed the intimacy of being skin-to-skin with him.
“Fuck. If I’d known I was going to get this kind of welcome, I would have tortured the bastard to get things done sooner,” he said gruffly, his gaze caressing his wife lovingly.
“My hero,” Kara whispered as she wrapped her arms around his neck. “Kiss me, handsome.”
Simon wasted no time. He flipped her onto her back and pinned her wrists over her head. “Mine, dammit. Mine,” he growled as his mouth came down over hers.
Kara reveled in his embrace as Simon’s tongue swept into her mouth demandingly, an act of total possession that sent heat shooting straight between her thighs. Their tongues tangled with urgent need, Kara giving way to Simon’s dominant insistence.
This is how I like him. Demanding and greedy.
When he broke off the kiss, she was panting, desperate to get him inside her. “Fuck me, Simon. Please.”
