The Billionaire’s Creed

ADLEY

The private island Mykel and I bought was beautiful.

As we promised my grandfather, we got married as soon as I lost my baby weight-it was spectacular, just as the old man wanted it, with five hundred guests at my beach house. Then we had our honeymoon in Monaco, then on this same island where we would spend a week.

This was our second time visiting this property after our wedding. I promised Mykel to spend more time with the kids and him. I prioritized my family over my work, and he did the same.

I lost track of time when I was in a beautiful place like this with a white sand beach and a clear blue sky above the breathtaking ocean. I watched Jax play his castle set with the sand when my husband called me. It was our daughter’s feeding time.

Amelie was too tiny in his arms as he carried her securely. Despite our kids having nannies, Mykel was a hands-on dad. Who would have thought he would become this remarkable man?

“Time flies by so fast when you’re enjoying watching someone you love lost in his own little world.” I wiped my breast clean in my swimsuit.

“Couldn’t agree more.” He carefully placed wide-awake Amelie into my arms before he kissed me on my lips.

“Hey, Ame.” I kissed my kid on her chubby cheek. She grew up so fast. Her gray eyes were so big as she stared at me, recognizing her mommy. “Did your daddy watch you while you slept?”

As soon as she felt my breast, she quickly sucked and fed herself-her little fingers gripping my bra tops.

“Take it easy, sweetheart.” Mykel caressed his daughter’s head.

“She’s hungry.” I looked at my husband, and I couldn’t help but admire the look on his face. We had been married for almost two years, but he never ceased to amaze me. The way he looked at Amelie, all I could see was his love for our daughter.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” He looked amused.

“I’m just admiring you.”

“Me too, baby.”

I looked over my shoulder. Jax suddenly squeaked.

“What is it, buddy?”

“It’s Mr. Krabs, Daddy!”

“Don’t hurt Mr. Krabs. Okay, Jax?”

“I know, Mama.” It felt good that Jax loved his baby sister and me. He started calling me mama when Amelie was born.

When I turned to Mykel, his gaze was on my breast.

“Are you turned off?”

He smiled. “Why did you say that?”

“We didn’t exactly talk about breastfeeding Ame.”

“And?” His dark brow arched.

“I don’t know. My breasts sometimes leaked, and I smelled milk. My shape has changed. I have stretch marks.”

He raised his hand. “Okay, stop right there, Adley.”

I arched a brow.

“Did I complain? No. Will I complain? Never, baby. What you’re doing is for our child’s benefit, which we love very much. You made the right decision, and I would not force you to breastfeed even if you chose formula. You don’t care about how it affects your shape. That’s why I admire you. I still love every inch of you, and that includes your stretchmarks. It’s not a flaw, my love. It’s a constant reminder that I should and will always care, love, and respect you for carrying our little pea.”

“Peanut.”

He chuckled. “Whatever. You actually look the same in my eyes, even more beautiful. And you’re a great mom.”

“Do you ever get jealous?”

His brows knitted as he looked at Amelie and back to me. “No. Never.”

“But you did not come this morning.” I watched how his eyes widened a little.

“I did-”

“Don’t lie to me, babe. I was done, and you’re about to when Ame suddenly cried.”

He tried hiding his reaction from me, but he burst into laughter. “It’s alright. It happened. Our lives don’t revolve around us anymore. We have kids now, and we can always make up. We have all the time in the world to enjoy our lives and love our family, baby.”

“I’m sorry. It’s my fault.” It had been six months since Amelie was born. I was a working mom, running Kross Corp. Sometimes, I felt guilty if I spent less time with Mykel. Time seemed not enough, but I never heard him complain even once.Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.

“It’s not your fault.”

“Maybe we should-you know, as soon as she sleeps,” I suggested.

“Or you can lower the volume a little?” He arched a brow.

I felt my cheeks burning. “Or that.”

“Baby, honestly, it’s okay. We’re still adjusting. And she was fussy last night. I finished it in the bathroom, anyway.”

I shook as I tried not to laugh out when Amelie was about to doze off. “Sorry.”

“You can say the word, baby. It’s not dirty when you think it’s not.”

“Fine. Sleep together.”

“That’s wholesome.”

“Well, I’m a mother now, Mykel. I tend to be a good example. You should do that sometimes.”

“At least there’s one of us.”

“You’re a good dad without even trying.”

“Thanks. I still wouldn’t change a thing. This family is my life. I love our kids. I love taking care of them and taking care of you. And you are my everything. So, little interruption can’t change our sex life. I still want you like the first time I saw you.”

My heart melted. “I love you, babe.”

“I love you more, Adley.” Mykel took Amelie from me to burp.

I cleaned my breast and fixed my top. I wasn’t ashamed to know my stretchmarks to him, even the size of my breasts. He’d seen me naked a million times. I accepted my flaws, and even though my body wasn’t the same, I had no plan to go under the knife, even if I could afford it.

“Why did you marry me?”

Amelie suddenly burped, interrupting us.

“Good girl, darling.” Mykel tapped Amelie’s back. “She’s about to fall asleep.”

When her nanny came in, Mykel gave Amelie to her. “Call me when she wakes up, okay?”

“Yes, sir.”

He glanced over my shoulder. “Buddy, go clean up. It’s almost dinner time.”

“Okay, Daddy.” Jax left his toys and ran in our direction. He came to kiss me on my cheek and to his father to give me a quick hug. “Bye.”

“Bye, Jax.”

I wanted to roll my eyes. He always did that, wanting to be a super dad. “You can’t keep doing that.”

He sat back, and I lay down on the beach chair. “I just wanna take care and watch my kids grow.”

“There are in good hands. It’s normal for kids to fall and get hurt or Amelie to get colic.”

“I never knew I could learn to love other people than myself.” He touched the white stripes on my lower abdomen. “Until I met you, and I have our kids.”

“So why did you marry me, Mykel?”

“You won’t let this one go, will you?”

“Because you never tell me the truth, other than you like me. Not everyone gets married because they like each other. Why?”

He looked me in the eye. There was always warmth and devotion every time our gazes met. “I like you.”

“Ugh.” I rolled my eyes.

“I wanna fuck you.” It was supposed to offend me, but I smiled. “Yeah. It’s the rational reason. Since you hated my guts-”

“I didn’t hate you.”

“You hated my manner. The first time I saw you, I told you that’s what came to my mind. I wanted to fuck you, tie you to my bed forever.”

I kept listening.

“I also wanted to keep you forever. When I met you for the second time, something different about you went beyond the physical, and something triggered inside me that I couldn’t quite explain. Then maybe because I already kissed you when you were just an infant, our fates interlinked then.” He shrugged. “Or maybe that’s the feeling of meeting your soulmate for the first time. It mystified you in a way that seemed impossible.”

“I thought you were hot.”

He barked out laughing, throwing his head back. His eyes twinkled as he looked at me. “I knew it.”

God, I love this man so much that words can’t express and always will.

“Despite hating your ill-mannered behavior, I liked you, and it irritated me why of all the people, I liked someone rude, and all he could think about was his-”

“Cock.” He held my hand. “I knew it the first time, baby.”

“See? Cocky much.”

“When you came to me. I felt like I had just won the lottery. Regrets?”

“Yeah. There’s one.”

His smile suddenly faded. Those sparks were gone. “Oh.”

“That I didn’t sleep with you on our wedding night.”

He grinned wickedly. “I knew it.”

I rolled my eyes. “Shut up.”

“Did you intend to kiss me under the rain?” He came and sat beside me as he rested my legs on his lap.

I shook my head in denial even though I didn’t have to. Mykel saw it in my eyes. He ran the back of his finger on the swell of my breast.

“Now, who’s lying?”

“Does it matter?” I traced his stubble to the bottom of his lip with my finger.

“It does. We don’t lie and keep secrets, remember?”

“I wanted to kiss you, but my stupid conditions came between us,” I finally admitted. “I have bruised and fragile ego myself.”

He met my gaze. “I wouldn’t change a second of what happened in our lives. Since I decided to marry you, I knew I would keep you even though our little one-year agreement is over. I fell in love with you so quickly. For a man who feared nothing but a relationship, that should be terrifying, but I was not. All I wanted was for you to see the real me. I wasn’t faking anything since I met you, Adley.”

“I know, Mykel. I see you. And that makes me fall in love with you all over again.”