Keeping Their Love (Griffin Brothers #7) by Crystal Perkins Page A

better. Scratch that, he has no sense when
it comes to my niece. He loves her too much. Which is usually a good
thing. Not this time, though.
    Chloe fell in love with
Seattle when we went there a few years ago. We even got married there
in the first building we designed together. And even though she loves
Vegas and her friends, I know she’d love to live in that city at
least part of the year. So I built us a house. It’s smaller than
our house here, but perfect for us and Erin to spend our summers in.
It’s on the water, and I gave her the same dressing room and closet
that she has in our house here. I didn’t decorate it yet, because
that’s all her. But the structure’s done.
    Our friend, Kevin, who
helped Chloe when she first came to work for me, agreed to watch Erin
since I knew my mom was already watching Dave. I can only imagine
what a fashionable little diva I’d be coming back to after leaving
her with him for the weekend, but it would be worth it. For both of
us. And let’s be honest, I’m so tightly wrapped around my little
girl’s finger that there’s no way to unwind me. She can have
whatever she wants, when she wants it. For now, at least. She’ll
need to get a job like I had to, but not yet.
    Just like my little
girl, I’ll do anything for my wife. She’s truly my soul mate and
the love of my life. And now I have nothing to give her on
Valentine’s Day. Sure, I’ll still give her the house, but if I
can’t give it to her that day, what the hell am I going to give
her? Like I said, I’m in Hell.
    “We know it’s
sudden, but it’ll be great. We can all go to Disney again. The kids
will have so much fun.”
    “Yeah, Al. It’ll be
great,” Owen tells her with a fake smile on his face. He’s way
more screwed than I am, and I know it.
    * * *
    Owen
    Holy fucking shit! This
cannot be happening. It just can’t. I can’t bring the sexy back
with Candi at freaking Disneyland. And certainly not with Hope
joining us. I’d arranged for our friend—and her honorary second
grandmother, Cyndi Evans, to watch her. But we can’t leave her
behind if we’re going to Disneyland. What kind of parents would we
be if we did that?
    The terrible twos are
behind us, but the stubborn threes have descended, making Candi want
to pull her hair out. Hope is just like us, and while we should have
expected it, neither one of us were prepared to have a strong-willed
mini us. Don’t get me wrong, my little girl is amazing, smart, and
beautiful—just not perfect. Which is just the way she should be.
But it’s hard to keep up the romance when she’s demanding our
attention at all hours of the day and night.
    And we need that
romance. We’ve managed a quickie here and there, but I haven’t
been able to worship Candi’s beautiful body in months. If that’s
not a crime against humanity, I don’t know what is. I’d planned a
romantic getaway to a private island for us. One where we’d only
pack enough clothes for the plane ride. And maybe an itty bitty
bikini for my wife. One that I could tear off of her whenever I
wanted. But I should know that the best laid plans don’t always
work out. Even when you really, really, really, need them to.
    “Yeah. We’re all
really happy for you,” Luke tells her. His smile’s just as fake
as mine, though, because he may be the one who needed that week the
most of all.
    * * *
    Luke
    It’s over. My fucking
marriage is going to be over while my niece’s begins, and there’s
not a damn thing I can do about it. Olivia’s been getting more
distant and moody every day. She barely lets me kiss her, and there’s
definitely been no sex for the past month. I don’t know what I did
or how I hurt her—I pretty much worship the ground she walks on.
But I did something, and now I have no way to fix it.
    She hasn’t said she’s
going to divorce me, but she refuses to tell me what’s wrong and
won’t stop crying. I’d do anything to stop that crying. Anything.
Even the