Cross My Tigress Face the Wrath (Stella)

Next Morning

Stella woke up nestled in Ronald's arms. The instant their eyes met, she could see the exhaustion etched into his face.

"Did you have trouble sleeping last night?" she asked softly.

Ronald slid his hand behind her head and pressed his lips onto hers-hard. In that moment, it was like he wanted to devour her whole.

Stella let out a muffled protest, "Mmm-"

His kiss was fierce, almost desperate, as though nothing would satisfy him but to pull her closer, to have her completely.

It wasn't until ten minutes later that he finally let her go. Stella, a little breathless, pressed her small hand to his chest and stared up at his stormy blue eyes.

Ronald reached out and gently covered her gaze with his warm palm.

"Don't look at me like that," he said.

"How am I supposed to look at you, then?" she shot back playfully.

"Any way you look at me, all I can think is how much I want to eat you up," Ronald replied, a wicked grin tugging at his lips.

Stella's eyes widened. "You're impossible!"

Ronald was clearly struggling these days; if he'd known this would be so hard, he'd have avoided the whole getting-pregnant situation for a while longer. Life was just too torturous right now.

"My mom sent over a ton of baby stuff yesterday," Stella said, her voice growing tender as she mentioned Lottie. Just talking about her filled Stella with happiness. Ronald nodded. "Yeah, it's time to start getting ready."

After they washed up, they headed downstairs. Stella had just picked up her bowl of oatmeal when her phone rang.

"Hello?"

“Ursula's dead. Did you know?" Jaxon's voice came through, sounding hollow and lost.

No matter what, she'd been his little sister for years, and now she was gone. Even after all the terrible things she'd done-even after Ursula had nearly destroyed the Larkin family—he still sounded deeply affected.

Stella's voice turned ice cold, "Is that why you called? To make sure I'm enjoying this?"

Her tone was biting, thick with sarcasm.

Jaxon paused, thrown by her reaction. Stella pressed on, "You're not seriously looking for comfort from me, are you?"

"If that's the case, Jaxon, it's no wonder Lola Zeller dumped you. She was the only one with her head screwed on straight."

Honestly, Lola had made the right move. The barkins might be one of the top families in Boston, but what good was that if they couldn't hold it together? Lola took what she could, packed up her kid, and went to live her own life. Smartest move ever.

Jaxon bristled at her words, his voice growing sharp. "She's dead, Stella. Isn't it

time to let the Larkin family go?"

But Stella wasn't the sentimental

type, and Jaxon decided to cut

straight to the point. "You do realize your real mom's still in prison, right?"

That hit a nerve. Stella's temper flared instantly, and she was about et Jaxon have it when Ronald calmly took the phone from

ber

hand.

"What are you doing? I wasn't finished yelling at him!" she protested.

Ronald chuckled softly. "Easy, babe. You can't get stressed right now."

He stroked her hair, soothing her, then grabbed his own phone and dialed Idris.

"Boss?" Idris answered quickly.

Ronald's eyes narrowed. "Jaxon's not right in the head. As Stella's big brother, I can't just ignore it."

Stella looked at him, baffled. What did he mean by that?

Idris sounded just as confused. "So what are you planning to do?"

"Send him to the best psychiatric hospital in town," Ronald replied, his tone perfectly serious. "Pay for three years up front."

Stella's jaw dropped. "What?!"

Idris was silent for a moment, then said, "Understood, boss."noveldrama

Ronald added, "And make sure they use the best treatment money can buy. Maybe they'll finally fix his brain."

"Got it."

Ronald hung up and looked over at Stella.

She stared at him, half amused, half shocked. “A psych hospital, really?" "Don't you think he needs it?" Ronald asked, taking a casual sip of his milk. Stella considered for a second. "Well... now that you mention it, maybe he does."

"Exactly. Early intervention, right? Wouldn't want to miss the chance to cure him," Ronald said, completely deadpan.

He looked so serious that Stella couldn't help but laugh, shaking her head at just how over-the-top he could be.