Sneak peek

Hooked on You Sneak Peek

“Ryder, your wife is on line one. She said it’s an emergency.” 

“Thank you, Julie,” I say to my assistant. 

I quickly press the line and bring the phone to my ear. “Nora, is everything okay?”

“No,” my wife shouts through the phone over the sound of a screaming baby. “Everything is not okay. I need you to come home now.” 

I’m already standing, worst-case scenarios flitting through my head. Did our daughter fall and hit her head? Did she choke on something? Was there some kind of accident? Addie is only four months old, but anything is possible.

“Let me call you on my cell.” 

I hang up and grab my phone, seeing a dozen missed calls and texts from Nora. Shit. I had it on silent because I was in a meeting earlier and forgot to turn the ringer back on.

“Hello,” she breathes, the screaming in the background still going strong. 

“What’s wrong?” I ask, snagging my keys and running out the door. 

“I don’t know! The nanny isn’t here, thanks to you giving her the time off, and I have no idea what the hell is wrong with her.” 

I step into the elevator and press the button for the parking garage. 

“Did something happen?” I ask in confusion. 

“How the hell am I supposed to know? I tried to feed her, but she threw up all over me. I was supposed to be meeting my mother for brunch, but I can’t go now because I’m going to have to shower, and the formula stained my dress, and I have no one to watch Adeline.”

“Forget your fucking brunch for a second,” I bark. “Why is our daughter screaming like she’s in pain?” 

“Because the nanny and you have turned her into a spoiled brat, and neither of you are here, so I’m left to deal with it.” 

“She’s four months old,” I remind her as I get into my car. “She has needs, and the only reason she’d be crying, unless there was something wrong with her, is if they weren’t being met.” 

“Well, I don’t know how to meet her needs. Maybe we need to hire another nanny. She literally gave us zero notice.” 

“Her mother passed away,” I say dryly, wondering how this has become my life. “You can’t exactly give notice when you don’t know your mother is going to have a heart attack and die.” 

She called Friday night and told me her mom was in the hospital and she wasn’t sure what was going to happen. Nora was on a girls’ trip with her mother and friends, so I spent the weekend with Addie. 

Last night, the nanny called and said her mom didn’t make it, and of course, I told her to take off as much time as she needed. Because I had to go to work today, Nora was left to take care of Addie. It’s only been about two hours since I left. 

“Can you please just get home?” Nora huffs over the line. “I don’t know how to fix this.” 

“I’ll be there soon.” 

I click End, and the car immediately goes silent, giving me a few minutes to calm myself so I don’t lose it on my wife. For a woman who wanted a baby as badly as she did, it’s insane, the way she wants nothing to do with caring for our daughter. 

The nanny mentioned that Nora has gotten worse, relying on her to do everything, but I didn’t fully grasp the severity of the situation until now, as I walk inside and hear my daughter screaming at the top of her lungs. 

“Jesus fucking Christ! What do you want from me?” Nora yells, sending chills up my spine. 

It brings me back to when I was little and my parents would fight. And then my dad would leave, and my mom would take it out on me. Nothing I did was right. I was too messy, too noisy, too much work. I tried to be cleaner, to keep my mouth shut, to make it to where she wouldn’t be upset. All I wanted was for her to love me … and instead, she left. 

I follow the cries, and they lead me to the nursery, where I find Nora standing over our daughter in her crib. Addie’s face is bright red and blotchy from crying, and when her hazel eyes—identical to my own—meet mine, my heart shatters into a million pieces. 

I shouldn’t have left Nora with Addie. This morning, when I told her the nanny wouldn’t be coming in, she threw a fit over having to care for our daughter herself. I called her a selfish bitch and told her she could handle one damn day of taking care of Addie. But I should’ve listened because based on Addie’s face, she’s been crying for a while. 

“Come here, Chunky Monkey,” I whisper, pulling Addie into my arms.

Within seconds of me holding her, her cries soften from an ear-piercing scream to a sob as her head flops onto my shoulder and she clings to me like the sweetest little monkey. 

When she was born, she came out screaming like a pissed-off cat. She was only four and a half pounds with her skin hanging off her bones. But my little girl loves to eat, and all too soon, she was gaining weight and filling out. She also loves to be held, hence the nickname—because she’s clingy and chunky. Nora hates it, says it sounds juvenile, which only has me loving the name that much more. 

“What’s the matter with my sweet girl?” I coo.

“She wouldn’t stop screaming,” Nora huffs, as if our crying daughter is such an inconvenience. 

“Did you try holding her?” I ask, glancing at my wife, who shoots daggers back at me. 

“I told you not to go to work today. I can’t do this without Freida.” 

“I had an important meeting, and you’re her mom,” I hiss. “The nanny is here to help because you demanded it, but she’s not meant to replace you. She needs her mom, not some stranger.” 

“I’m not good at this!” Nora throws her arms in the air, sounding like a petulant child.

“It takes time.” I pace the room, patting Addie’s butt lightly. Her sobs have stopped, but her breathing is still heavy from her earlier exertion. “Maybe if you help Freida more …”

“This isn’t what I signed up for.”

“What are you talking about?” 

“This.” Nora flails her arms about. “Her.” She nods toward Addie. “This isn’t how I thought my life would be.” 

“This isn’t how you thought your life would be?” I retort with a humorless chuckle. “How the fuck did you think your life would be when you tricked me—not once, but twice—into getting you pregnant?” 

She opens her mouth to argue, but before she can get a word out, I continue, “And before you try to say both pregnancies were an accident, don’t bullshit me. I overheard your conversation with your mother. I know you lied about being on birth control and that you tampered with my damn condoms.” 

I hit her with a hard glare that has her taking a tiny step back. 

“If you didn’t want a baby, you should’ve listened to me about waiting after we lost the first baby. But you didn’t. Instead, you kept track of when you were ovulating …” 

Her eyes widen in shock, and I shake my head. 

“Yeah, I saw the app that was downloaded from the App store. You’re on my account.” 

I didn’t say anything because what’s the point? Addie is here, and what’s done is done. I might despise my wife and the fact that she trapped me into this bullshit of a marriage, but I love my daughter something fierce. Adeline Elizabeth Du Ponte is my entire world, and I’ll never regret her being born. In the four short months she’s been alive, she’s managed to wrap me around her tiny little finger, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. 

“Okay, fine,” Nora says, raising her chin in the way she does when she goes on the defense. “So, I might’ve done things to increase my chances of getting pregnant.”

I roll my eyes at the way she’s spinning shit. It’s so typical of her. God forbid she takes responsibility for her actions.

“But this wasn’t how I envisioned my life,” she adds. “I wasn’t meant to be a mom, and this isn’t worth it.” 

“What’s not worth it?” I hiss. “You live in a multimillion-dollar home, drive an expensive car, have access to my black card, spend the majority of your time shopping or at the salon when you’re not doing girl days with your equally spoiled friends, and you have a fucking nanny who helps take care of our daughter ninety-nine percent of the time.” 

I was originally against the nanny because I had been raised by one. After my mom left, my dad was given full custody, and he immediately hired a nanny. Don’t get me wrong. Greta was as sweet as they came, but she wasn’t my mom or dad—although in my case, she was better because she actually cared about me. But when I was old enough to no longer need to a babysitter, she moved on to take care of another family, and I was left alone. I never wanted that for my daughter. I want her to know that her parents love her and put her first.

But when Nora threw a fit and it was clear she wasn’t in the right state of mind to take care of Addie, I gave in. After two months, when she still wanted nothing to do with our daughter, I did some research and thought maybe she was going through postpartum depression. But when I asked her to let me get her help, she refused.

Now, it’s been four months, and she still has no desire to be a mom. I’ve known this, but I kept hoping, for our daughter’s sake, she would come around. Feeling unloved and unwanted isn’t something I would wish on anyone, especially my own daughter. 

“None of that matters when I’m trapped in this hellhole with you and her.” She looks at me with fire in her eyes. “I want out. Fifty million, and I’ll sign over my rights.” 

I lay Addie down in her crib, pulling her blanket over her bottom half, and then walk out of her room with Nora on my heels as I try to wrap my head around what my wife just said. 

Like Addie, I was an accident. My brother, Erik, is ten years my senior. My mom wanted out—out of her marriage, out of being a mom, out of the life of being a Du Ponte—but then she found out she was pregnant. 

When I was three, she took off to start a new life, leaving me to be raised by Henry Du Ponte, who only cares about himself. He hired Greta, and I only saw him when it was convenient for him. I wanted more for my daughter, but it looks like no matter what I do, what I give Nora, it’ll never be enough.

Really, I should be thrilled she wants out. Paying her off would mean getting out of this farce of a marriage and not having to deal with her every day. But a part of me feels like a failure. I wasn’t worth either of my parents sticking around for, and now, Nora wants to get away from me. And what about my daughter? What will I tell her one day when she asks where her mom is and why she didn’t want to be a part of her life?

“We both know you don’t want to remain married to me,” Nora says once we’re in my office, snapping me out of my thoughts. “Fifty million, and the baby is all yours.” When I don’t say anything, she adds, “Isn’t she worth that much?” 

“She’s worth everything,” I hiss. “But what I don’t get is how she’s not worth it to you. You carried her for nine months. She’s your blood, Nora. You’re her mother.”

I close the gap between us and palm her cheek. “Let me get you help, please. I know you don’t think you have it, but I’ve read about PPD and—”

“I don’t have PPD!” she barks, taking a step back. “Stop trying to see the good in everyone. Stop trying to fix me! I only wanted you for the money and the lifestyle. But I was dumb because you’re the cheapest rich person I know. You’re the only person I know who is worth millions and acts like he’s poor. I thought once we were married, things would change. And then I had your baby! But nothing’s changed. You want this … family,and I want to have fun. I want to travel and enjoy my life. And I don’t want to be shackled down by you or that damn baby.”

She crosses her arms over her chest. “Fifty million, and she’s all yours.” 

“You’d really do that?” I ask despite knowing she would. 

She reminds me of my mom, only the polar opposite. My mom hated being rich—Nora loves it. My mom hated my dad traveling and the social obligations she was forced to attend—Nora thrives on them. The problem is, I’m not my dad, and I prefer to be home with my family over traveling and attending social functions, and it drives Nora nuts. She wants the picture-perfect family without having to be part of a family. And I just want the family. 

I kept hoping whatever she was going through was a phase and she’d come around and want to be part of this family. But it’s clear that she’s never going to. 

“I don’t want her,” she says, finality in her tone. “She was only a means to an end. If I could go back, I never would’ve gotten pregnant. I’m still young, and I have time to live the life I deserve. It’s bad enough she ruined my body. But now, she’s ruining my life.” 

“You know how bad it’s going to look that you’re giving your daughter up? Any respectable, rich man isn’t going to want that type of woman.”

“Well, after you pay me, I won’t need a man, and I’ll be damned if I ever get pregnant again.” 

“And what does your family think about this?” 

Reputation means everything to people like Nora, so I’m shocked she’d risk her reputation like this—which has me believing something is wrong with her. I know she doesn’t agree she has PPD, and I’m not a woman or in her body, but it’s just crazy to me that she tried so hard to get pregnant, only to turn around and say she no longer wants to be a mom. 

“I’ll deal with them,” Nora says. “My mother warned me not to latch on to you, and I should’ve listened.” 

“Fine.” I sigh in defeat. “But I’m not giving you fifty million dollars. One, you signed a prenup, so you’re not eligible to receive a dime without being married for at least five years unless I’ve been unfaithful, which I haven’t. And two, I’ve been recording this entire conversation.” 

I lift my phone out of my pocket and shake it. “I can easily take you to court and get custody—and I will because, as you pointed out, I have a shit ton of money—but since neither of us wants to go through all that, I’ll give you five million as a parting gift, and you’ll walk away because my daughter deserves better than you anyway. But understand that walking away means you will have no contact with Addie. Not you or your family.”

It has to be a clean slate. Otherwise, she’ll be confused. One day, this will affect her, and the last thing I want is Nora’s family demanding to see her when her own mother doesn’t want anything to do with her. 

Nora glares at me, probably debating whether she should argue and try to get more money, but after several seconds, she nods. “Okay. Five million, and I’m gone, and I’ll make sure my family stays away.” 

“Okay, but you need to leave now. Go stay somewhere else while I have my attorney draw up the paperwork. I don’t want you anywhere near my home or my daughter. As far as I’m concerned, you’re dead to us.”

Preorder Hooked on You on Amazon and in the meantime, you can check out Drunk on You: a fake 💍, office romance on Amazon and in KU and audio!