AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Go síoraí,” he whispered, the old lilt to his voice almost, almost, normal as he reaffirmed his vow to her.
“Forever, Noah,” she whispered tearfully, her hand covering his on her stomach, her breath hitching in joy. Not in pain. “Forever, my love.”
EPILOGUE
Four months later, on a blazing September day, Noah pulled his pickup into the graveled driveway of his grandpop’s cabin and stared at the vehicles gathered there with a sense of throttled fury. Grant Malone was there.
“This wasn’t our agreement,” he said coolly, glancing over at her.
The bruises were long gone, but his memory of how close he had come to losing her wasn’t. She sat beside him, her hand on the tiny mound of her stomach as she stared out the windshield thoughtfully.
She finally turned to him, and he saw the determination in her gray eyes. “It’s time, Noah. Grandpop called this meeting, Noah. There’s things he wants us to hear. And we’re going to hear them.”
“With him there?” He stabbed his finger to his father’s ranch truck. “No, Bella. No way. No how.”
He hadn’t visited his father, hadn’t made good on his threat to reach out and enter his nightmares, and he would be damned if he would hold a civilized conversation with him now. He’d asked one thing of him. Protect Sabella. His wife had spent six years with only Rory standing between her and the world. And her own stubborn strength. He wouldn’t forget that.
It was all he could do to bite back his curse. He couldn’t curse in front of the baby when it came so he might as well start practicing now. Right?
Something softened inside of him as he looked down at her stomach again. She was barely showing, but their baby was there. His guts shook at the thought again and everything inside him seemed to explode in a riot of sensation. Even now. Four months later.
He blew out a hard breath and stared back at the vehicles. Rory was there, and Jordan, Grandpop, and Grant. Grant, not Father, and sure as damned hell not Dad.
“This wasn’t part of the marriage rules,” he gritted out, thinking about the page-long list they had fucking negotiated before she would marry him.
Negotiated, like a damned lawyer squabbling over pennies. She’d made him so fucking hot he’d had her right there on the kitchen table. Hell, he was hard again just thinking about it.
“Yes it was,” she answered calmly.
“Where?” He turned on her, his hands clenching on the steering wheel, no longer afraid she would run away crying if he raised his voice a little bit. “Where the hell was it?”
“The part that stated Sabella was always right.”
He snapped his teeth together and turned back. Fuck. He’d forgot about that one. The last one. He was going to negotiate the hell out of it at the time, but he’d been too busy trying to get under that silky skirt she was wearing.
“You cheat.” He turned on her, nose to nose now. “We renegotiate.”
“Too late, you signed it and you sealed it with marriage vows. You’re stuck, Mr. Noah Blake.” Her lips curled in satisfaction, but her eyes were dark, her expression assuring him she was very well aware of how difficult it would be to face his father now.
She laid her hand on his arm. “Grandpop is old, Noah. Whatever’s waiting on us in there means a lot to him. Give it a chance. Maybe you’ll have some answers instead of the questions I know burn inside you.”
Why had he deserted Sabella? Not why hadn’t he been a fucking father to him. Why had he cheated on his mother? Why hadn’t he claimed Rory and given him a home? God, why had he turned his back on Grandpop and stolen everything the old man tried to work for?
So many questions that he had actually put behind him the day he faced Grant Malone in the convenience center four months before.
“Fine.” He gave his head a hard shake. “It won’t change anything.”
“All I ask is that you hear Grandpop out. Not Grant,” she promised him. “I love you, Noah. Some things, we need closure on. If not for us, then for our child.”
Closure. He blew out a hard breath before he got out of the truck and strode around to the other side. He lifted Sabella from the high cab, setting her easily on her feet as she leaned her head against his chest for just a second.
“You owe me for this,” he muttered. “That’s definitely one of the rules. If I have to give in to Sabella knows best, then Sabella gives me head. Period.”
“I always give you head,” she said, laughing.
“Yeah, but I want special head.”
“There’s a special way to do it?” Her eyes lit up.
