“You’re glowing, Amber,” Eli says softly, brushing her hair back.
“Just sweating,” she mutters.
“No,” he insists. “You’ve never looked more beautiful.”
Fallon leans down to kiss her ankle. “He’s right. You’re a goddess.”
“Stop it.” She laughs, pushing at Fallon’s head with her foot. “You guys are biased.”
“Maybe,” I say, sitting on the floor near her head. “But we’re also right.”
Eli looks at me, then at Fallon. A silent communication passes between us. We’re ready. The nursery’s done. The bags are packed. We’re waiting for her to decide she’s ready.
“Knox?” she asks quietly.
“Oui?”
“I’m scared.”
I reach up and take her hand. “Of what?”
“Of everything. Of doing this right. Of... Luke finding a way to ruin this.” Even though he’s locked away, the fear is still there.
I squeeze her fingers. “He can’t touch us,chérie. Not here. Not ever again. We are too many. And we are too happy.”
She takes a deep breath and nods. “Yeah. We are.”
“Besides,” Fallon adds, grinning up at her, “you have three of us. Even if he did get out, he’d have to get through us first.”
“True,” Eli agrees. “And he’d have to get through Dorian and Ryker and Jude.”
“And Stella,” I add. “She’s terrifying.”
Amber laughs, a bright, happy sound. “Okay. Okay. I feel better.”
I kiss her knuckles. “Good.”
We sit there while the sun goes down, surrounded by our family. The future is sleeping in her womb, and the past is finally dead where it belongs—in a cage.
We’re free.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Fallon
Amelia is wrappedin a pink blanket like a burrito. She has a tuft of dark hair, sticky with vernix, and a nose that looks just like Amber’s.
And she’s sleeping. Just... out cold. Snoring slightly.
I reach a finger through the bars of the crib, terrified to even touch her. “Hey there, little bit. Do you know who your daddy is?”
I want a picture of her cute face tattooed on me immediately.
A hand covers mine. Knox.
He stands behind me, looking down at our daughter with an expression of awe I don’t think I’ve ever seen on his face before.
Not angry, not guarded. Just... soft.
