“Well, he won’t be so stubborn when he can’t use his arm.” She huffed, rising from her seat to go give Gunner an earful.
“Their babies will be a handful.” Gracie grinned.
I laughed. “Yep.” It seemed everyone had accepted the two of them as inevitable. Well, everyone except the two of them. Though, looking over at the adoring yet challenging look Gunner was giving Emmie, I tended to think he was coming around to accepting his fate.
Hell, maybe he had a long time ago.
“How goes the apartment hunting?” Grace asked Olivia. Ever since Liv and Wren had moved back to Hawthorne, Livie had been living at home. Everyone knew she was more than done with that.
Olivia sipped her drink with a nod. “Amelia and I just talked the other day. She’s about to graduate and move home. We’re going to find a place together.”
“Amelia?” I asked. It wasn’t a name I’d heard before.
“Wes and Connie’s daughter,” Wren put in. “She’s been away at school.”
“Geez, there are so many people to remember,” I marveled.
Gracie laughed. “I guess you’re right. For me, it’s just been this way my whole life.”
I looked at her meaningfully. “You’re lucky.”
She smiled warmly. “I am. And now, you are too.”
“I am,” I echoed her words, feeling my belly warm.
If only that feeling could have lasted a little while longer.
Chapter 22
FRANCESCA
“What are we looking for?” Emmie wanted to know a few days later as we perused the mall with a grumbling Gunner trailing behind. During our girls’ night I’d reluctantly admitted that there were some clothing items missing from my arsenal. Of course, Em had been quick to volunteer herself as tribute. Since Maddox already had plans to accompany Cole to Vegas, Gunner was our unlucky bodyguard for the day. Or, maybe since Emmie was involved, not so unlucky.
I shrugged. “Nothing special, but I need a few more tops, and a cute dress for a date night wouldn’t be a bad idea.”
“Excellent,” she agreed as she appraised me curiously. “You feeling all right? You look a little green.”
I grimaced. “I’m fine. I’ve just been feeling a little off the past few days,” I admitted. What I didn’t share was that I’d thrown up before leaving the house, thankful Maddox was in the master bathroom showering. If he’d known, he would never have left, and though I didn’t know everything about his trip to Vegas, I knew it was important and didn’t want to stop him from going. Knowing Maddox and his overprotective nature, if I told him I had so much as a sniffle, he’d stop everything.
I had just emerged from the dressing room to get a better look at the green dress I’d put on when a familiar snort sounded behind me. “I don’t think that’s your color,” Stephanie sneered.
I whirled to face her, wishing Emmie hadn’t stepped away to grab me a few more things. “What, are you stalking me now?” I demanded, marching back to my dressing room to get my clothes back on.
She rolled her eyes. “Don’t flatter yourself.”
I was dressed in record time, wanting to be rid of her. “He knew who you were before he met you, you know,” she shared casually, her words like a bomb detonating, stopping me in my tracks.
“Get lost, Stephanie,” Emmie growled as she appeared ahead of me, her glare pointed at Stephanie.
I held up a hand for Emmie to back off. “What do you mean?” I demanded of Stephanie, eyeing her satisfied smirk with a mixture of apprehension and condemnation.
“Maddox.” She shrugged. “I heard him talking tohimat the club months ago.” She gestured to Gunner, who looked uncharacteristically worried as he appeared at Emmie’s side. “He knew who your family was. He went to Vegas to check you out. It was no accident he wandered into that shitty little bakery of yours.”
My already churning stomach sank like a rock as I tried to make sense of her words. “What are you talking about?”
“Maddox would never do that,” Emmie broke in vehemently. “You’re full of shit.”
Stephanie turned to Emmie, looking far too confident for my liking. “I’m not. Ask him.” She turned eyes toward Gunner, her brow raised in challenge.
