“Yep. He’ll be locked up for close to a year.”
Relief swept over Zinn. When he had learned that Valentin was being threatened by the previous club owner’s son, he’d been concerned. During one of the first conversations he’d had with Asher, his brother made the guy sound like a genuine threat. But Bergam had gotten picked up for petty theft just after Ryde’srealbirthday, enabling Valentin to rest easy for a while.
“I hope you know you can always talk to me…about anything.” Valentin spoke cautiously, as though his words might be unwelcome. “I know you’re close with Assa, and maybe it would be weird…but you can.”
“I appreciate that—” Zinn flinched, gripping the sink edge again.
“Zinn?”
He’d just felt the baby kick.
Nine years ago, when he’d reveled in those first tiny flutters, all he’d wanted was for Valentin to be there to share the miracle. Now Valentin stood in front of him.
But the life inside him wasn’t the one they’d made together.
“Are you alright?”
“Fine,” Zinn stammered. “It’s just the, uh…the baby…is…moving around.”
Valentin’s eyes dropped to the roundness of Zinn’s belly. His face lookedstricken.But just for a moment.
Then his cheeks lifted.
“What?” Zinn asked.
“Honestly?”
“I think we’d better stick with the truth from now on.”
Valentin laughed mutedly. “My first instinct is to be sad that I didn’t experience this with you when it was Ryde. But there’s a bigger part of me that is grateful I can be here this time. That I finally get the chance to see you this way.”
“Even though it’s not your baby?” Zinn asked softly.
“I hate that I wasn’t there back then. I don’t think I can articulate how much I hate it. But I’m here now. And even if it’s not the same, I still thank the stars for it. It helps me imagine what I missed.” Valentin held Zinn’s gaze. “When I was in prison, I used to picture you in my mind. What you’d look like round, carrying my child. And now I get to see firsthand. And I wasn’t wrong. You’re so beautiful, you’re glowing. You’ve always been the most beautiful omega in the world.”
Zinn had never expected to hear such things from Valentin again.
But they’d decided to stick with the truth.
And the truth was that there was still love between them. It had evolved, but it was there.
Most alphas in Valentin’s situation would be bitter about discovering the omega they loved had moved on, even if they understood how it had happened. But Valentin simply did not think the way most alphas did. He never had.
Zinn remembered the nineteen-year-old alpha Zeller Parkenson had fallen in love with, the man who had instantly seen all the things Zeller could offer the world. When Zeller found the strength to leave Warburton Province, he did so as the bright zinnia Valentin had always told him he was. The stalwart, perennial, strong zinnia.
By the time he arrived in Bellwether Province, he was Valentin’s Zinn.
“Can I—?” Valentin asked quietly, hovering his hand between them.
Zinn blinked. Valentin wanted to touch him, to feel Calder’s baby growing inside his body.
“Y-yes.”
Valentin placed a gentle palm on Zinn’s slightly protruding belly.
The baby kicked.
Valentin looked up in awe, and Zinn couldn’t stop himself from whisper-asking, “You’re sure it doesn’t bother you that he’s not yours?”
