At the door, she hugs me again. Longer this time.
“I met Hunter,” she tells me. “And Ace. And Colten.”
Just mentioning his name makes my heart flutter.
“And? It went well?”
“They accepted my offering, but still not enough for their boss to take me seriously,” she says, her eyes going dark.
My mouth forms an ‘o’.
“Their boss? Isn’t that Hunter?” I say, playing dumb. They told me about Enzo.
She laughs. “Oh, Harper. Please stay pure, just as you are. Don’t let them darken that sparkle you have.”
I grin. “Oh, you should see me when I’m with Ace.”
She glances at my stomach and then laughs. “No. I think I’ll pass on the cuck chair, Harper. But, thank you for the offer.”
My cheeks go red. “No. I meant…”
"Call him, Harper. Don't wait. Don't overthink it. Just call. I don’t say this often, but in this case, let a man be your knight in shining armor."
I nod, and we say our goodbyes, and I head to the car with Dom waiting by the passenger side, helping me get in.
Dom drives me back through the dark streets of LA. I rest my head against the window and press my hand against my stomach.
Call Ace.
Tell him about the baby.
Let him come for me.
It sounds so simple. And maybe it is. Maybe the answer has always been this simple, and I've been the one making it complicated, the way I always do, building walls and digging moats and running from the one person who's been standing still, waiting, with his arms open and his heart breaking.
I pull out my phone.
His number. Memorized. Burned in.
My thumb hovers.
Not tonight,I tell myself. Not when Hudson has women over who don’t deserve to be entangled in this mess, too.
I put the phone down.
But Gianna's voice stays in my head, looping, relentless.
Call the one man who loves you enough to burn down everything to save you.
And he will come running.
She's right. He would.
I just have to be brave enough to let him.
CHAPTER SEVENTY-ONE
Ace
