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The corner of his mouth lifted. “This ought to be interesting.”
“Well.” I splayed my palms over his sculpted pecs. He was too fantastically built not to touch every chance I got. “We do have baby planning in the midst of all of this mayhem. I want the world’s most amazing nursery, Dane. I want our son to open his eyes every time he wakes and see the extreme his parents would go to in order to make him happy.”
Tears suddenly prickled the backs of my own eyes. Maybe I was hormonal. Or perhaps it was that I suffered from long absences from my seriously sexy husband and the fact that nothing about my pregnancy had been commonplace. I wanted everything following the delivery to be perfect. And I wanted our son to have stability in one home—not be moved from location to location because of extortion, explosions, high-speed car chases, and the like.
Dane’s handsome face became a mask of hard angles. I’d seen the expression before. He went to a very dark place in his mind when dealing with this terrifying nightmare we all endured.
“Baby—”
“I’m not complaining about this house,” I was quick to say. “The estate is incredible. It’s just … not home. Not our home, even if you did have it built for us. We both know where we belong, Dane. And I want He-Who-Will-Hopefully-Be-Named-Soon to have roots. Not a transient life.”
“I agree. If you want to go back to the creek house, we’ll make it happen.” He kissed me tenderly, making my toes curl. “Whatever you want.”
“You and this kid will suffice,” I said with a smile as my fingers swept through his hair.
Dane did his usual schooling of expressions to erase the tense one. “FYI, though. Kyle’s not going to live with us. Not after I’m done with the FBI.”
“I don’t know,” I mused. “He’s really gotten into this bodyguard stuff. I think he might self-appoint for a gig looking after our so—”
“Not a chance,” Dane grumbled.
I laughed softly as I reached for my glass of orange juice and sipped while Dane seethed over his mug of coffee.
I turned back to him and said, “We do have the space, that’s for cer—”
“Hey,” Kyle interjected as he returned from the walk-in pantry, his voice sharp, tinged with just enough holy shit to send a dark shiver through me. “What the hell is that red dot on Ari’s forehead?”
chapter 2
Dane’s gaze snapped up from his cup and he apparently saw the dot, too, because his ceramic mug went sailing across the room and he leapt to his feet, whirling around. I stood paralyzed where I was, staring at Tom Talbot, head of the watchtower security detail. He held a high-tech rifle in his hands with a scope on top. The barrel was pointed right at me.
My heart launched into my throat. Dane took one step to the side, his body shielding mine.
“Oh, hell, no!” he roared in a harsh tone. “You are not threatening my wife and child.”
“Move out of the way, Dane,” Tom said. “You’re not the target.”
“The fuck I’m not. She has nothing to do with this.” His voice was grave and dangerous—I had no delusions his chiseled features were as well.
I could barely breathe, could barely process this new peril we suddenly faced.
Kyle twitched. Dane told him, “Don’t move. Not unless he tells you to. Do whatever he says, Kyle. Don’t take any risks.”
Dane had read Kyle’s expression, I had no doubt. My best friend would have instantly been plotting in his head what course of action to take in order to rescue me.
“He’s right, Kyle,” I said from behind Dane, surprised I even got the words out, I was so terrified.
“This is a huge mistake,” Dane told Tom. “You’ll regret even considering this. I’ll make sure of it.”
“She’s your biggest weakness,” Tom explained. “Since Vale couldn’t complete his mission, I have no choice but to—”
“Vale’s still alive,” I said, peering around Dane’s thick biceps.
“Ari,” Dane all but growled.
I shifted so that I was concealed behind him again. “I’m just pointing that out.”
“You’re wrong,” Tom said. “He is dead.”
