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She chuckled, waving the older man off in favor of stepping up to me and holdin
g out her arms with her brow raised. I found I didn't want to relent, the little one felt far too good in my arms. Like a baby belonged there.
I'd have to remedy that as soon as I could get Samara on board, and as soon as I dealt with my father.
With a sigh, I handed Luna over to her mother. The baby opened her eyes the moment she sensed Ivory, looking up at her with an obvious love that only a mother could receive from a newborn. "Matteo and Ryker are waiting in the office," Scar said finally, hovering over Ivory. She smiled up at her bodyguard, reaching up to pat his cheek when he cooed at Luna.
The obvious friendship, the strength of the bond they'd formed was one I could only hope Samara would form once I assigned her a full-time guard. I just hoped it didn't take anyone getting shot to form it.
With a wave and a kiss on Ivory's cheek, I made my way down the hall to Matteo's office with Don at my heels. Scar stayed behind, never far from Ivory's side even in the privacy of their home unless Matteo was nearby. Somehow Ivory was entirely comfortable with his presence, like he was just an extension of her. Even when they didn't interact, they were at peace in one another's presence, and I had to hope that she would somehow be able to convince Scar that he deserved the kind of love she'd found with Matteo.
The kind of love I had with Samara.
The kind of love that never went away, that waited until it was safe. The kind of love that existed because of sacrifice.
Real.
When we entered the office, Matteo stood with a broad smile. The proud father, silently asking if I'd seen his precious girl. The best thing he'd ever made. "She's perfect," I said, stepping up and giving him a brief hug and pat on the back. "Completely perfect."
"She needs cousins," Matteo joked, but his words echoed the thoughts I'd had in the kitchen.
"I'm working on it. As soon as Samara's ready, she'll have one." Matteo grinned, and I felt my lips tip up into an answering smile. After so many years of wanting Samara and knowing she was beyond my reach, that it wouldn't be safe to make her mine with my father's threats hanging over my head, it seemed completely unreal to know that she was finally so close to being mine.
Ryker cleared his throat. "I'm happy for you. You know that," the man said gruffly, scratching the back of his head as if he wasn't prepared for the celebrations. Still stuck waiting for Calla to grieve her loss, I knew the two of us getting our women had to be bittersweet. He'd given Calla a year, and he still had over four months left on that sentence to wait before he claimed her. "But I want to get down to what we're doing with Walsh." His eyes glittered, and all I felt in the face of his vengeance for Samara was grateful.
I knew Ryker, even if he was unofficially family. He was family. He wanted to make Walsh suffer nearly as badly as I did.
"He's mine," I snarled, the beast rising to the surface in the face of someone else taking that vengeance from me. I'd allowed Connor to marry Samara against my better judgement. Given him the most precious gift in this world, and he'd hurt her. He'd hurt her worse than I could have ever imagined him capable of.
"I can help," Ryker argued, crossing his arms over his chest. He was shorter than me, only slightly, but his body mass made my leaner definition seem pathetic. He and Enzo should have sparred more often, because the result was always terrifying.
"You can," I agreed. "I want you to find him for me. Samara needs me right now, and I don't like being away from her. God knows you're a stalker, so you should have no problem tracking him down. Campbell lost all trace of him; he has been asking around but isn't getting anywhere. I hope you have better luck."
I dropped down in my favorite seat in the office as Ryker stalked to the door. "I'll find him," he grunted. "Can't promise he won't be bloody when you get there, but I'll find the fuck."
"That's fine, just make sure he's still breathing. I think I'll have to get creative with my punishments for him," I sighed.
"We know anyone who's gay?" Ryker asked Matteo, and Matteo grinned at him cruelly.
"I have someone in mind."
"Then I say we give him a taste of his own medicine," Ryker said.
“I don’t give a shit how you do it, but when you find him you make sure he fucking suffers for what he did to my girl,” Don ordered, and the more harsh tone of his voice would have been unexpected under any other circumstances. But not when talking about the man who’d hurt Samara. The man on his own was peaceful, not a violent bone in his body, despite his attachment to us, but for Samara he’d have dismembered Connor himself.
I chuckled, because this office was the only place I could give in to such thoughts and not be judged for them. Worse yet, could act on them without consequences from any of the other guys. "How's Calla?" I asked.
The smile slipped off Ryker's face. "She's getting there," he said, and he slipped out the door.
"I can't decide if I feel bad for Calla and the kids, or if I'm happy she has someone to love her like that," I admitted.
Donatello laughed. "Have you ever met her?"
"No," I admitted. "You?"
"Yeah. Once, bumped into her ex at the store with her one time. Ryker's got his hands full with that one."
"Hellcat," Matteo grinned, confirming Don's words.
