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She slipped from Marcello’s grasp and rushed over to Luca, throwing her arms around his neck. “Thank you.”
He kissed her pretty pink lips. “Only the best for our queen.”
“We should talk about the paternity test.” Alex angled her body to look at each of us. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
“Regardless of paternity,” Luca cut in, “we won’t treat him or her any differently. But we need to know for The Founders Society.”
She dragged her teeth across her bottom lip and nodded. “To be completely honest, I’m kinda scared. I haven’t felt like myself since my mother kidnapped me. I have these moments…” She released a deep breath, wrapping her arms around her middle. “I just don’t feel right, if that makes sense. I don’t know if it’s because of the changes to my body from the baby, or if I still haven’t processed what happened on the island.”
Luca pulled her into his arms. “It’s okay, baby. Give it time. That was a traumatic situation.”
She leaned back against his chest, her gaze on us. “I’m going to be a mother.” Her eyes watered, and a single tear slid down her cheek. “It’s really freaking me out. I had a horrible mother. An even worse childhood.”
Luca swiped at her tears and hugged her tighter. “You’ll be a good mom, Drea.”
“You will,” Marcello interjected. “Because you learned whatnotto do.”
Bastian took her from Luca and kissed her forehead. “You have nothing to worry about, Cherry. This baby will love you as much as we do.”
Dr. Ferguson cleared her throat as she entered the room. “Gentleman.” She lowered her head, and then smiled at Alex. “Hello, Alexandrea, I’m Dr. Ferguson.”
She was tall, probably close to six feet, and had long auburn hair that covered the name on her lab coat. A dusting of freckles dotted her pale skin. Somewhere in her late forties, she was one of the best in her field and specialized in different birthing techniques. Luca chose her in case something went wrong with the birth. My brother had accounted for every variable. He’d done his research about babies and birthing and literally everything you didn’t even want to know about childbirth and parenting.
He tried to convince me to read a few books. I wasn’t ready. It still didn’t feel real that one of us was the father of her child.
As expected, Marcello and Bastian dived right into the material. Bastian had taken care of me for most of my life, so I already knew he would be a good father. He could put his own needs aside to help others, as he had done for me more times than I could count.
Both of them would be amazing fathers. Even Luca would be better at it than me. We were the most alike, both of us unable to process emotions, especially those of others. But he was getting better with Alex. Slowly, my brother was becoming a different man.
Alex hopped up on the table. Dr. Ferguson powered on the machine beside her. With the doctor on her left side, there was only room for one of my brothers on her right. Marcello nudged Bastian out of the way and held her hand. Bastian stood beside him with his hand on Alex’s knee.
Luca moved next to me and lowered his voice. “Is this too much for you?”
I shook my head. “No, I’m okay.”
“Alex needs all four of us,” he said in a hushed tone. “We need you, too. So you better fucking snap out of it.” His deep voice became more menacing. “Read the fucking books I gave you. Try fucking harder.” His teeth clenched as he spoke. “Because if you do anything to upset her, or push her away, I won’t let you anywhere near her or the baby.”
I turned to look at him, my body trembling from the anger shaking through me. “You can’t keep me away from her.”
“I don’t want to hurt you, Damian.” His jaw ticked as he looked at me. “But if you don’t get your shit together, I won’t have a choice. I’ve spoken with Bash and Marcello about this. They agree.”
“Bash would never agree to that,” I snapped, accidentally raising my voice, which drew everyone’s attention to me.
Alex glanced at each of us. “Is everything okay?”
Luca held out his palm and forced a smile. “It’s okay, Drea. We’re just talking.” Then he tipped his head to the doctor. “Proceed with the ultrasound.”
The doctor nodded and went back to work.
Our girl stretched out her hand and wiggled her fingers. “Damian, come here. I want you to see the baby.”
The baby.
A new life.
I had only ever taken lives. Creating one still felt like such a foreign concept to me.
Because I was obsessed with her, even possessed by her, I closed the distance between us.
