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The problem was, I didn’t know if she would.
I still hadn’t heard a word from her. She’d refused all my visits, even after the transfer back to Nevada, and everything was up in the air. That was why Kodiak was all shifty, and I was all shifty, and to my right, Gypsy looked as white as a sheet while we all waited to see what would happen.
I wanted a smoke to calm the pounding organ in my chest, but I held off. Gypsy had told me to bring my truck, just in case Birdie did agree to go home with me. I didn’t ask her why; I just did it. I was functioning on autopilot by the time we were finally given a release date. Until she was standing in front of me, absent of her chains, I wouldn’t allow myself to believe it was real. Now there was nothing left to do but wait outside the jail, along with the small army of bearded brothers who’d refused to let me do this alone.
The door opened, and the first thing I saw was a halo of golden hair shimmering beneath the afternoon sun. I held my breath and vaguely heard Kodiak murmur something beside me. He sounded surprised, but I couldn’t focus. My eyes were locked on her face. On the woman who always managed to appear like some kind of mirage that might slip away at any moment. She was clean faced without a scrap of makeup on, and she looked so goddamn fragile that it felt like a punch to the gut when her eyes locked onto mine.
Moments ago, the crowd was full of chatter, but now I could only hear myself breathing. Everything felt too quiet, too still. Time ceased to exist as we stood there, a silent war raging in our eyes. I waited for her to come to me, but she didn’t move. Her eyes darted to her sister, who was quietly sniffling beside me. There was a choice to be made. Birdie very well might decide she wanted to go back to her old life. I wanted her to choose, but even now, I doubted I could let her go.
My body was stiff when I held out my hand in offering. She stared at it for a full minute before she took a step forward. And then another. And another. And I couldn’t fucking wait anymore. My feet were moving before my mind could catch up, and before I could stop myself, I had her wrapped up in my arms, her head tilted back as I dragged my lips over hers and breathed her in.
“Birdie,” I choked out, drawing ragged breaths between kisses that were definitely not meant for an audience. I couldn’t help myself, and she was too stunned to move, but I drank from her lips anyway. She trembled, and then let out the softest, saddest sound I’d ever heard. I swallowed it down and tugged her even closer, desperate to narrow the distance between us. That was when I felt the roundness of her belly against me.
I froze, and she froze, and my lips fell away as I held her at arm’s length to study what my mind was trying to comprehend. But it still wasn’t computing. And I hadn’t really given any thought to what I was doing when I reached up under her dress, and she screeched.
“Ace, what are you doing?”
I couldn’t find my words. It wouldn’t be real until I felt it for myself. Manic thoughts flooded my mind as I spun her around and shielded her from the view of everyone else. Despite her protest, she relaxed into me, and then shuddered when I finally slid my palm across her belly. It was warm and firm and dense, and my emotions immediately went to war. I had impregnated her with what would inevitably be a miniature hulk-sized baby that she would have to carry for nine months and then deliver. It was terrifying. But it was also the proudest moment of my life, knowing I’d filled her with my seed and claimed her in this way. I never wanted to be a father. I never thought anything good could ever come from me, but when I felt what we had made together, there was no doubt in my mind. This baby was good. It could only ever be good.
“Mine.” The word slipped from my lips as my head dipped into her neck, breathing her in. “Mine, Birdie.”
She swallowed and peered up at me with the bluest eyes I’d ever seen. Her face was a mixture of emotions and nerves, and she looked like she was on the verge of crying.
“But the tape,” she whispered. “You saw the tape. You saw what I was, and then you left me.”
