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Birdie’s fingers settled into mine, and her other hand came to rest on her belly. “I didn’t think I’d ever have the chance to be this baby’s mother, but now that I do, I won’t ever let anything screw that up. I’m leaving the past behind, Gypsy. I can’t think about the men that got away or the things left unfinished. The best thing we can both do is move forward. I’m ready to start my life.”
“You don’t have to worry about them anymore.” Gypsy’s eyes moved to me, a secret signal to her sister that I’d taken care of it. “They’ll never hurt anyone else, B.”
Birdie looked up at me and I squeezed her hand in reassurance. Her eyes flashed with understanding and then appreciation as she came to accept what she knew to be true.
“I feel like I don’t want you to go.” Gypsy half cried, half laughed before she glanced at me. “But I know you’re right where you were meant to be. Take care of her, Ace.”
“Nothing could stop me.” I leaned down and kissed the top of Birdie’s head.
“Please call me,” Gypsy pleaded as we walked toward the truck. “Check in with me often, or I’ll worry. We can meet for lunch and go baby shopping once things have settled down. Lucian and I will come visit too.”
“Okay,” Birdie agreed.
Already, I was nervous about letting Birdie out of my sight as they made future plans, but it was something we’d have to work on. We had yet to establish the kind of trust where she would come and go freely. Things would be different this time but not too different. I needed to know she was always safe, and I think she understood that when she squeezed my hand in reassurance.
“That sounds good. Maybe Lucian and Ace can chauffeur us around.”
Gypsy offered an approving smile and hugged her sister one last time. “Okay. Be safe. I’ll see you soon.”
“See you soon,” Birdie echoed.
I helped Birdie up into the passenger seat of the truck and buckled her in, pausing to stroke my palm over the rounded curve of her belly one more time. It would take me a while to get used to seeing her this way. I would need to figure out how to handle her in this fragile state. She must have recognized the concern in my eyes because she trailed her fingers over the worry lines and smoothed them away.
“It’s going to be okay, Huck.”
I nodded and kissed her one last time, which wasn’t nearly enough. We had a long drive back to the compound, and a full escort of bikes who’d be making the trip with us. I was grateful and annoyed at the same time because I couldn’t just pull over on the side of the road. I didn’t need an audience when I finally got inside her again.
My lips grazed along her jaw, and she shivered, an indication she was thinking about it too. “Take me home,” she pleaded. “We need to talk.”
HUCK’S BAND OF BEARDED BRETHREN escorted us all the way back to his house. When I got out of the truck, they each made a point to welcome me home and tell me if there was ever anything I needed, they were just a phone call or short walk away.
Something had shifted in my absence. This was the same group of guys who had watched me wearily when I first entered Ace’s life, but now, they all rallied around me like a bunch of scruffy older brothers. My heart was fuller than I ever thought it could be when Huck finally dragged me into the house and offered me everything short of a full buffet. I wasn’t hungry or thirsty, but I could see he was nervous as he led me down the hall to his bedroom.
“I didn’t know if you’d want to change,” he said. “All your clothes were in Trouble’s car, so Gypsy helped me shop for some new ones. I got you a new phone too. I’ll try not to break this one.”
I looked at the phone on the nightstand and the closet full of brand-new clothes next to his, and liquid warmth spread through me. “You did all this?”
He nodded and dragged a hand through his beard before he sat on the bed. “You said you wanted to talk?”
His eyes moved over the ring on my finger as if he was looking for reassurance it was still there. I went to him, stepping between his thighs as my thumbs found the lines of his jaw and tilted his gaze up to mine. “I said we had to talk, but I didn’t mean with our mouths.”
A possessive growl rumbled from his chest as he pulled me onto his lap and wrapped a solid hand around my face, his lips crushing against mine. It was true we still had a lot to discuss, but right now, this was what we both needed. The reassurance that in this crazy, hellish world, we still had each other. We still had the fire that shined brighter than any other.
