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I stayed silent for a moment, thinking over all of the times Caiden had been a bit harsher with me than I had wanted, but he had always soothed me at the same time, somehow always clicking my mind back into place where it needed to be.
“Tell me about the trial,” Dr. Gresham prompted.
“It was nerve-wracking. But I was mostly okay until I had to get on the witness stand.” Vomit rose in my throat, but I swallowed it down. That day still fucked with me sometimes. “When they showed the picture of my body, I lost it. I went straight into a flashback, and all I remember is passing out and waking up on Christian’s lap outside on a bench.”
“How did you feel when you came to?”
“Like shit,” I told him honestly. “My head hurt. I was still shaking a little bit, and I was fucking terrified that Randall would walk free all because I couldn’t control my breakdown in the courtroom—that the jury would think I was a nutcase and had made the entire thing up.”
“But they had pictures as proof of what happened to you,” Dr. Gresham reminded me.
I shrugged. “I wasn’t thinking of that,” I told him honestly. “I was just terrified that I would forever have to live in fear because I hadn’t been enough to get Randall locked away.”
“But he is now,” Dr. Gresham reminded me. “You did it, Ally. Despite how terrifying it was for you, not to mention draining, you did it. You got him locked away, and he will never hurt you or another woman ever again.”
I laughed and swatted Caiden’s hand away from my plate when he tried to grab one of my fries. He smirked at me before he leaned over and lightly pressed his lips to mine before he sat back up straight in his chair, stuffing one of my fries in his mouth.
“You’re a dick,” I grumbled.
He laughed. Christian lightly smacked him on the back of his head as he came to the table and sat on the other side of me with his plate of fries and a burger. “Leave her food alone, Caiden.”
Caiden smirked. “And miss out on annoying the fuck out of her? Hell no.”
He reached for another fry, and I grabbed a fork off the table, narrowing my eyes at him, silently daring him to grab another fry. “I will send you to the hospital,” I warned him.
His eyes flashed, darkening to an almost black color. “I’ve got a thing for pain, baby,” he huskily warned me.
My hand loosened around the fork, my breath hitching in my throat. Christian growled and grabbed my chair, yanking it closer to his. “She needs to eat, Caiden. For the love of God, stop turning her on.”
My cheeks darkened. Julian barked out a laugh when he stepped into the dining room. Axel pressed a kiss to the top of my head before he passed me on his way to my seat.
“Women’s pregnancy hormones are fucking insane,” Julian warned Christian. “I don’t give a fuck how tired women get—they’ll find energy for sex somehow.”
“Oh, my God,” I whispered in mortification, reaching up to cover my face with my hands.
A round of laughter went up around the table. My dad stepped into the room with Lana on his hip. She was holding a french fry in her hand, making a mushy mess out of it.
Caiden gently squeezed my thigh and put a fry on my plate to replace the one he took. I smiled over at him. “I have an announcement to make,” Dad spoke up, drawing everyone’s eyes to him. Christian wrapped an arm around my shoulder as he popped a fry in his mouth. Meghan took Lana from him and set her in her high chair with some baby finger foods for her to munch on.
“What’s that?” Axel asked, dropping into his seat at the table.
“The divorce has been finalized.” My eyes widened in shock. “Your mother and I are now completely divorced, and she has been cut off from all of my money and my accounts.”
“Holy shit,” Axel blurted, looking as shocked as I felt. “Congrats, Dad.”
My dad looked at me. I quickly stood up from my chair and rushed around the table, launching myself into his arms. He hugged me tightly. “She can’t hurt you anymore, Ally,” my dad promised me. “I’m sorry I wasn’t a better father to you growing up, but I’m going to do my best to make up for all of those years I let you down.”
I burst into tears, so happy that one of my parents finally gave a damn about me.
Caiden was out on another date later that night, and I was resting with Christian on the couch, the two of us watching a sappy romance movie. His hand was rubbing light circles on my belly, making me drowsy and lulling me to sleep.
