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“Come in,” I call.
The door opens. Shifting my gaze from the bags on the floor, I look up to see who has walked into my room, silently. It’s Henli standing there, holding her baby boy in her arms. She had a baby a few months ago, but I haven’t seen him yet.
She slowly walks into the room, then sinks down on the edge of the bed. She still hasn’t spoken, and I am a bit concerned. I move toward her and sit down beside her, looking at the little bundle of baby in her arms before I speak.
“Is everything okay?” I ask.
“Do you want to hold him?”
Lifting my head, I look up at her. She’s smiling, and I dip my chin in a nod before she passes him over. I’ve never held a baby before, but as soon as he’s in my arms, it’s as if I know what to do. Smiling down at him, I look at his perfect little face. My heart squeezes and my whole body melts at the sight.
“I just came in to check on you. The wedding is coming up soon,” Henli murmurs.
“I’m okay. I was just trying to figure out if I should put my new clothes away or keep them in their shopping bags,” I say, not able to take my eyes off the perfect baby in my arms.
Henli doesn’t speak right away, but then I feel her hand on my forearm. Tearing my gaze away from the baby, I look at her. “He took you shopping?” she asks.
“Yesterday, for clothes. He didn’t want me wearing used stuff anymore, said it made him look bad since I was going to be his wife.”
Henli’s eyes widen as her lips part, then they curve up into a grin. “You know he doesn’t give a shit about that, right?”
I shrug a shoulder, mainly because I don’t know anything. I’m just here, staring at her, unsure of pretty much anything, especially my place as a wife. I never thought I would be in this position, not when I was fifteen, and certainly not when Cyrus owned me.
“He wants to take you shopping because you don’t have anything. He doesn’t give a shit about how he looks. He just wants to make you happy.”
I’m confused. He doesn’t have to make me happy. He doesn’t have to do anything. I am his property. I am about to be his wife. I am not someone who needs to be treated nicely, who needs to be wooed. And yet, that is almost what he’s doing. Wooing me.
“Why?” I blurt out.
She blinks, then she gives me a small smile and shrugs. “Because he likes you.”
I still don’t understand why, but I don’t say anything else. Shifting my attention back to the baby, I watch him sleep in my arms. He’s beautiful, and I wonder if I’ll ever have one of my own. I don’t even know if Itch wants children, and I didn’t think I would ever have them, but right now, I want them.
Maybe not anytime soon, but I think I actually want babies.
“Likes me,” I breathe.
She smiles but doesn’t say anything immediately. I’m fine with that because I’m content staring at the baby and taking him in. “Piper,” she calls out softly. I hum, unable to look away from the little bundle in my arms. He’s just so perfect.
“Things will work out. You’re safe here,” she murmurs.
Shifting my attention from the baby to her, I arch a brow. “Am I?” I ask. “I’m not sure I am, that I ever will be.”
Henli doesn’t say anything else but instead shifts the baby from my grasp and rises to her feet. I watch her, looking up at her. She smiles down at me, then takes half of a step backward.
“Don’t unpack your bags,” she says. “I have a feeling you won’t be here in a few weeks anyway.” I don’t ask her what she knows. There’s nothing to ask. It’s not my business or hers.
She turns and walks out of my room without another word. I can’t help but stare at the open and empty doorway. I don’t know what she meant by any of that, but at the same time, I can’t help but be filled with excitement at the whole thing.
My world is about to be turned completely upside down. Again. Biting the inside of my cheek, I sink down onto the side of the bed again, where I stare at my hands, imagining the baby in them, except I picture a girl. One who has Itch’s eyelashes and eyes. Why I know what his eyelashes look like, I do not know, but I do. And I want his baby to have them.
“Are you okay?” a deep voice calls out just a few moments later.
Lifting my head from staring at my hands in my lap, I find Itch standing in the doorway. He’s got a huge smile on his lips, his shoulder leaning against the jamb. I stare at him for a moment. His jeans fit his legs perfectly; he looks as if he was born in those jeans. They are perfectly worn.
He’s wearing his cut with no shirt underneath, and I can’t help myself. I stare at his abs, his muscles, and those tattoos that litter his entire chest. He lifts his arms, crossing them over his chest as he faces me. He’s wearing his sunglasses. They’re pointed at me, but I can’t see his eyes behind them.
“Got something to show you, babe,” he murmurs.
