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She’s growing, and it’s so fucking beautiful, my life growing inside of her safe body. Slipping out of her, I gather Claire in my arms. She rests against my side, and I glide my fingers through her hair, then gently slide them to her stomach and place my palm there.
“I love feeling this,” I murmur. “It’s so beautiful.”
She hums, her eyes fluttering closed. “I love you, Coleman. I couldn’t have picked a better you,” she says with a heavy sigh, then as she’s been doing, in the blink of an eye, she’s dead asleep.
I stay where I am, my own eyes beginning to grow heavy when I hear my phone dancing along my nightstand as it rings, and the vibration takes over. I’m awake now, my heart racing at the phone’s buzzing.
Reaching out, I pick it up and blink a few times to read the name on the screen.
It’s Hendrick.
I’m surprised. He hardly ever calls me. Sliding my thumb along the bottom of my screen, I throw my legs over the side of the bed and walk out into the hallway, closing the bedroom door behind me.
“Hendrick?” I ask as I make my way into the living room. I’m completely naked and hope that Andrew doesn’t walk into the room.
“I found them,” he hisses.
I open my mouth to ask who them is, but he doesn’t give me the chance. He continues, his mouth moving so quickly that I wonder if he’s even taken a breath. I’m not sure he has. He’s amped up, his anxiousness somehow flowing through the phone and into my body as well.
“It’s them, I know it is. I’m watching them right now, and I need to finish this. I need to make them pay. Right here, right now. I don’t give a fuck what Dad says. I’m doing this shit.”
“Hold on,” I hiss. “Don’t do anything.”
“I will not wait on this,” he barks.
Laughing, I clear my throat. “Drop me a fucking pin, brother.”
There is a beat of silence before he lets out a heavy sigh. I know that is what he wants from me. My support. I want to ask him why he’s doing all of this for a woman he’s not even marrying, but it’s not my place. She was his for a time, and he should, without a doubt, avenge her. She was on his arm, by his side, in public and in private. They knew who she belonged to.
“I’ll pick up Wells on my way.”
“And Dad?” he asks.
I shrug a shoulder, though he can’t see me. “Dad will accept it or punish us. Either way, these fucks will be dead.”
“Coleman,” he calls out softly, “thanks.”
The call ends, and I turn around to get my clothes when I see my wife leaning against the doorjamb, wearing my T-shirt, her long legs on display for my eyes. Taking a step toward her, I lift my hand and wrap my fingers around the side of her throat.
“You’re going somewhere.”
It’s not a question. She’s used to the middle-of-the-night disruptions, and she doesn’t ask for details, knowing that if she did, I wouldn’t be able to tell her. She’s seen enough of what I do in those midnight meetings to know that she doesn’t need any knowledge of my activities.
I dip my chin and touch my lips to hers, brushing my mouth across her sweet one.
“Hendrick needs my help with something,” I murmur as I straighten my head, my gaze still very much focused on hers.
She curls her fingers around my wrist, her eyes searching mine, and then she gives me a small smile. “Make sure you set the alarm. And don’t be gone too long.”
It’s what she always says, and I appreciate it more than she knows. “If I’m done late enough, do you want some breakfast?”
She hums, her eyes sparkling. “Cake pops and coffee cake?” she asks on an exhale.
I hum. “Yeah, hummingbird. Cake pops and coffee cake.”
She sinks her teeth into her bottom lip and nods her head once. “And a hot tea.”
“And a hot tea,” I confirm.
