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“Thank you,” she murmurs with tears in her eyes.
Once I’ve pulled out, I hold her for a moment before we take a shower. “You never have to thank me, baby. We’re in this together.” I kiss her soft lips, tasting the saltiness of her tears. “Nobody is ever going to hurt you again.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
ELLIE
“I can’t believehe took you to the American Ballet.” Sienna smiles softly. “And look at this necklace.” She fingers the charm on my neck and then glances at Micah. “Remember when you took me to London and got me this necklace?” She touches the ballet slipper charm that’s resting on her neck. “Not only are we dating brothers, but they think of the same ways to spoil us.”
“Great,” Lincoln groans. “Just what a man likes to hear...How unoriginal he is.” He glares at Micah. “When I ran my idea past you, why didn’t you mention you did the same shit for Sienna?”
“Hey,” I say, palming Lincoln’s face. “My sister and I both love dance. It wouldn’t be hard to come up with the same idea to take us to see a show. And this necklace was so thoughtful. Who cares if he did it first? It wasn’t the same. The memories aren’t the same. And it’s something I’ll remember for the rest of my life.”
“Fine,” Lincoln grumbles. “But I’m going to come up with an original surprise that Micah’s never done.”
“Don’t worry,” Sienna says. “Micah doesn’t surprise me anymore. We’re an old, married couple now.”
“Excuse me?” Micah growls. “I’ll show you an old, married couple!” He grabs Sienna by the neck and kisses her hard. And for a moment, I wonder if maybe Lincoln and I should give them some privacy. But then London and Brooklyn come running out and they break apart with a groan.
“You know,” I say. “I was going to go in the pool. Would you girls like to join me?”
“Yes!” Both of them cheer.
“Go grab your suits. You can change at my place.”
“Your place, huh?” Lincoln says when the girls run off. “I like the sound of that.” He pulls me into him and kisses me. “Say you’ll live with me. Make my placeourplace. I don’t want you to move out, El.”
“I’ll live with you,” I agree.
After the girls go home from spending the day swimming—while Micah proves he and Sienna aren’t an old, married couple (gag)—Lincoln insists we move my stuff into his room. So, we order in Chinese and spend the evening intertwining our things.
“I’ve never shared a room with anyone,” I admit once all our stuff is sorted and put away.
“Me either,” Lincoln says. “I always preferred to have my own space.” He pulls me into him, so our legs are entangled. “But I think I’m going to enjoy sharing a space with you.” He nuzzles his face into my neck and nips playfully at my flesh.
“I think I’m going to enjoy it too,” I agree.
Six Weeks Later
“I can’t believeSienna seriously blew me off.” I glance at my phone again, still no message from my sister. With her being due in two weeks, and my due date just a few months after, I suggested we have a sister day since we’ll both be busy once the babies are born. She told me that sounded great, and then at the last second, she canceled.
“I’m sure she had a good reason,” Lincoln says as we step off the elevator and head to our door. When I told him she canceled, he offered to take me to breakfast.
“I guess.” I pout, feeling super emotional lately. The books all say it’s normal during pregnancy, but it feels like something more. Like I’m constantly waiting for something bad to happen, and it’s stressing me out.
After we returned from our trip to the city, another major incident occurred at the dance studio. I was there after hours, dancing, when the place suddenly caught fire. Thankfully, Oscar was with me and ushered me to safety, and the damage was minimal. But upon inspection, we learned someone had hacked into the server to ensure whoever was responsible wouldn’t be caught by taking the cameras down.
And then a couple of weeks ago, Lincoln’s club, Wanderlust, nearly flooded. This time, his security team was able to keep whoever was responsible from hacking the server, but when they found the culprit, he was being pulled out of the water in the marina—his heart no longer beating. They know his name and that he lived in Booker Park, found out he was into drugs. But nobody knows why he did what he did or who he was working for. He wasn’t connected to the club in any way. And the phone on him couldn’t be recovered. Nothing is adding up...Or maybe we’re missing something.
Lincoln keeps telling me not to stress, that it’s not good for me and the baby, but it’s hard not to worry when bad things keep happening around me.
“While you’re adorable when you pout, I prefer to see you smile,” Lincoln says as he hits the code and swings the door open, holding it for me so I can walk through first.
“Then tell my sister?—”
The lights flip on, and several people shout, “Surprise!” at the same time, nearly giving me a heart attack.
“Tell me what?” Sienna says with a knowing smirk as she waddles over to me. “Happy baby shower!” she says, enveloping me in a hug.
