AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Oh, I’m looking forward to it, fiammetta.”
I lead her back to the table, thinking I must be the luckiest son of a bitch alive.
Epilogue
Sophie
Three Months Later
Nico and I stand at the large oSì,en window of Fang’s former room, now ours, watching from a distance as a giggling Victoria dashes across the clubhouse yard, chased by five-year-old Aiden. From what I’ve heard, they spend a lot of time chasing each other around.
“I think Victoria has just got her first boyfriend,” I tell Nico, who makes a noise in his throat that sounds a little like a dog’s growl.
It turns out he’s a ridiculously overprotective honorary uncle.
I laugh, then nod toward the other side of the yard where Maria is sitting at a low picnic table with Nina, Aiden’s mom, and one of the club’s widowed old ladies. Nina chose to maintain a close relationship with the club even after her biker died, so it’s nice to see Nina have someone like Maria to talk to.
“Maria and Nina seem to be getting along okay,” Nico muses. After making the trip out here with me twice in the past two months, he now knows everyone here by name.
I nod, smiling to myself. “They have a lot in common.” I don’t elaborate on their similarities, though.
Nina has traits of borderline personality, the same as Maria, but Nina has had extensive therapy, and she now works at the community center, supporting children and young adults with special needs. I’m hopeful that Nina’s friendship will help Maria even more than I ever could.
“I told you Maria and Victoria would do well here, Nico.”
Nico cranes his head to watch his pint-size niece and the boy chasing after her as Mags appears on the porch and calls to them to come in for snacks. “That’s still to be decided,” he grumbles.
“You do remember the story of the first boy who tried to kiss me, right?” I ask him, fighting a smile. I still feel sorry for the boy who walked me home after my first date when I was fourteen and then tried to steal a goodnight kiss.
He looks around, surveying the rough, overprotective club brothers around the yard, then nods. “Actually, you have a point there.”
“Of course I do.” In a very short time, Victoria has managed to weasel her way into the heart of every man and woman here. I have no doubt she’ll be well protected—just like I was.
Nico and I watch as Cade makes his way across the yard and swings a squealing Victoria up into his arms while Aiden follows them into the house. She may have a childhood crush on Aiden, but Uncle Cade has stolen Victoria's little heart.
“I’ve been meaning to ask you something,” Nico murmurs, drawing me closer so my back presses against his front.
I smile, “You want me to explain what Smokey was doing to that sweetbutt on the bar last night?”
He chuckles, “No, but when we get back, we’re having a bar installed in the penthouse.”
I laugh, amused and excited by the thought. “I could get used to that idea.”
“Consider it done,” Nico says, and then his tone turns serious. “What I don’t get is how Cade manages to conceal his club ties from the FBI. It doesn’t seem possible he’d pass the screening with his background.”
Smiling knowingly, I reply, “It helps when you served in the military with the current director.”
Nico looks puzzled. “Cade was in the military?”
“No, but my dad and Cade’s dad were, and they were close friends with the director.”
A brief look of astonishment crosses Nico’s face before he laughs, shaking his head. “I shouldn’t be surprised at anything by now, fiammetta.”
“Trust me, there are still a few surprises left.” Not the least of which is about the size of a bean at the moment.
My smile disappears as my stomach bottoms out—not for the first time in the past two weeks. I’m really not sure how Nico’s going to feel about this—hence the two weeks that have had me bordering on coward territory, especially when I found out the magnitude of the issue. I’ve been waiting for the ‘right’ moment to ‘fess up.
Because there’s totally a ‘right’ moment out there to tell a guy he’s about to be a daddy to twins. As soon as I told Mags I was pregnant, she’d made me get an early ultrasound scan, citing her not-too-recent brush with an ectopic pregnancy.
