I nod and make quick work of saying goodbye to everyone, including all the kids, who make me promise again that we will have a sleepover soon.
*~*~*
“What do you mean Jax and Ashlyn are missing?” I ask, watching as Nico pulls on a pair of jeans and boots, and I immediately hop out of bed and start to get dressed.
Not long after I met everyone, Lilly was arrested, and Nico worked hard to get her released. This morning, he found evidence proving that Lilly had been wrongfully accused. I hate that they are being forced to deal with more drama, and I feel nauseated just thinking about something happening to the kids.
“Cash couldn’t say much, just that he and Lilly had been home with her parents and the kids. Lilly noticed that the kids were quiet and went out to check on them. He said they’ve searched everywhere and still came up with nothing.”
“Okay, so we can help them look,” I tell him, pulling on a hoodie along with my Chucks.
“Sorry, baby. No way.”
“No way, what?” My eyebrows draw together.
“You’re not going with. I won’t be able to focus if you’re there.”
“I wanna help,” I tell him firmly. There is no way I’m going to be sitting here worried out of my mind while he is searching for the kids.
“No. No way.” He shakes his head.
“I wasn’t asking you for permission.” My hands go to my hips.
“I don’t have time to argue with you, Sophie,” he growls, pulling a shirt on.
“Then don’t argue.” I leave the room and head to the kitchen to grab my bag.
“You’re not fucking coming!” he yells behind me. Once he comes into the kitchen, he grabs his keys and heads for the front door. I quietly follow behind him, thinking maybe he won’t even notice I’m there. “Baby, serious as fuck, I don’t have time for this shit right now. Please put my mind at ease. Stay here and wait for me,” he says, turning around, his hands going to my face. I can see in his eyes that he is stressed, and I don’t want to add to it. As much as I want to go with him to help look for the kids, I know I can’t add to his worry.
“Okay,” I agree reluctantly.
“That’s my girl.” His mouth drops to mine, and before I can kiss him back, he’s opening the door.
“Call me the minute you find them!” I yell as he’s getting in his car. He gives me a chin lift, so I figure that’s basically an affirmative.
I don’t know how long I pace back and forth between the living room and the kitchen, but it must be a couple of hours. I give in and call Lilly, who’s a wreck and can’t even get a word out without breaking down into tears. I can’t imagine what she’s going through, but I tell her that, if she needs anything at all, I’m here.
After I get off the phone with her and another hour passes, the phone rings and I jump to answer it, thinking it’s Nico with good news. I’m disappointed when it’s November and Liz calling to see if I’ve heard anything. They both know as much as I do, which is nothing at all. Halfway into our conversation, November gets a call from Susan, who says they found Jax and are on their way to get Ashlyn. She doesn’t have a lot of information, but I feel better knowing that they are on the right track. I want to help, and I hate that I’m stuck at home and can’t do anything. By the time Nico calls to tell me they have Ashlyn and that Cash is heading to the hospital with both of the kids in an ambulance, I’m a mess.
“Should I meet you there?” I ask, holding my breath.
“No, baby. I’m just going to take care of a couple more things and then I’ll be home. We can go and see the kids tomorrow, but right now, I think Cash and Lilly just want to be alone with the kids,” he says quietly.
I want to cry; I feel horrible not being there with him. “Are you sure? I can meet you at your parents’. That way, if they need us, we’re close.”
“Baby, I swear if I thought for one second that would be best, I would have you come here, but as of right now, everyone’s going home. Asher wants to go sit with his girls, Trevor told me he needs to be with his, and I want you at home.”
“Okay,” I whisper, hearing the stress in his voice.
“Be home soon,” he says, hanging up.
I sit there for a few minutes, going over everything that happened to Lilly—and now the kids—and also what November told me about her story and what Liz explained about hers while we were on the phone. I look at the picture of Nico and me on the screen of my phone and swear to myself right then that I will do everything in my power to be worthy of Nico. It’s not that I don’t still have fears, but knowing how life can change so drastically in the blink of an eye makes me want to live my life completely. I’m in love with an amazing man who looks at me like I’m his reason for breathing when, in reality, he’s mine. I want to be the strong person he sees me as. He deserves that and more.
*~*~*
“He’s so cute,” I tell Nico, looking from Trevor and Liz’s new son to his smiling eyes.
“He is, babe,” he agrees, his face soft as he looks at his nephew.
“Here. You hold him.” I hand Cobi over to Nico, helping to situate him in his arms before smiling up at him.
His eyes drop to my mouth before he leans forward to kiss my forehead. I feel warmth flow through me. I love Nico’s family. That’s why, when Trevor called to say that Liz had gone into labor, I freaked out and ran around the house in a hurry, wanting to get to the hospital as soon as possible.
By the time we arrived, Liz was already seven centimeters. Two hours after we got there, a smiling Trevor came out to tell us that baby Cobi had arrived and he was nine pounds and six ounces. When he made this announcement, my first thought was, Oh my God, I can’t wait to see him! Then my mind wandered to the bag of flour I had to carry around in junior high during sex education that weighed ten pounds. And then I thought about something that size coming out of my vagina and wanted to stop having sex altogether. The idea of that coming out of something so small made me feel uneasy.
The second I had Cobi cuddled to me, all thoughts of teeny, tiny vaginas and giant babies left my head, and I knew that, no matter what, when you’d hold your child, whatever you went through would be completely worth it.
Chapter 10
Nico
“You sure you don’t want me to go with you?” I look at the GPS, seeing that I should be in the Nashville area in about two hours.
“I’m sure. I just need to get some clothes and check the mail. I won’t even be there for more than thirty minutes.”
“Just wait for me and I’ll go with you,” I try again.
“You and I both know that, when you get home, you’re not going to want to leave the bed, let alone the house.”
“Shit,” I groan, getting hard just thinking about being inside her. “You say it like it’s a bad thing.”
“It’s not a bad thing. That’s why I want to go to my house. I don’t want to leave the house either once you get home,” she says shyly.
“Be naked in bed,” I demand.
“What?”
“You heard me. I want you naked, spread eagle on the bed so when I get there, I can get my taste before fucking you.”
“Nico,” she breathes, but I can hear the hunger in her voice.
I’ve been out of town for three days. The whole time I was gone, all I could think about was the news we found out right before I left. Sophie had woken up sick a couple of days in a row. I had my suspicions, but there was no way to know for sure without her taking a test. On the third day, I said fuck it, got up, and went to the pharmacy near the house. I knew she was afraid to take the test after the last few times she had taken one and they’d come back negative.
I sat there with her in the bathroom, refusing to leave even when she peed on the thing. I knew in my gut that this was it; just like I knew she was my forever, I knew our child was growing inside of her. Those three minutes were the longest of my life. All I could think was, How the fuck can a piece of plastic that probably costs one
cent to make in China hold such an important message? When the screen flashed and the word ‘pregnant’ appeared on the screen, I looked at Sophie, who was staring at the screen in complete shock. The only thought in my head then was how much I fucking loved her.
“Holy shit,” she whispered, her eyes meeting mine. I could see tears beginning to form. “We’re going to have a baby.”
“We are,” I confirmed as I pulled her against me, burying my face in her neck. “I love you, baby. Thank you for giving us this,” I whispered against her skin.
“We’re having a baby,” she repeated, this time sobbing into my chest.
I pulled her face away so I could look at her. “You okay?”
“I’m scared, but so happy,” she cried and smiled at the same time.
“Me too, baby. But I know everything’s going to be perfect.” She nodded, and then she smiled a smile that lit her whole face—a smile that, even thinking about it now, makes me feel like king of the fucking world.
Knowing that Sophie is pregnant—fuck me, if that shit doesn’t make fucking her even hotter. I can’t keep my hands off her. I love knowing that my kid is growing inside her. After that shit with Cash’s ex and the kids going missing, I spent all my free time trying to get Sophie pregnant. Not that I hadn’t been on a mission before that, but knowing how short life is only made it that much more important. Next on the list is giving her my last name. Yes, I’m doing shit ass-backwards, but I don’t give a fuck.
“Babe, seriously—when I get home, you better be in bed, butt naked, and ready for my mouth,” I tell her, coming out of my daydream.
“You can’t talk to me like that and expect me to get anything done,” she cries, making me smile.
“You better hurry. You have a little less than two hours to get your shit done before I’m home and you’re mine. Besides, what do you even have at your old place that you could possibly need? The last time I walked into our bedroom, all your shoes, clothes, and other shit were spread from one side to the other.”
“I’m not that bad,” she says low, probably looking around the bedroom at the disaster she has turned our room into. “I have to get my suitcase and the stuff for Maggie’s wedding.”
“You need to just put that house on the market and stop saying the market’s shit. Who cares if you take a loss? You know I got you.”
“You can’t tell me to take a loss on my house,” she huffs.
“We’re not talking about this right now.” Every time we discuss her house situation, she gets upset. “Just get you’re shit and then be naked when I get to the house.”
“Maybe,” she says, but I can hear the smile in her voice and can’t help but smile too.
“Don’t fuck with me, Sophie,” I growl before gentling my voice. “How’s my baby doing?”
“Good. Making me tired, but good.” She sighs.
“I’ll have a talk with him when I get home.”
“It could be a girl.” She laughs. I swore up and down to her that it is going to be a boy, but something keeps telling me it’s going to be a girl.
“It’s not.” I smile.
“Love you,” she says quietly, making my heart squeeze like it always does when she says those words to me.
“You too, babe. See you soon,” I tell her, hanging up.
I’m about twenty minutes outside of Nashville when my phone rings. At first, I think about not answering it, knowing that I will be home soon, but I know that, if my friend Leo—a cop in Nashville—is calling, he probably has a job for me or needs my help with something. I reluctantly answer on the third ring.
“Yo, Leo. What’s up?”
“Mayson, I need you to meet me at your girlfriend’s house.”
“What are you talking about?” I ask, dread creeping up my spine.
“Look, I wanted to give you a heads-up. I don’t want you to get here and flip your shit. Therefore, I’m telling you now so you have time to calm down.”
“What the fuck is going on?” My adrenalin surges; he’s fucked if he thinks I can calm down before I get there when he starts a conversation out like that.
“I called Kenton. He’s on his way. Someone got into her house when she was inside.”
“Tell me she’s okay.”
“She’s fine. Has a couple scratches, a bump on her head, and she’s pretty shaken up, but she’s all right, man.”
Fuck, my heart is beating out of my chest. I press down on the accelerator, needing to get to my girl. “Put her on the phone,” I bark.
“Give me a second. She’s in the ambulance,” he says, and my fucking fingers feel like they’re going to make dents in the steering wheel.
“Why the fuck is she in the ambulance? You said she’s okay.”
“It’s a precaution. You know that shit.”
“Man, she’s fucking pregnant,” I bellow into the phone. I do not care about anything except her and finding out she’s all right.
“Fuck me,” he growls. I can hear the wind moving down the line, indicating that he’s running. “Sophie, Nico’s on the phone,” I hear him say, and then the line is quiet for a second.
“Hey.” Her sweet voice is like a balm to my rage.
“I’m almost there, baby.”
“Okay,” she says quietly, and I want to fucking scream because I can hear the fear in her voice. She’s been so good—no freak-outs, no worries. She’s settled in and started coming around…and now this.
“Talk to me, baby,” I say soothingly.
“About what?”
“Are you okay? Are you hurt?”
“I…I’m okay.” I can feel her anxiety through the phone. My foot eases off the gas as I exit off the highway.
“How’s my son?” I ask, hoping to get her to relax a little.
“It could be a girl,” she tells me quietly before taking a deep breath. “I think she’s okay. I…I didn’t hit my stomach or anything.”
“It’s a boy, babe. I keep telling you this,” I prod.
“You don’t know that,” she replies, sounding annoyed, making me smile slightly as I turn onto her street.
I park on the curb, seeing not only an ambulance, but three squad cars. The minute I shut off the car, I hop out and jog to the ambulance. Leo’s standing in front of the open doors of the ambulance with his arms crossed over his chest and his feet planted apart. I can’t see her until I’m right on them. The minute my eyes lock on her, my slightly calmed rage erupts once again.
There’s a scratch down the side of her face and a dark mark under her jaw that looks like a bruise, and the top she has on is ripped at the neck. I take a second to get myself under control before she sees me. I don’t need her feeding off the anger I’m feeling. The second her head turns and our eyes lock, tears fill hers to the brim. Fuck, I hate seeing tears in her eyes, and knowing that she’s scared isn’t helping settle my rage any. I hop in the back with her, getting down on my knees in front of her. The EMT starts to say something, but I give him a don’t-fuck-with-me glare and he backs off.
“Hey.” I hold her face between my hands. She’s so fragile, so fucking breakable, and the most important thing in my life. If something happened to her, I don’t know what I would do.
“You’re here.” She presses her face deeper into my hand.
“Told you I was close.”
“Sir, I’m gonna need you to wait outside,” a different EMT says, hopping into the back with us.
“And I’m gonna need you to cut me some fucking slack. My woman was attacked, and I need to see for myself that she’s okay. As soon as I’m done, I will let you do your job, but don’t fuck with me right now,” I growl.
“Give him a minute, man,” I hear Leo say from outside.
The EMT looks at me and nods before jumping out. My eyes go back to Sophie’s; I study the marks on her, swearing that whoever did this to her won’t be able to walk again after I find them.
“You sure you’re okay? No cramping or anything, right?”
“No, nothing like that. My head just hurts.” Her hand goes to the back of her head, and mine follows her movement. The second I touch the bump on the back of her head, she flinches, and I let off a string of expletives. “You know you can’t cuss like that when the baby gets here, right? The last thing we need is for his first word to be fuck,” she says softly.
“You finally admitting it’s a boy?”
“No.” She rolls her eyes then winces. I lay my forehead against her stomach, just taking a second before asking her more questions. “Are you okay?”
“No… Fuck no,” I choke out.
“I’m okay.” She runs her fingers over my hair, down the back of my neck. I can’t believe she’s trying to comfort me right now.
I finally build up the courage to ask. “What happened, baby?” I hear her take a deep breath, and I lift my head to look at her.
“I was getting all my stuff together for the wedding when I heard someone in the living room. At first, I thought it was you getting home early and you stopped by to help me. I called out your name and you didn’t reply, and then I thought maybe you were trying to scare me. It took a second to realize you would never do that to me.” She shook her head. “I started heading for my phone when a person wearing a ski mask and all black clothes came and stood in my bedroom doorway. As soon as I saw them, I started screaming and put the bed between us. I looked for a weapon, but there was nothing near me. I was so scared.” I can hear the fear in her voice again, and I run my hands up and down her arms, trying to calm her. “The guy grabbed me and started dragging me out of the room. I wiggled out of his hold and got in a good kick to his crotch. I was almost to the front door when he grabbed for me again; that’s when I got this scratch,” she says, pointing at her face. “He got ahold of the neck of my shirt and it ripped, which made me fall backwards and hit my head on the coffee table. Then someone started pounding on the front door and he took off.”
“Jesus, baby.” I pull her closer, needing to know she’s safe, “I’m sorry I wasn’t here.”
“It’s not your fault.”
“I should have made you wait for me,” I insist.