I lifted my head and searched her face for a lie. I’d never forgive myself if I hurt her. When she smiled at me, I fell fucking further. Grace was my life. We’d missed so much fucking time because of my stupidity.
“I’m never giving you up, Grace.”
“Good. ’Cause you’re stuck with me.”
My phone rang, killing the moment, and I groaned.
“Answer it. We both have shit to deal with today.”
I set her on her feet. She strutted toward the bathroom as I walked back to my nightstand. She looked over her shoulder as she closed the bathroom door. “Hurry up and join me.”
My phone stopped ringing as I stared at the bathroom door. I was about to set it down when it started up again.
“This better be fucking good!”
Cash chuckled on the other end of the line and said, “You need to get downstairs, brother, before all hell breaks loose.”
“What the fuck’s going on?”
“Well, your parents are here.”
“Cash,” I growled. The fucker only laughed harder. “Popeye is looking for Grace, and Snoopy and Sal are giving each other death stares. Plus, Duncan and Mac are here. And Maureen is here with the baby.” His voice dropped. “She’s cooking.”
“Son of a bitch!” I shouted. “I’ll be down in a minute.”
I hung up my phone and slipped into the shower behind Grace. The scent of her skin was enough to calm the storm building inside me as I thought about all the shit I had to deal with.
“I want to make love to you in here again. But there is a shitshow downstairs waiting for us.”
Grace sighed. “I guess we can’t hide in here forever.”
“You can. If you’re not ready to talk to him, you don’t have to.”
“I love him,” she confessed. “I always have. I used to beg my mother to tell me he was my father. She lied to me over and over. And I can’t ask her why.”
I pulled her back against my chest, my arms wrapped around her waist as my chin settled on her shoulder. “Maybe he can shed some light on it.”
“Maybe.”
We finished up the shower and got dressed. I opened the door to the hall just as Jackson and Karlyn were leaving the room they were in.
“She’s downstairs,” I told him. “You ready to meet her?”
“Fuck no.”
Karlyn put her arms around Jackson’s waist and reminded him, “You don’t have to. She can wait until you’re ready.”
“Not sure I’ll ever be ready.”
“I hear you,” I said to my brother. “First, I need to go yell at my sister-in-law to get off her fucking feet. She just had a baby a fucking week ago.”
Grace and I went downstairs, followed by Jackson and Karlyn. We stopped in the kitchen, and Maureen was at the stove. Duncan and Mac were sitting at the table, and Mac had Bennett in his arms.
“Shouldn’t you be out there watching your boss?” I asked my uncle. Yeah, I was starting to come to terms with this shit. But he didn’t need to know that.
“Fuck no. I’m not getting between him and my sister.”
I shook my head. “Maureen.”
