“Now you’re just mocking me.”
Shea hummed with amusement, snuggling against my side. She stifled a yawn, her body slowly growing slack with exhaustion at the late hour.
Interlacing our fingers together, I smoothed my thumb over her knuckles. After setting our plates on the nightstand, I turned off the light, plunging us into darkness. When I gathered her into my arms, she gave a contented sigh.
Shea drifted off to sleep long before I did. One hour slowly dragged by after another while I stared at the ceiling. Part of me feared that she would change her mind and disappear in the middle of the night. Another part of me worried that this wasn’t even real to begin with and she would be gone when I woke up in the morning.
Now I knew why Tarzan called me so many times in the middle of the night, fretting about fatherhood. The thoughts wouldn’t stop spinning in endless circles…
Maybe I could call him. Maybe Ethan was right and Tarzan had some wisdom he could share about becoming a married man someday.
Just as I decided to grab my phone, a faint noise echoed somewhere in my house.
I froze, my heart hammering against my sternum.
My club brothers knew better than to sneak up on each other without warning. Bruiser was supposed to be on watch, but I gave him the night off, since I was with Shea. And I didn’t have any pets. There was no reason for any surprise noises in my home at two o’clock in the morning.
Easing out of bed, I grabbed my jeans and yanked them on.
Shea stirred in bed and propped herself up on one elbow.
“Theo?”
I knelt on the mattress, placing a finger to her lips to quiet her. Cupping the back of Shea’s head, I leaned in close.
“Stay here.”
“What’s wrong?” she whispered, tight with concern.
“I don’t know. I heard a noise. Could be a branch hitting the house, knocked loose from that storm earlier. I’ll take a look.”
Shea squeezed my hand and reluctantly released me. Taking the baseball bat I kept in my closet for protection, I emerged from the bedroom. There was no moon tonight, overcast by clouds. I knew my way through every room by memory alone, but the darkness played tricks on my mind, making me question if someone might be lurking in shadowy corners.
So I flicked on lights as I went, illuminating the house, banishing those shadows.
I searched everywhere, but I found nothing unusual.
When I turned back to the bedroom, Shea stood on the threshold, wearing my T-shirt with her arms wrapped around her middle.
“Is everything okay?”
It pained me to see her so worried. I wished I could take that burden from her.
“Coast is clear,” I said, kissing her forehead. “Let’s go back to bed.”
The tension in her shoulders released. She looped her arm through mine and rested her cheek against my shoulder, closing her eyes with relief.
As we stepped into the bedroom, a noise from the direction of the garage caught our attention. Like the metallic clang of something getting knocked over.
Shea glanced up at me with wide eyes. I gestured for her to wait there while I tightened my grip on the baseball bat. Approaching the door that led to the garage, I braced myself and yanked it open.
Ethan, Bulldog, and Casper stood in my garage, wearing full tactical gear as they surrounded Ritter, pinned to the floor by Ethan’s knee.
“We’ve been hunting down this little freak ever since you told us about him,” Ethan said.
“Get your hands off me!” Ritter protested, struggling to free himself.
“He tailed you from Hotline today,” Bulldog added. “We figured he was probably making his move tonight. Looks like we were right.”
