Caden grinned. “It would be worth it.”
Sitting in the front seat of Caden’s SUV, with him behind the steering wheel, and Tink in the back seat, I still found it weirdly funny that Caden, the King of the Summer fae, drove. Shouldn’t he have a driver or something?
Tracing the outline of the iron cuffs on my wrists that hid the daggers, I wondered if at some point, as the baby grew, I would have difficultly handling iron. I didn’t think so since contact with my skin didn’t mean contact with the baby, but I supposed that was something I needed to keep an eye on. Wishing there was a guide for expecting fae mothers who were also members of the Order, I wiggled my toes inside my black combat boots. Obviously, I hadn’t put on the other boots.
They did, however, end up back in my closet instead of in the bag to donate. “For later,” Caden had said, which had caused Tink to launch into a discussion about how dressing up kept his sex life lively—something Caden didn’t want to hear since it involved his brother.
Tink kept catching my gaze in the rearview mirror, and each time, he raised his brows. I knew he had a lot of questions. I couldn’t blame him for that, considering I’d tried to convince him to take me to Florida just hours before. There wasn’t time for that at the moment.
There also hadn’t been time for me to tell Caden I was pregnant. I had been okay with keeping the truth from him when I had a good reason to do so, but now that there was none, it was pecking away at me. Each passing minute was one more minute where he didn’t know he was going to be a father.
How would he take it? I didn’t know. He loved me, I knew that beyond a doubt. But even if I’d known from the moment Iwoke up that I could be his Queen and all would be as well as it was, everything was still new. There’d be no time for just him and me. It would always be him, me, and our child. Though I didn’t think we needed the time to get to know each other or to become comfortable. The latter was already there, and it was…it was truly like we were two halves coming together. We may not know every little thing about one another, but we knew each other.
Wait.
I would be his Queen.
My stomach dipped as I stared out the window, the rows of homes and wrought iron fences nothing but a blur.
He hadn’t made it super official, but no way in hell would I say no. We would marry, and I would be his wife. A Queen. Would I have like queenly duties? What would the queenly duties even be? I gave a little shake of my head. I needed to focus. Right now, none of that was exactly important. Dealing with it could come later. What we needed to deal with was Benji, and then afterward, I would tell Caden about the pregnancy.
I glanced over at Caden as we turned on South Peters, experiencing a weird little hitch in my chest. A part of me still couldn’t believe that this was real—that we could be together.
Caden pulled around to the side of the rundown, brick and metal building that looked like something you’d see on one of those ghost hunters shows.
“This part is so cool.” Tink gripped the back of my seat as he popped his head between the two.
Caden drove up to what appeared to be a loading dock for deliveries—two wide metal doors that were covered in splotches of rust—and then rightthroughthe doors. I didn’t close my eyes, but I did tense. I’d entered Hotel Good Fae a few times like this, and it always freaked me out. I kept expecting to crash into a cement wall.
“Magic,” Tink murmured in my ear.
“Uh-huh.” My eyes adjusted to the fluorescent lighting of the parking garage.
He pulled into the first parking space near the elevator, one I was sure had been reserved for him. Killing the engine, Caden looked over at me, and his gaze met mine. There was a flutter in my chest and then my stomach. I smiled at him.
“Ready?” he asked, and I nodded. He glanced back at Tink. “You?”
“Why, thanks for asking.” He sat back, looking between the two of us. “I am ready for some answers to the questions that have been burning me up inside, but with my dark hair comes great responsibility, and a newfound maturity.”
I blinked slowly.
“So I realized that now is not the time to ask those questions.” He held up his hand. “But as soon as you guys are done with what you’re doing, I expect the three of us—no, wait. I’m sure Fabian would also like to be included. The four of us will have a sit-down.”
“It’s doable.” Caden grinned.
“It is.” I met Tink’s gaze. “But it’s going to have to wait a little bit. There’s something I need to talk to Caden about first.”
Tink’s eyes widened, and I was grateful that I could feel Caden’s gaze on me. “What do you need to talk to me about?” he said, drawing my gaze back to his. “We can make time now. Benji isn’t going anywhere.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Tink clasp his hands together under his chin. There was no way I was telling Caden that he was going to be a father in front of Tink. That would be like going on a reality show.
“It can wait,” I told him.
Caden’s gaze searched mine, and then he nodded. Exhaling roughly, I ignored the pout Tink sent in my direction andclimbed out. I didn’t make it far before Tink curled an arm around my shoulders, pulling me against his side.
He lowered his head, whispering, “Is everything okay?”
“Everything is more than okay.”
