I excuse myself and head for his room.
When I enter, he’s sitting on the edge of the bed, the tension in his body visibly lifting as soon as his eyes find me.
“Fuck, butterfly,” he rises from the bed with a wince, clutching his ribs as his feet eat up the space between us. He pulls me into his arms, cradling my head against his chest.
“Be careful! Your ribs.”
“Fuck my ribs. I just need to hold you.” He holds me so tight I’m almost certain he’s in pain, but he doesn’t seem to care.
I melt into him, thankful we’re both okay.
“I was so fucking worried. They wouldn’t tell me how youwere. Are you alright?”
“Fine, just cuts and bruises. Nothing serious,” I lie, my stomach bottoming out when reality hits me all over again.
Fuck. I’m carrying his baby.
I’m glad he can’t see my face because I’m sure he’d figure out it’s definitelynotjust cuts and bruises.
He heaves a sigh. “Thank god. I was going out of my fucking mind.”
“Who would do this to us?” I ask.
“I have a pretty good idea.”
I pull back and judging by his expression, I know exactly what he’s thinking. It’s the same look he was wearing when he saw the text messages on my phone. “You think it was Curt Naylor?”
“No one else would want me dead. No one else would try to kill us both.”
“But why not finish the job? Why leave us alive?”
He shrugs. “To toy with me. It’s what he does. He’s like a lion playing with his prey before he goes in for the kill.”
“You need to tell the others.”
His jaw clenches as his eyes meet the floor. “No.”
“I understand why you don’t want anyone to know what he did to you, but it’s nothing to be ashamed of. They’re your brothers, they’re not going to judge or shame you for it.” I reach up to cup his cheek, guiding him to look at me. “This isn’t just a bunch of text messages anymore. He tried tokillus. What’s next?”
He shakes his head. “They can’t know.I’lldeal with this.”
I blow out a long breath, knowing nothing I say will change his mind. “Okay,” I resign. It’s his story to tell if and when he’s ready. “I’m gonna head home, I’m exhausted. Take careof yourself, alright?”
He gives me a warm smile. “You too, butterfly. Remember,alwaysbother me.”
I nod, backing up towards the door. My hand stills on the handle. I glance over my shoulder. “I’m glad you’re okay. I don’t know what I would’ve done if something had happened to you.”
“Nothing’s gonna happen to me, baby. You’re stuck with me.”
Little does he know, Iamstuck with him. The baby growing inside me made sure that Killian and I are tied together.
Forever.
43
The next morning, I’m sat in the corner booth of the diner across the street from the shop on my third coffee of the day, running on barely an hour of sleep and an empty stomach because the thought of food makes me nauseous.
I’ve been on edge ever since I rolled myself out of bed at the ass-crack of dawn after tossing and turning all fucking night. I can’t even remember getting dressed. I can’t remember the ride to work and as bad as it sounds to admit, I can’t recall a single tattoo I’ve completed since arriving at the studio. My body aches all over but I can’t afford to cancel my clients and despite my ribs screaming in pain, I forced myself to ploughthrough.
