“Thirty minutes!” She leaps from her chair and runs back to the bathroom. “Oh my God, I need to get ready!”
I guess that means we’ll talk later.
“Just throw something on,” I mutter, tugging on a pair of jeans and a tee myself.
“I can’t justthrow something on,Lyam. I’m going to seeyour family.”
Which will beher family,I realize with a sudden rush of emotion that almost chokes me.
My wife.
She’s going to be my wife. My family may break the law and make rules that are all their own, but we have some traditional values. And there’s one thing she has to know—if she’s having my baby, she’ll wear my ring.
I just have to find the right way to ask her.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Cosette
I’ma bundle of raw nerves and energy when we get to the car.
Not long ago, I was afraid someone would attack us. Now that’s the furthest thing from my mind.
My belly churns with nausea, and this time, it has nothing to do with the fact that I’m pregnant.
Savannah. I have to face Savannah.
Savannah’s a ray of sunshine to everyone and anyone she meets, not as serious as her older sister Nicolette. But this family is loyal and protective and God if I didn’t fuck her over so hard.
I want to weep and vomit and run.
Lyam takes my hand.
I draw in a deep breath.
He leans me against the door and frames me in, my back to the car and his hand on my cheek. “Listen to me. Are you listening to me?”
I nod and swallow and feel my breath come a bit easier. “Yes.”
“They are going to love you. Do you hear me?Loveyou.”
I nod. I hear the words, but I don’t feel them. It’s like I’m thirsty and he’s pouring the water right over my head, drowning me but not satisfying my thirst at all.
“You don’t look like you believe me,” he says with a twinkle in his eye. “Do you?”
“I betrayed her so badly,” I say on a hoarse whisper. “I can’t… I can’t make that go away.”
“Change the past? No, baby, you can’t. None of us can. I can get you palmier in the middle of the night or the biggest diamond ring you’ve ever seen, and fly you in a private jet to Hawaii, but even I can’t change the past.”
Did he just say diamond ring?
Wait, no, I have to stay focused here. “Right.”
“But you can change tomorrow,” he reminds me wisely. “You’re gonna go in there with me. You’re gonna talk to Savannah. I’ll make sure my brother isn’t an asshole, and then after that hard part’s over, we’ll tell Maman the news. Okay?”
I swallow and nod. “Okay. When did you get so smart?”
“Goddamn, it took a lot of hard knocks,” he says with that sheepish expression he gets sometimes that makes him look like a boy. I get up on my tiptoes and kiss his cheek.
