Page 43 of Break Me Gently

I’d actually had a nightmare last night about his spawn—something involving tiny horns and a briefcase. But then I glanced at Isabella, at the way her fingers kept drifting to her still-flat stomach, and remembered this was her child too.

Ignore him, I told myself.

“Do you know why Clive wanted us to adopt one another’s children?” Isabella asked softly, her voice carrying that same gentle patience I remembered from every scraped knee and failed exam of my childhood.

To torture me?

I shook my head.

“To protect you both, in case something happened to either one of us.” She paused, twisting her hands together. “I guess I failed your dad when you left.”

I swallowed hard, throat tight, when I saw the tears shimmering in her eyes, threatening to spill.

“So this,” she said, raising her hand between me and Amber, “is actually a good development, from what Amber’s told me. Clive would have been happy.”

I thought of my dad—chilled, outdoorsy, full of terrible dad jokes, but so full of love it used to embarrass me in front of my mates. Of course he’d have treated Amber like his own. I’d just never let Isabella do the same for me.

My eyes dropped to her stomach. She didn’t look pregnant yet. Just Isabella, soft cardigan and all, sitting there like nothing in the world had changed.

“Mark and Zoe wouldn’t have been there for either of you, so we created our own little family instead.”

I sighed and nodded slowly, something in my chest finally loosening.

“Yeah. It makes sense now,” I said.

Her shoulders sagged with visible relief, and a small smile broke across her face.

“Good. Now, for some ground rules,” she said, turning to Amber with a broad, almost mischievous smile.

I raised an eyebrow.

She could try.

❧ ❧ ❧

Isabella held me so tightly that for a moment I sank into the hug and placed a hand on her back. This felt like coming home after a long spell in the wilderness.

“I’m always here for you,” she whispered, pulling back.

The lump in my throat prevented me from speaking, so I nodded.

“We’ll see you soon, son,” Luke said, with a wink.

My eyes flicked behind her.

The message was clear in my eyes to him.

Die, you filthy fucking boomer. Die.

I smiled and took Amber’s hand. I waved at Isabella as we walked away. Amber was going to walk me to my car, which was out of sight from the parents. A fifteen-to-twenty-minute tonguing session was the norm before I left. I walked a little faster, since this was our first legitimate one.

❧ ❧ ❧

I dropped Amber off at her house and was about to pull away when a message buzzed through.

Luke.

Amber paused in her doorway, blew me a kiss, and disappeared inside. I waved, but the second the door clicked shut behind her, I tapped on the message.