Page 54 of Ruin Me Sweetly

What I loved most was that he climbed in beside me. His warmth and strength drew me close instantly, until my eyes fluttered and finally shut. I fell asleep with his palm resting against my belly, and quiet words of love and gratitude murmured against my ear.

Content.

I’d never felt this content, or this safe, in all my life.

Chapter 26

Luke

We’d anticipated Sadie would be granted bail, and she was—though that had only ever been part of the plan. With fresh evidence now confirming she posed a danger to others, as well as herself, her older sister had come through for me, agreeing to have her forcibly assessed by a Section 12-approved doctor.

This was the only route to long-term incarceration. First a hospital, then prison, and after that, my plans grew considerably more sinister, depending entirely on her psychological diagnosis.

The plan had several stages and variables, but I would ensure she never got the chance to harm Bella, or our child. Every instinct in me screamed she’d try to kill them both, given the opportunity.

The wedding footage had captured it clearly—the empty, crazed look in her eyes as she’d charged into the church. She was split between two realities entirely. Sadie Newbury, and the persona she’d built beneath it, Kristie Killer, the version of herself distant enough to actually kill.

Michael had spotted the small knife that had slipped beneath a pew during the struggle.

Yes. I felt no remorse whatsoever, planning to have her live out the rest of her life as a fucking vegetable, if it came to that. She still got to breathe. That, in itself, was mercy enough.

Isabella sighed in her slumber, and I kissed her soft, warm cheek. She would never know how close Poppet and Rhea had come to being harmed. All they needed to know was that it was being handled by the police, and that it would take time to go through the legal system.

I kept my hand resting gently over our baby, right where it had been since before Bella fell asleep. My insides churned at the thought of the first scan. I wanted them both to be well. The thought of losing either one of them made me want to hurl.

Bella had been handling the pregnancy like an absolute trooper so far, but I existed somewhere between a sleuth and a drill sergeant. I knew when to reel myself in, though. It was the moment I caught the flicker of violence behind those usually patient eyes.

I smiled and closed my own.

My skull could probably take the odd dinner plate tossed at it.

❧ ❧ ❧

Zach had been surprisingly well-behaved lately. We’d had the odd text exchange, but it wasn’t nearly as much fun since he’d stopped taking the bait as readily as he used to. So as Amber embraced her mother, I closed the gap between us and grabbed Zach.

“Hello, son. Did you miss Daddy?” I whispered, before squeezing him tight enough that he grunted.

“You’re a fucking freak, old man,” he hissed, shoving me off.

The girls turned to look at us, and I smiled, before draping an arm over Zach’s shoulder. His body tensed, but under Bella and Amber’s scrutiny, he was powerless.

“Let’s go and see your baby brother or sister,” I told him, as we all headed inside the hospital doors.

He was still muttering beneath his breath when we reached the lift, but he didn’t pull away from me. I gently squeezed his shoulder before releasing him.

He was a good kid. It didn’t matter if he was here for Bella or Amber. All that mattered was that he was here.

I’m sure he’d go back to hating me the moment he found out about the car I’d ordered for my poppet.

❧ ❧ ❧

I genuinely couldn’t remember the last time I’d cried, so when I felt that first teardrop teasing the corner of my eye, I tried to blink it away. But then it trailed a wet path downward. I shifted my head away from the screen long enough to wipe it clear.

But then I stared at our baby again. And it happened again.

He was tiny, yet perfectly formed. Such a beautiful creation.

I used my palm to rub my eye, while Bella’s fingers tightened around my other hand, clutching it tight. I turned and bent down to kiss her. That’s when I felt her own tears against my cheek.