Page 24

He nods. “Of course. I’ll help with whatever you need—from the basics like diapers to the bigger things like a college savings account that we contribute to equally. I know you have health insurance but I’m willing to put the baby on mine if you want.”

“There are a lot of details,” I admit. “But I’d like both of us to be protected legally. Just in case.”

“Just in case what?”

“What if you meet someone and fall in love?”

He shrugs. “If I didn’t think we’d be good together, I wouldn’t have offered. You’ll need time to figure this out, but you can trust me, Luna.”

“I want to. I just don’t have a lot of good experiences with men.”

“I understand that. All I’m asking for is a chance to show you otherwise.”

How can I say no?

The truth is, I can’t.

“I guess we can talk about this some more, while we get bloodwork done and all that.”

He smiles. “Then I’d like to take you to dinner one night this week. Let’s figure out the schedule once Daniil and Courtney are back and we’ll go from there.”

“I’d like that.”

I watch him gather up the remnants of our breakfast and take it all out, and then I drum my fingers on the desk. The night didn’t start or end the way I expected it to.

I’m potentially going to have a baby.

With Rage.

With Rage the Cage.

With Elliott.

He’s so good-looking it hurts. As far as I’m concerned, he’s perfect. I’ve always found him handsome and a little bossy, but it never occurred to me he might be interested in me as a woman. I never dreamed my thoughts about him could ever be more than a fantasy.

The truth is, I’ve never had trouble getting dates. Relationships have proven to be a lot more difficult but dating is easy. I just don’t typically enjoy it. And sex is tricky because a guy has to know what he’s doing to get me off. That’s secondary, though.

The biggest obstacle, aside from my weight being a deterrent, will be the plethora of secrets I harbor.

I’ve told him the basics and that Daniil found me through high-level government channels. And if Daniil found me, that means other people could too.

Because of that, and myriad other reasons, it’s been easier to refrain from getting close to anyone, but here at Shadow Security we have to trust each other. And anyone doing even a rudimentary background check would discover that the real Luna Gallagher was born and died at four days old in 1990.

I was fairly certain Roger would never do any type of background check, so he only needed to know Luna, but it’s different with Rage. I don’t want to keep secrets from him but I’m not sure if it’s safe to tell him the rest.

Which means I’m going to have to talk to Daniil.

I’ll wait until he and Courtney have had a week or so to settle into being parents of two, but that will give us time to get our physicals and talk to an attorney.

At that point, if everything goes according to plan, I’m going to start sleeping with Rage the Cage.

I almost giggle at the thought.

I’m not a big fan of boxing or UFC or even MMA, but when Allora started talking about Rage the Cage, I had to look him up. I winced every time he took a punch, but man, he was absolutely intense when he fought. It was mesmerizing, even for someone like me who doesn’t know anything about the sport.

Something tells me my life is about to change in ways I never considered.

The real question, though, is whether or not I’ll actually get pregnant. That’s what scares me.