“And you’re with my daughter?”
“Yes.”
“Is she happy?” he asks quietly, hopefully.
“Very,” I tell him.
His eyes search my face. “Take care of her,” he chokes out before hanging up the phone and standing. He leaves me sitting there in shock.
I still know nothing about who’s after Sophie, but I do know that her dad loves her, and now I have to figure out if I should tell Sophie about him.
“Fuck,” I grumble out before hanging up the phone and getting the fuck out of there.
*~*~*
Sophie
“Girl, you know I don’t do the whole ‘white meat’ thing, but that man of yours is seriously fine. I mean F-I-N-E,” Maggie says, throwing herself down on the bed next to me.
“I know.” I smile.
“I’ve never seen you this happy.”
“I’ve never been this happy before. He makes everything okay. With him, I feel safe, like I can explore or just be me and know he will watch over me.”
“Yeah, I saw that. He’s kinda scary,” Maggie says quietly.
“He told me he doesn’t have to be nice to anyone but me,” I tell her, watching her eyes widen.
“Wow.” Her head turns towards me, her lips parting slightly.
“You know, when I first met you, I wondered how the hell this little ol’ white girl was gonna make it in the world if she couldn’t even be around a group of people without freaking out. Then you surprised me by never giving up. Yes, you did freak the hell out every time, but you never quit trying. You’re one of the strongest people I know, Sophie. So yes, that man will probably kill anyone who ever tries to harm you, but your strength is internal,” she says, and I start to cry immediately.
“Don’t mind me. This baby has me all messed up,” I say before thinking. No one knows I’m pregnant. Well, no one except Kenton, Nico’s friend Leo, the EMTs, and a whole bunch of cops. Okay…so a lot of people know I’m pregnant.
“Did you just say what I think you said?” I squeeze my eyes closed and shake my head. “You did! You just said, and I quote, ‘Don’t mind me. This baby has me all messed up.’”
“Um…”
“Holy mother of God! Sophie Jean Grates, you’re pregnant!” Maggie yells as she climbs up to stand on the bed. “You’re pregnant and you weren’t going to tell me?” She starts to jump up and down, and just like that, my stomach flips, I stand up and run to the bathroom, and proceed to get rid of my breakfast and lunch. “Oh shit, I’m so sorry! I didn’t even think.”
I feel a cool, wet washcloth run across my forehead. “It’s fine. Just the whole jumping-on-the-bed thing was a little much,” I say, flushing the toilet before taking the washcloth out of her hand and bringing it to my mouth.
“Why the hell were you jumping on the bed?” I hear growled.
Maggie and I look at each other in shock before turning our heads to the open bathroom door.
“Seriously, babe. You have a hard-enough time keeping food down as it is, so tell me why the hell you would feel the need to jump on the bed,” Nico demands, walking into the bathroom.
He is so hot that I have to look at Maggie and see if it’s just me who is affected by him. Nope. The look on her face says that he does it for all women. Today, he has on jeans, boots, and a black Henley with the neck unbuttoned, showing off his tattoos. The area between my legs starts to tingle just from looking at him. I watch as he gets out my toothbrush before putting some toothpaste on it and setting it on the side of the sink. Then he walks over to where I’m still sitting on the floor, picks me up, and places my butt on the bathroom counter.
“You said you were only going to be gone a couple hours,” I complain right away. He has been gone for the last six hours. I try to avoid pouting out my bottom lip like a two-year-old who’s not getting her way.
“I know. I got held up. Now open,” he instructs, and I do before I realize what he’s doing.
“I can brush my own teeth,” I grumble, pulling the brush from his hand to clean my own teeth, and shake my head at him.
“No more jumping on the bed, okay?” he prompts. He looks really worried, and I don’t think it’s from seeing me sick.
“Are you okay?” I ask, searching his face.
“I hate seeing you sick.”
“She wasn’t jumping.” Maggie laughs, looking between us. “I… Well, she slipped up about the baby, and I was excited, so I started jumping on the bed.”
I watch as Nico’s eyes start to narrow, and I pull his face towards me. “Maggie is my friend. I don’t care what you say about not having to be nice to your friends, but you treat mine like you treat me. Got it?” I say, waving my toothbrush around, foam flying everywhere.
“I don’t like you getting sick.”
“Well, then you shouldn’t have gotten me pregnant.”
“I like you pregnant.” His eyes go soft before he runs his hand along my stomach like he often does. I smile then realize I probably look like an idiot with my mouth full of foam and a big cheesy smile on my face.
“You guys kinda make me want to vomit,” Maggie says, making me laugh.
*~*~*
I look across the room at Nico, who has his head tilted towards Devon. They’re both standing next to the bar wearing suits, and each has a glass of what looks like scotch in their hands. Whatever they’re talking about looks really serious.
“What’s that about?” Maggie asks, coming to stand next to me.
“No clue.” I shrug, not taking my eyes off the guys.
“Well, Nico has Devon’s seal of approval.”
“Really?” I ask, finally looking at Maggie, who looks beautiful in her wedding dress. The creamy color against her dark skin is stunning.
I look back at the guys, thinking how much the two men are alike. Devon is one of the hardest people to get along with. His childhood made him into an adult who doesn’t easily trust, yet he always sees the glass as half full. He is also very protective of those he cares about; he is a lot like Nico in that aspect. He is one of the first people who made me feel safe. I knew when we were in Job Corps together that Devon would hurt anyone who even thought about messing with Maggie or me.
“Really. I guess they have a mutual friend, and Devon said he heard about Nico Mayson a long time ago.”
“Seriously?” I whisper, this time in shock. Tennessee and Seattle are really far apart. Knowing that someone in Seattle heard about Nico makes me a lot more curious about his job.