Page 38
There is a moment of silence. A long one, where we stare at one another, silently challenging each other. She stands, suddenly filled with a bravado that she probably shouldn’t be filled with.
“I can and I will.”
“Who will protect them from you?” she sneers as she lifts her hand and extends her index finger to point directly toward me.
If she were any closer, she would be poking her finger in my chest, and that would be a really bad fucking choice, so it’s better she’s where she is. I glide my tongue across my bottom lip, wetting it in an attempt to waste a few moments so that I don’t say or do something really fucking stupid.
“Keely is a grown-ass woman. I would rather kill myself than hurt her or Thea. They don’t need protecting from me. I’ll never hurt either of them.”
She takes half a step toward me, stopping far enough away that neither of us can reach the other. Again, that’s for the fucking best at this point. I hear Thea’s cries from upstairs somewhere, but it doesn’t take my attention away from the bitch standing in front of me.
“You’re going to hurt them.”
The anger that rolls off this woman in waves is almost unfathomable. I don’t know what she is expecting from me. Maybe she thinks she’s going to run me off, but she won’t. Both Keely and Thea are mine. They’ve been mine, even when I didn’t know where they were or that Thea existed—they were mine.
They’ve always been mine.
Keely was fucking made for me, and Thea was made from me. There is nothing else to be said. It is what it fucking is. Those girls are mine, and I’m never letting them go. Not for a goddamn fucking second. I would put myself on the chopping block before I let anything happen to them.
“Yeah, I probably will hurt them. I’m also going to protect the fuck out of them and take care of them. They will never want for anything.”
She snorts but doesn’t get the opportunity to say anything else because the steps down the staircase cause both of us to focus our attention on Keely and Thea, who are making their way down the staircase, a suitcase in Keely’s hand.
I don’t let her walk down the remaining stairs holding both a suitcase and a baby. I meet her halfway and reach for both, then make my way downstairs with a baby carrier and a suitcase. Keely doesn’t walk straight for the door, though.
Instead, she stops in front of her mother. She’s got something to say, and I’m going to stand here, holding our baby as she says it. I press my lips together, thinking about this baby, this woman, and our future. I can’t deny that this is a happy moment for me.
Even though I don’t love the way it came about, I fucking love the fact that my woman and baby are coming home with me.
“I can’t do this, Mom,” Keely whispers. “I wish things were different, but they aren’t.”
“I suppose they aren’t. Go,” Keely’s mother grinds out. “But don’t bother trying to come back again. You’ve spit on us more than enough.”
“I’m sorry you feel that way,” Keely whispers.
Then, without another word, Keely turns and walks toward the door. I do the same, following her lead. I don’t know what the fuck is going to happen in the future, but what I do know is that I won’t regret this. Not for a single fucking second.
I will never regret my woman and my baby.
I’m going to protect them until there is no more breath left in my body.
They’re mine.
Forever.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-NINE
KEELY
What the hell have I just done?
Panic begins to flow throughout my entire body, only increasing as I drive farther away from my parents’ house. Thankfully, I’m following Brock because I have no clue where I’m even going right now. And it’s becoming increasingly more difficult to focus on anything as my eyes fill with unshed tears and my body trembles.
Taking long, cleansing breaths, I am able to calm myself down as I continue to drive behind his bike, and that’s when I am finally able to take in my surroundings. We’re not in town any longer. We’re on a highway that seems to be desolate.
When Brock’s bike slows down and I realize he’s turning down a dirt road, I do the same, though my heart races. I’m no longer upset about leaving my parents’ house. That’s been replaced by instant, sudden concern.
