Chapter 29
Twenty-Nine
May
“I saved you one,” I tell Raquelle, licking cupcake frosting off my fingers.
Dropping her bag on the grass, she joins me under the shade of the oak tree in the quad. “I know better than to get between a pregnant lady and her cupcakes.”
I push the almost empty box toward her. “You’ll be saving me from a sugar crash.”
She laughs as she eyes the lone vanilla sprinkles sitting by itself inside the pastry box where there had been six. “I think it’s too late for that.”
“The hellion doing somersaults inside my uterus agrees.”
Rubbing my distended belly, I lean back against the trunk of the oak and let out a weary sigh.
My back hurts. My boobs hurt. My feet are swollen.
I’m getting about two hours of sleep at night because I have to get up and pee all the freaking time.
Or I’m starving. Or my hip hurts. Or I’m too hot.
And the continuous Braxton Hicks contractions are getting annoying.
So are the guys with their hovering and smothering.
I’m so ready for this baby to come out. A couple more weeks.
I just need to get through end-of-year exams first. Looking at the glass half full perspective, at least the baby is coming during summer vacation, and I don’t have to worry about classes or tests or long-ass writing assignments.
Raquelle scarfs down the entire cupcake in two bites. “I still don’t understand why you didn’t apply for an exception and take your exams after you gave birth. You should be on bedrest, not stressing over cellular mitosis.”
It’s an argument I’ve had daily with the guys for over a month.
I know their worry comes from a place of love.
I did, however, take leave from work at the Bierkeller.
I had no choice. Keith would call one of the guys to come get me as soon as I waddled through the door.
After the fifth attempt, I gave up. The man is more stubborn than Tristan, and that’s a high bar to achieve.
“I promise I’m good.”
“What if you go into labor in the middle of an exam?”
“I won’t.” I hope. Fingers crossed.
Raquelle lifts my bare feet and sets them on her lap. “Speaking of. How did your bio final go?”
“Good—oh my god,” I moan, loudly, when her thumb digs into the arch of my foot. A few curious heads turn our way, and I give them the middle finger. Carrying an eight-pound human inside you, who is displacing all your internal organs, makes you bitchy. “When is Drake getting here?”
She and Shelby had planned a surprise baby shower for me, which I found out about because voices, particularly deep masculine voices, tend to carry in the house, especially through thin walls.
I overheard Tristan and Hendrix talking about it while they were setting up the baby’s crib in Constantine’s room, which is now going to be the nursery.
We still don’t know if it’s a boy or a girl. We wanted it to be a surprise.
But it’s definitely a boy.
Raquelle’s expression goes dreamy at the mention of Drake. She is so in love with that man. If he doesn’t propose soon, I’m going to sic Constantine on him.
“He flies in tomorrow.”
“I would invite you both for dinner tomorrow night,” I say, knowing exactly what they’ll be doing all night long after two months of separation. “How about the day after? Hendrix’s world-famous homemade pizza.”
“Deal.” She checks her watch. “I’ve got to get going.” Retrieving her bag, she bends over and kisses the top of my head. “Call me later.”
“Will do.”
I cover the sharp, sudden pain in my stomach when the baby decides to kick the shit out of me. “No more cupcakes for you if you don’t settle down.”
I love this tiny human more than I ever thought was possible, and I can’t wait for him to come screaming into the world.
Every dream I’ve ever wished for is coming true.
Love. Marriage. Family. Children. Medical school.
I still pinch myself most days, so grateful for the gifts I’ve been blessed with.
Hindsight is always twenty-twenty, and I would go through all the trauma and pain and heartache a million times over if I knew all of it would bring me to right here.
Unfortunately, along with joy comes fear. I know better than anyone how the things you love can be unexpectedly ripped away from you. Our pasts, who our parents were, and our destinies in the Society guarantee a life where we’ll always be on guard and looking over our shoulders.
I think that’s my greatest fear. Not being able to protect my children from the ugliness of our world. But damn, if I’m not going to die trying. It’s one of the reasons why I stepped away from the Council and let Andie take my place. My children need Syn as their mother, not Aoife.
My phone chimes with an incoming text.
Constantine: I’m running a little late. Be there in 10.
I’m so proud of him for sticking it out and getting his bachelor’s degree. Another reason I want baby bean to hurry up and be born. I don’t want to miss his commencement ceremony that’s coming up at the end of the month.
Me: No hurry. I’m going to walk around. Maybe head to the gardens. Been sitting for too long.
My phone rings.
“You okay?” he asks, his raspy, gravelly tone giving me flutters.
Tucking the phone between my shoulder and my ear, I grunt as I lift my heavy bulk off the ground and stand up. “I’m fine. Just need to move.”
“Okay. Love you. Be there soon.”
My heart goes all melty. “Love you more.”
Getting my stuff, I slowly start my way across the quad only to stop when I feel eyes on me.
Glancing around, I don’t see anything or anyone that raises alarm bells.
The students that are still here are finishing up their exams, while the ones who finished have already left campus to start their summer vacation.
Another step. The hair on the back of my neck rises.
I know better than to ignore my gut instinct. I also know I’m almost nine months pregnant and trying to run after or fight someone is out of the question.
As casually as I can, I start walking toward the bell tower.
I don’t know why Aleksander is the first option my mind goes to.
I could go inside the library or any other building.
Call Hendrix or Tristan. But my feet keep moving—toward the one man who has been occupying my thoughts more times than I care to admit.
Which makes me feel guilty as hell because I shouldn’t be feeling anything toward him other than friendship. I am completely in love with and devoted to Tristan, Constantine, and Hendrix, and I would never, not ever, do anything to betray them or jeopardize the life we’re building together.
But dammit, Aleksander Stepanoff has wormed himself into my heart and refuses to leave.
I know the guys love me. I know it to the depths of my soul.
Their love is iron forged in fire. Permanent and indestructible.
We’ve been soulmates since we were children.
They would die for me, as I would for them.
But Aleksander gets me in a way the guys just…
can’t. They haven’t lived the same trauma that Aleksander and I share.
In him, I’ve found a kindred spirit and a trusted confidante.
We lost the people we loved, our families, under horrific circumstances.
We both felt like outcasts growing up and shared the same loneliness.
We were both victims of Francesco Amato’s obsession for power.
Tristan suffered under him as well. Constantine under Gabriel.
Hendrix under Patrick. But their experiences were different from Aleksander’s and mine.
And thinking that compounds the guilt because I know I can tell them anything.
It’s just easier talking to Aleksander about it… and the guilt keeps racking up.
I just wish I never accidentally walked in on him in the shower and saw everything.
Because good lord, his body. His wet, tatted, chiseled, hard body.
Pure masculine eye candy. The sight of a naked Aleksander Stepanoff will forever be carved into my memory.
It’s sexist objectification but tell that to my overactive pregnancy hormones.
What the baby books say is true. Pregnant women are horndogs.
Shifting the strap of my bag to my other shoulder, I use the movement to surreptitiously peer behind me as I walk. The ominous foreboding of a stranger’s eyes on me hasn’t abated. The sensation has only grown stronger.
I hasten my steps when I see the bell tower’s belfry up ahead.
Please be there. Please be there.
As soon as I pull open the lobby doors, I bypass the elevator and take the hidden stairs to the left. Hurrying up three flights is no easy task, and I’m breathless and sweaty by the time I punch in the security code to unlock the door that leads directly into Aleksander’s apartment.
The automatic lock engages as soon as the door slams shut behind me. Rounding the corner, I find Aleksander in the kitchen, making a sandwich, and my heart rate kicks into overdrive.
And not because I sprinted up three dozen steps.
Why the fuck does he have to be shirtless?
I can’t tear my eyes off his bare chest. The designs inked into his skin from neck to fingertips. The definition of muscle.
His happy smile tilts me off-kilter. “I wasn’t expecting to see you until—”
“I’m being followed.”
His entire demeanor transforms in front of my eyes.
Without a word, he opens the bottom cabinet door under the sink where he keeps a gun duct-taped to the inside.
He checks the magazine and flicks the safety.
I follow after him when he goes into the living room and gets his phone.
Pulling up his security feed, he flips through each camera’s view.
“Do you see them?”
Aleksander has hidden cameras everywhere around the bell tower. He knows you’re here before you even step foot inside the lobby.