Chapter 22
Mason
No part of me liked lying, especially to Sebastian. Last year, we’d promised each other we’d never keep secrets again. It wasn’t healthy. But after this morning, I didn’t feel like I had a choice. When he cornered me in the bathroom, our whole life together flashed before my eyes.
So, when he turned his back, I dipped the test into the toilet bowl before actually peeing. At the time, it felt necessary, but now, I wasn’t sure.
Mattie lay with her head in my lap, scrolling through her phone.
My back pressed into the headboard while I picked at the watermelon Cameron had cubed for me.
Around noon, an almost unquenchable thirst had joined my insatiable appetite.
He’d thought the fruit might help, and he was right—but I hadn’t told him that.
All I wanted to do was watch the baby monitor in my hands.
On the screen, Seb sat with Rosie in her rocking chair.
His voice floated through the tiny speaker, reading her a bedtime story.
None of us were ready to move her into her own room yet, but she’d slept better there in the last week than she had beside us in months.
My chest ached, and I couldn’t tell if it was from watching my baby grow up, or from the guilt of lying to her father.
“Hey, Pipsqueak, you good?” Mattie asked, glancing up with wide eyes.
Reluctantly, I set the monitor down.
“I… yeah. Why?” My voice wobbled.
“Because I’ve been teasing you about this—” She set her palm on my stomach, pressing a kiss there.
Butterflies swarmed my chest, not the happy oh-my-god-I’m-so-in-love kind, but the jittery kind. The ones who’d just gotten their wings and didn’t know how to use them, flapping into each other in a panic instead of floating gracefully.
“What about it?”
A crooked smirk curved her mouth before she kissed the spot again.
“You had a teeny-tiny belly this morning. Now you’re huge.”
I shoved her off my lap. “I am not!” Heat flared in my cheeks. “It’s not a bump. I’m just bloated.”
Mattie laughed, poking my stomach. “Still it looks like you’re five months pregnant.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Keep it up, and I’ll make you go home.”
She gasped, hand over her chest like I’d slapped her. “What? No! You can’t kick me out–I’m already planning on moving in.”
I snorted. She’d have to find space for her ferret cage, but I wasn’t completely against the idea.
My gaze drifted back to the monitor just in time to see Sebastian put the book down and focus on rocking Rosie. He traced a finger down her nose, smiling softly.
He was such a good dad.
“Do you think I did the wrong thing?” I asked, finally looking at Mattie.
I’d told her everything. How Sebastian’s absolutely-fucking-not when I’d mentioned another kid had crushed me. How I felt cornered, like I was choosing between him and a baby. How I’d cried to Cam, and Cam had said he’d “fix it.”
How I’d been spiraling.
She didn’t answer right away. Instead, her hand slid back to my stomach. I batted it away.
“Ow—quit being spicy. I just want to love on the baby,” she hissed.
“I’m starting to think you’ve got a pregnancy kink, and all I want is advice.”
Mattie’s mouth twitched like she wanted to make another joke, but she shifted instead—cross-legged now, elbows braced on her knees.
“Okay. Advice.”
I nodded, my chest tightening like I’d just agreed to hear a guilty verdict.
Mattie continued: “I think you did the right thing—but not for the reasons you think.”
“…Why?”
Her gaze fell to the monitor. I followed it. Seb lifted Rosie into his arms, walking her gently despite his limp.
“I don’t trust him,” she said.
I choked. “Excuse me?”
“I don’t trust the guy.” She shrugged like it was nothing.
“Okay? I’ve known Sebastian since he was a kid, and I trust him. Isn’t that enough?”
Mattie had barely spoken to him—Why wouldn’t she trust him?
She chewed her lip, reaching for my stomach again. I jerked back so hard I nearly hit the wall.
“Mason, quit—”
“No, you quit!” My voice cracked. “I’ve known you for what—four months? And you’re telling me you don’t trust my partners?”
These people had loved me when I was nothing but shards of myself. Lucian, Sophia, Sebastian—they’d protected me when we were barely more than kids. Every single one of them was worth fighting for.
And I’d be damned if anyone—especially a partner of mine—disrespected them.
“You’d better have a great reason, or we’re done.”
Mattie’s lips pulled sideways. This morning, I’d been afraid to lose her. Now, I wanted her gone.
“What did I do before Hartwood?” she asked.
“…Before becoming a trainer or before moving here?”
“Before the career swap. What did I do?”
I forced my mind back to when we’d first met, chatting between her critiques of my terrible form. “You were a cop. Camden PD.”
She nodded.
“I worked domestic disturbances. Sometimes I’d show up and someone was already dead. When someone kills, they lose something—a spark behind their eyes. The soul’s just… gone. You get me?”
Reluctantly, I nodded.
“Sebastian doesn’t have that spark. Neither does Sophia. Or Cameron.”
The mention of Cameron twisted my stomach. He’d seen horrors—what the Sons of Christ had done—but that was different. Wasn’t it?
But, it made sense for Seb. He was a homicide detective, so of course, he’d seen brutality on a daily basis.
Sophia threw me completely for a loop. I couldn’t figure out how she'd gotten lumped in with them.
“They’ve all seen some shit,” I said, sounding unsure myself.
Mattie just gave me a look like I’d missed the point entirely.
“You’re being dramatic,” I snapped.
Her eyebrow twitched. “Am I?”
“Yes. You’ve known them for five minutes. I’ve known them my whole life. I’d notice if someone was a soulless murderer.”
I didn’t wait for her reply. I swung my legs off the bed, ignoring the sharp twist in my gut.“You need to leave.”
“Before you force me out, ask them.”
“Ask them what? ‘Hey, my girlfriend thinks you’re murderers, is she right?’” I barked. “Because after this–you are an ex. I don’t want to see you again.”
She didn’t flinch. Just crossed her arms and nodded toward the living room. “Then it shouldn’t be hard to prove me wrong.”
Fine.
If it shut her up, I’d do it.
So I stomped my way upstairs, Mattie following like an irritating shadow.
In the living room, Cameron and Sophia curled together on the couch, a half-empty bottle of wine on the table. The glow of the TV flickered across their faces until Sophia spotted me.
“Hiiiii, Honeybee.” She patted the cushion beside her, beaming. “Come sit with me.”
Cameron’s gaze swept over me–stomach, then face–and his mouth twitched into a suppressed smile before his hand came up to hide it.
“How you feeling, Sweetpea?” he asked.
“I’m fine.” I clutched the empty watermelon bowl to my chest. “Actually… I had a question.”
Sophia tilted her head. “Come closer. You’re making me nervous standing around like that. It feels like an intervention.”
Disobeying her, but only slightly, I slid into the corner beside Cameron. Something about him felt safer than her right now. He wrapped an arm around me, kissed my temple.
“You okay? Are you hurting?” he whispered, eyes flicking to my stomach.
My jaw twitched. I hadn’t really noticed the dull, period-like ache until he said it. “I’m fine,” I whispered back, then leaned away just enough to meet both their eyes.
“Have you ever killed anyone?” I asked Cameron.
His eyes widened, darting to Sophia. I’d startled him, but his answer was light.
“Sweetpea, I’ve told you everything about me. Do you think I could kill someone?” He laughed, but the sound felt… strained.
I glanced at Mattie. Arms crossed, chin tilted toward Sophia.
“Sophia,” I said, “have you ever killed anyone?”
Her smile thinned, the warmth fading from her face. “Excuse me?”
“Like—murder. A person. Breathing, thinking, existing… until you made them not.”
She blinked at me. Then at Cameron. Assessing.
“Cam, I think Mason needs to go lie down. Can you help her to your room?”
“I think that’s a good idea,” he said, standing. “Come on, Mama, it’s time to rest.”
My pulse jumped. If he decided to pick me up, I couldn’t stop him. And for the first time, the thought wasn’t comforting.
I turned to Mattie. She looked like she was enjoying this.
“I don’t want to lie down. I want Sophia to answer my question.”
Sophia tilted her head, her expression the same syrupy one she used on Jasper and Juniper when they misbehaved.
“Honeybee… Why would you even ask that? Has someone been putting ideas in your head?”
Her gaze slid past me, locking on Mattie. The air went colder.
“No one’s putting ideas anywhere. I just want to know—yes or no.”
Sophia clicked her tongue, shaking her head like I was a child who’d said something ridiculous.
“You’re upset, and when you’re upset, you start imagining things. Remember last month? You thought Cam was mad at you because he forgot to say goodnight, and it turned out he’d just fallen asleep on the couch.”
The memory hit, but it wasn’t the same. That night we’d argued about Rosie, about whether she needed therapy. This was different.
“This is different,” I said weakly.
“Is it? Or are you just feeling vulnerable right now?” Her tone wrapped around me like silk, but it tightened like a noose.
“I’m not imagining things,” I whispered, though the conviction wavered in my chest.
Sophia reached for my hand, curling her fingers around mine despite my pull back. “You know I love you more than anyone else here. I would never hurt you. So why would you think I could hurt anyone else?”
Mattie cleared her throat.
Sophia’s expression didn’t change, but her eyes sharpened like glass. “I don’t appreciate you coming into my home and poisoning my girl’s thoughts. Mason’s fragile, you know that.”
“Fragile like a bomb, not glass,” Mattie said. “She doesn’t need coddling.”
The space between us felt like it disappeared. Cameron’s hand landed on my shoulder.
“Mae, let’s go lay down. Soph gets ugly when she’s mad, and you don’t need stress right now.” His palm slid down, lingering on my stomach, a silent reminder of the pregnancy I couldn’t forget.
I shrugged him off. “Why didn’t she just laugh it off?”
“I’ve known Mason forever,” Sophia said smoothly. “I know what’s best for her.”
“And I know you’re dodging the question,” Mattie countered.
Sophia’s jaw twitched. “The fact that question even left my sweet little bee’s mouth is disturbing. And frankly, Matilda, you should be ashamed.”
The sound of Mattie’s full name made me flinch. She hated it. And how did Sophia even know it?
Sophia turned back to me, her attention heavy enough to crush. “Honeybee, Mattie's gotten you all worked up, and that’s a terrible thing for someone to do. I know you don’t know what good relationships look like anymore, but she’s using that to manipulate you.”
She tapped just above my heart. “If there were something wrong with me, you’d feel it right here.”
It was meant to be comforting. It landed like a threat.
“Or maybe,” Mattie said slowly, “You’ve just gotten good at hiding it.”
Sophia didn’t even blink. “Matilda, you’re in my home. Show me some respect.”
“Yeah,” Mattie leaned forward, “But your home’s got a very weird vibe right now.”
Cameron’s arm tightened around me, protective. “Okay, let’s all take a breath—”
“You don’t know me,” Sophia said lightly, eyes locked on Mattie. “Not really. So maybe keep your mouth shut about things you don’t understand.”
“Then answer the question,” Mattie shot back. “Yes or no.”
My pulse pounded in my ears, drowning their voices... until I heard the slow, unmistakable creak of the nursery door opening.