Chapter 75
CHAPTER SEVENTY-FIVE
Ace
Song- Once In A Lifetime, John Michael Howell
"I-I'm pregnant," she says.
My chest implodes. The air leaves my lungs and doesn't come back. The kitchen tilts. All of it falls away until there's nothing in this room except her face and her hands on my hands and the word she just said.
Pregnant.
"Fuck, Harper," I hiss.
I grab her face with both hands and look into her eyes. I don't need to ask. I can feel it in my soul. That baby is mine.
And even if it's not, even if biology tells a different story, it doesn't matter. They're both mine. They always will be.
I kiss her. Softly. And she melts against me the way she always does, her whole body going slack, surrendering the weight she's been carrying alone.
I can't bring myself to break this moment.
Because with one word, she could shatter the fantasy building in my head—the one where this is it, the moment I have everything I've ever wanted.
My girl. A baby. A family. A future.
Nothing else has ever mattered. Not the bull riding. Not the ranch. Not the empire or the money or the title. My world has always orbited around Harper Jones. Every decision I've ever made, all of it was just me, circling her gravity, waiting for her to pull me back in.
She runs her shaking fingers up my chest.
"Don't you want to know if the baby is yours, Ace?"
I smile. Snatch her hand and press a kiss to her palm.
"Ain't my first concern, sweetheart. No matter what, you're both mine and I'll love the two of you until my last breath." I hold her hand against my chest. "My first concern is that you're both healthy."
She nods slowly. "I had a scan recently. They said the baby is doing really well."
I blow out a breath. Relief floods through me so fast my eyes sting.
"How far along? How long have I got to build this new house with the wrap-around porch?"
She laughs, and another piece of my soul heals.
"I’m thirteen weeks."
My hand glides down to rest on her tummy. I look at the small swell beneath her shirt.
Fuck. It's perfect. She's perfect.
"My world revolves around you, Harper Jones.
" I keep my eyes on hers. "It has since the first time you smiled at me when we were sixteen years old.
There isn't a version of me that doesn't love you.
Not in the past. Not in the future. If there is one damn thing I'm certain of in this life, it's my love for you. "
I press my hand firmer against the bump. Feel the warmth of her. The life underneath.
"So if you tell me the baby isn't mine, it changes nothing. Not a single thing. I'll love you the same. I'll love that baby the same. I'll be the man you both need me to be."
Tears stream down her cheeks. I lean in and kiss them away. One side. Then the other. Tasting salt and makeup and grief and relief all mixed together.
"The baby is yours, Ace. You're going to be a dad."
I close my eyes. Rest my forehead against hers.
The world stops. Just for a second. Everything goes quiet, and there's nothing but her breathing and mine and a heartbeat between us that's brand new.
"You've just made me the happiest cowboy in the world, baby," I whisper.
She giggles, and my heart nearly explodes. Even with her husband's body a few feet behind us. Even with blood on the floor and a war outside the door. That sound rewrites everything. And now this nightmare feels like a second chance.
Because it is. Well, it's our third chance, actually. And it's the last one either of us will need.
Colten's footsteps behind us. He clears his throat. We don't move.
"I hacked the security. All cut and deleted," he says.
I nod. Pull back to look at Harper.
"What do we do now?" she asks.
“I’m going to kidnap you, and you’re never leaving me again,” I say with a straight face.
“Fine. But, what do we do with him?” she says, pointing to her dead husband.
“Ohhhh. That.” I joke. "Me and Colt are going to clean this up. You've got a car here, right?" I brush a strand of hair from her face. "We'll take him back to Sterling Ranch and make sure he disappears."
She blinks at me. "How? He's a big deal. People like him don't just disappear."
I run my thumb along her bottom lip. "Trust me, baby. We can make anyone disappear. Everyone has a price. Don't worry about that. Okay? I've got you."
She sucks in a shaky breath.
"I'll drive your car back. You go on the jet with Colt."
She shakes her head. "N-no. I'll come with you. I don't want to fly." She pauses. Her hand finds mine. "I don't want to leave you."
I can't argue with her. Because I don't want her out of my sight either. Not now. Not for a long time. Maybe not ever again.
"Gianna told me to call you," she says quietly. "She said she'd allow you in LA to come get me."
I arch an eyebrow. Turn to Colten to make sure he clocked that. He did. His jaw tightens. I don’t trust that, not after the attempted stabbing earlier.
"She did?" I question.
"Yes. I went to her for help a few days ago."
Shit. That isn't ideal. Gianna knowing I'm in her city, on her turf, is information I'd rather she didn't have.
"Gianna isn't the bad one here, Ace. She tried to help me."
I study her face. She believes it. Fully. And maybe she's right. Or maybe Gianna Milano is playing a longer game than any of us can see.
"Okay, baby. Okay."
I stand and help her to her feet. She rises slowly, one hand in mine, the other cradling her belly. And it's at that moment that I really see it.
The bump.
The tears fall before I can stop them. I don't try.
Carefully, I pull her shirt up. Just enough. The swell of her tummy catches the light, and I drop to my knees.
I press my lips against her skin.
"Daddy loves you," I whisper against the bump. "Daddy's here. And I ain't going anywhere."
Her fingers run through my hair. I feel her body shake with a sob. But this one's different. This one isn't grief. It's the sound of something finally being okay. It’s relief.
I stand. Tip her chin up to me.
"Get your car keys. Reverse it up to the door. Then sit in the car while we load him in."
I give her a kiss, and she does as I say. No argument. No hesitation. She grabs the keys from the counter, steps over the blanket without looking down, and walks out the front door.
Colten steps beside me. We stand over the covered body.
"You're going to be a dad?" he asks.
"Yep. I am."
He nods. Doesn't congratulate me. Doesn't crack a joke. "Well," he says. "Let's get this dead body out of here and get the fuck out of this hellhole."
I laugh. Because what else can you do? I'm standing in a billionaire's kitchen in Los Angeles, about to dispose of a body, with a baby on the way and a woman in the driveway whom I'd die for. My life is insane.
Colten pulls back the blanket. We both look down at Hudson Blake.
The Forbes 30 Under 30 crystal award is in pieces beside his head. The engraved letters of his name are cracked clean through, scattered across the tile.
"She used his fuckin' award." Colten shakes his head. "What a woman."
I smile.
Yeah. She is. And she’s mine.
We lift him. Wrap him. Carry him out the back door and into the trunk. Colten wipes down every surface we touched. I check the security panel one more time.
Harper is in the passenger seat when I open the driver's door. She's holding the little gold A from her broken necklace in one hand. The other is on her stomach.
She looks up at me. Eyes red. Face wrecked. But something new is behind it all. It’s the look of a woman who's made her last bad decision and knows it.
"Let's go home, Ace."
I start the engine.
"Yes, ma'am."
I pull out of Hudson Blake's driveway, past his fountain, past his gates, and the last time I ever have to see this place. Harper reaches across the console and laces her fingers through mine.
I squeeze. She squeezes back.
Three hundred and seventy miles to Sterling Ranch.
And this time, it’s forever.