The fact that he thought I would be picky with what kind of milk I drank proved how little he knew me. Yet, that being so, we’d still managed to have sex three times.

  “You can’t wear that to meet my mom,” he informed me.

  “I wasn’t going to,” I replied, picking up the toast and taking a bite.

  If he was going to continue to stand there and glare at me, it was going to ruin my first good breakfast. I chewed slowly, not wanting to get sick and throw the food back up. I had seen myself in the mirror. I knew I looked bad and that the baby needed me to eat.

  Saxon’s footsteps told me he was leaving the room. Sighing in relief, I relaxed and began to enjoy the meal. Berries were my favorite. They would have them at the yoga studio sometimes for the employees, along with yogurt and granola.

  Thankfully, Saxon didn’t return while I finished eating. I managed to get it all down without feeling like I was going to throw up. After washing my plate and glass, I went back to the bedroom to decide on something to wear. The dizziness was gone, and I could focus.

  When I had lived at home, I’d shared clothes with Jamaica and Silver. I wasn’t able to take a lot with me because they had both needed the clothes. My options were very limited.

  Pulling out the one dress I had brought with me, simply because my boobs were bigger than my sisters’ and going to get bigger with this pregnancy, I held it up and studied it. I didn’t think it looked slutty. It was a pretty blue, long, and flowy. I liked the boho look of it. It was either this or the black leggings and oversize off-the-shoulder hot-pink shirt I normally wore with it. The leggings were faded, so I decided the dress was the better of the two. I wasn’t showing at all yet. The only thing that had grown on me were my boobs. Everything else had gotten smaller from the lack of food.

  Once I was dressed, I tried to do something to make my face look better. With what little makeup I had, I concealed the darkness under my eyes and gave my cheeks some color. Lip gloss seemed to draw attention to my mouth, so I added it, hoping to distract from the rest. I brushed my hair, thankful that it at least had a nice shine to it. I figured that was from the prenatal vitamins I’d been taking.

  Standing back, I studied myself again in the mirror and decided this was the best I could do. If Saxon had an issue with it, then he could tell me what he wanted me to change into. I had to face it—living here would be better for the baby. With his resources, I could have a much healthier pregnancy.

  But did Levi know I was here? He had to know, right? All of them. That terrified me. I didn’t know what they thought about me having Saxon’s baby. What if they intended to take it from me? Even if Saxon said he wasn’t going to. Could I really run from these people? Or would they find me wherever I went?

  There was AJ. If I could find a way to get in touch with him, then he could get me and the baby out when the time came. But would he? I doubted it. He was going to be pissed at me for getting pregnant. Probably accuse me of being like Mom. Besides, I didn’t know how to find him.

  Two sharp knocks on my door.

  “We need to go,” Saxon barked at me.

  I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply. I was going to be okay. This would be okay. It had to be.

  Eleven

  Saxon

  She looked like a fucking angel, and it made me furious. Jerking my eyes off her, I stalked toward the door. Even too thin, undernourished, and nauseated, she could make a man weak in the goddamn knees. I opened the door with a little more force than was necessary, but I was angry. I couldn’t help it. I did not want to look at Haisley and be attracted to her, but was that possible? We had to live in the same house for however long. I hadn’t thought past the baby’s birth. I sure as hell wasn’t going to play house with her.

  I refused to make eye contact with her, but I could tell she was watching me nervously. She should be nervous. My mom wasn’t going to like her or the fact that she was pregnant with my kid. This was going to go badly. I was mentally ready for it, and she needed to be too.

  “This isn’t going to be easy. Be ready for it. My mom won’t like you. She will be upset about all of it,” I warned her as she fell into step beside me.

  “Are you nervous?” she asked me.

  I glanced at her before I could stop myself. Those damn eyes were watching me with a worried frown. I either had to stop looking at her or get immune to her if I was going to survive her a second time.

  “No. I know what to expect.” I stared up at the house as we made our way closer to it.

  “What about your dad?” she asked then.

  “I’m pretty sure he knows. He’s just waiting on me to tell them.”

  “How does he know?”

  “Blaise knows. The family knows. My dad is family. I’m sure Blaise told him.”

  “The family? As in the Mafia?”

  I nodded my head, but said nothing more.

  “Is that how you found out? About the pregnancy? Did they … tell you?”

  Again, I nodded.

  She let out a sigh. It sounded defeated. If that upset her, then she needed to toughen up. Her baby’s father was in deep, and I would be for the rest of my life. She would always be connected to us because of that fact. She would have no secrets.

  “I guess I should be grateful they told you instead of killing me,” she whispered.

  I couldn’t help myself. I looked at her again. “Don’t be so dramatic.”

  She raised her eyebrows at me as if I was the one who had said something stupid. “That’s not dramatic. It’s a plausible concern.”

  I shook my head. “There’s a lot you don’t know.”

  “Oh, wow,” she breathed.

  I glanced at her, frowning, and realized she was looking at the house. It was fully decorated for Christmas. My mom hired a company to decorate for the holidays, and it was always over the top.

  “I’ve never seen anything like this. Well, except on TV,” she said, still taking in all the decorations.

  Wreaths on every window, garland, and other festive shit. There were even two Christmas trees—one on each side of the front door.

  “Yeah, she likes Christmas,” I said and kept walking.

  She didn’t say anything else as we climbed the steps, and I opened the front door to the house I’d grown up in. I waved a hand for her to enter, and then I followed her inside. I could smell the cinnamon scent that wafted throughout the house. The Christmas party that they hosted was later this week. I had forgotten with Haisley and the pregnancy thing taking up all my thoughts.

  I heard my mom’s high heels against the hardwood floor before she appeared in the entryway of the house. She paused when she saw Haisley. I watched her take in Haisley before turning her unsure smile toward me. I could see the questions in her eyes already. When I had told her I needed to talk to her this morning, I hadn’t mentioned that I would be bringing someone with me. Especially a girl.

  “Mom, this is Haisley Slate,” I told her.

  Mom continued to look confused as she turned her attention back to Haisley. “I see,” was all she said. “I, uh, thought you needed to talk to me about something.”

  She was rattled already, and I hadn’t even told her yet.

  “Can we go to the living room?” I asked her.

  Her eyes glanced warily at Haisley, and then she nodded. “Of course.”

  When she turned to walk toward the hallway that led to the living room, I nodded my head at Haisley to follow her. Even with the makeup, Haisley had gone pale. This might end up being worse than I’d imagined.

  Mom walked over and sat down in one of the high-back chairs and crossed her legs as she waited for us to take a seat. I motioned for Haisley to sit down on the sofa across from Mom, and I sat down beside her.

  The tight smile on my mother’s face was getting worse. “I’m assuming this is about me inviting Declan to the Christmas party,” she said, looking at me.

  Shit. I hadn’t known she’d invited Declan. She needed to let that go. Even if there hadn’t been Haisley, Declan and I were done. Long over.

  “Not exactly,” I replied, then cleared my throat. “I met Haisley a few months ago. She volunteered at the hospital with Aspen. We hit it off. Dated awhile.”

  My mom’s gaze was now locked on Haisley. “I see. And you’ve been dating her for how long, and I am just now meeting her?”

  I had to rip the Band-Aid off. Get this over with and face it. “Haisley is pregnant. It’s mine. I had a paternity test done.”

  Mom shot up out of her chair, and her gaze swung to me. “How? Pregnant? What?” She shook her head, clearly in denial. “Saxon, this can’t be right. You aren’t the kind of boy that does something so … so reckless. I don’t see how this could have happened. And you’re sure it’s yours?”

  I couldn’t look at Haisley. She was just going to have to deal with this. I could only worry about one of them at a time. “Yes. It’s mine. I chose to have unprotected sex. The paternity test was done by our people. There is no question.”

  Mom covered her mouth with one hand, staring at me as if I were insane. “So, they know?” she asked me.

  I knew she meant Garrett, Blaise, the rest of the family.

  I nodded. “Levi is who informed me she was pregnant.”

  Mom’s gaze swung back to Haisley. “Why didn’t she tell you?”

  I sighed. “We ended things two months ago.”

  “And she wasn’t going to tell you?” she asked, horrified.

  “Eventually,” I said, although I wasn’t so sure. “Look, she knows who we are. She knows about us. She’s the reason we found Aspen when she was taken. Haisley tracked her brother’s phone.” I stopped then, realizing that maybe I shouldn’t have made that connection just yet for her.

  Mom pointed at Haisley. “Her brother is the man who took Aspen?”

  “Yes. But Haisley helped save Aspen.”

  Mom began to pace back and forth. “I don’t understand. You ended things. There are no feelings there, clearly, but she’s pregnant. You had unprotected sex with some girl you barely knew. It’s the holidays. We have family and friends coming.”

  Of course, leave it to Mom to mention the holidays when we were talking about a life. One I’d helped create.

  “Mom, there were feelings.” I fucking hated admitting that. “They just weren’t enough.”

  Mom threw up both her hands as she stopped and looked at me. “So, what? You’re going to be a dad? Please tell me you aren’t getting married.”

  I shook my head. “No. We aren’t getting married. But Haisley needs somewhere to live, and she’s going to stay with me until the baby is born. I’ll help her get a place of her own after, and then I don’t know. We haven’t made it that far. But, yeah, I intend to see my kid.”

  “She can’t get an abortion? Or there is adoption. Why does she need somewhere to live? Where are her parents?”

  I glanced at Haisley then, and her eyes locked with mine. As much as I didn’t like her, as angry as I was for how she had fucking dumped me, we were a team when it came to this … or the baby. It was ours. We were all the kid had.

  “No abortion. As for adoption, we are keeping the baby. Haisley wants the baby.” I turned to look back at my mom.

  “But do you want to be a dad?” my mother shot back at me.

  No, I didn’t. But what the hell difference did that make? I had made a baby, and its mom wanted to keep it. I didn’t like the idea of abortion either, but I hadn’t been against adoption. Haisley was though. And right now, I was the only person she had on her side. Even if she didn’t deserve me.

  “This is our decision,” I told her. “I didn’t come here to ask for your opinion. The decision has been made. I came to tell you. I’m sure Dad already knows, although he hasn’t said anything to me yet.”

  Mom stood there, staring at me. She looked heartbroken, and I hated that. I had never put that look on her face before, and knowing I was the cause of it now hurt. But I had made a mistake, and I had to own up to it. This was what being a man was. She had to understand that.

  “Fine,” she said tightly. “You’re right. You got yourself into this mess, and you are responsible for it.”

  I stood up, and Haisley followed my lead.

  “What do your parents think about this?” she asked Haisley then.

  I wanted to answer for her and get her out of here, but she needed to do this. If she was going to eventually earn my mom’s respect, she had to start by speaking for herself.

  “I don’t know my father, and my mother thinks that I should have aborted the baby or demanded money from y’all. I refused to do either, so she kicked me out.”

  “So, you came running to who? Levi? Or Blaise? Who did you tell about this so that Saxon would be forced to accept it?”

  “Mom—”

  “I didn’t tell anyone. I don’t know how Saxon found out, but he came to me.”

  Mom said nothing else to her. She shifted her gaze back to me. “You’ll regret this. But if you think having her live with you is what needs to be done, it’s your choice.” Then, she turned and left the room.

  When she was gone and her footsteps faded away up the stairs, I looked at Haisley. “That went about how I’d expected.”

  Haisley’s eyes widened. “Really?”

  “I thought she might yell more,” I admitted.

  “Can we leave?”

  “Yeah,” I replied and led her back to the front door. I glanced at the garland that Mom had hanging on the banisters. “The Christmas party should be fun.”

  Haisley glanced up at me. “Do I have to come to that?”

  If I had to be here, she did too.

  I nodded. “Yeah, you do.”

  “This is the nicest dress I own, Saxon. I don’t have the appropriate thing to wear to something like that.”

  I hadn’t thought of that, but if she was going to carry my baby, then she’d be expected to show up at some things with me. At least where the family was concerned.

  “I’ll make sure you have something to wear.”

  Her shoulders sagged as I opened the door and let her walk out before me. My eyes went to her silky, long black hair, and I fought the urge to run my fingers through it. Tightening my grip on the handle, I closed the door behind me.

  Twelve

  Haisley

  I pulled out the lemon pound cake from the oven and set it on a rack to cool beside the chocolate chip cookies I had also made. After I had cleaned the house, I had started baking. Sitting here alone wasn’t something I was used to. I was either working or dealing with a trailer full of kids. The silence was hard to adjust to.

  Glancing at the clock, I saw it was after seven. Saxon had left me here when we got back from meeting with his mother and gone to work. That had been at ten thirty. I hadn’t seen him since. It wasn’t that I expected him to check on me or come back to see me. I just hadn’t known I would be stuck in this house, alone, all day. There was only so much cleaning that could be done.

  Maybe I could call the yoga studio and get my job back. That would give me somewhere to go and interaction with other people. First, I’d need a phone to call them and transportation to work and back. If Saxon returned before I went to bed, I’d ask him about it.

  I waited until eight before making a salad from the vegetables in the fridge, and then I pan-grilled some chicken and diced it up to toss on top. Taking my meal and a glass of milk, I went to sit on the sofa and turn on the television. I had only taken a few bites when the front door opened. I swung my gaze over, expecting to see Saxon, when a gorgeous brunette sauntered inside like she lived here. Her hands were carrying two large bags, and I could see garland and festive stuff peeking out of the top of it.

  Her eyes locked on me, and they narrowed. I could tell by the short skirt and halter top she was wearing that she’d come here in hopes of finding Saxon.

  “Who are you?” she snapped at me.

  “Haisley,” I replied, not sure what to say to her.

  She clearly came here enough that she felt comfortable walking inside without knocking.

  “Where is Saxon?”

  I shrugged.

  She dropped the bags by her feet and placed a perfectly manicured hand on her hip. The bracelet on her wrist flashed as the light from the lamp hit the diamonds. “If you don’t know where he is, then why are you in his house?”

  How did I answer her? And should I?

  “Declan.” Saxon’s voice entered the house as he walked up behind her. “I see you let yourself in and you brought shit with you.”

  My eyes drank him in. Holy crap, why did he have to look like that? The cowboy hat, jeans, and boots did it for me. Especially when he was dirty from work. Although it was dark outside. What had he been doing in the dark?

  “I came to decorate. We need to get you a tree up,” she said, her eyes now turned to him.

  “No thanks. I’ve got plans.”

  “With her?” she asked, glaring at me. “Why didn’t I know you were seeing someone else?”

  Saxon took off his hat and tossed it onto the table. “I’m not. Declan, this is Haisley. She’s pregnant with my kid. Haisley, this is Declan, my ex-girlfriend.” He sounded so casual as he walked past me and toward the kitchen.

  Declan’s mouth fell open as she stared at him. “Are you joking right now? Because that isn’t funny!”

  “Damn,” Saxon said. “You made cookies and cake.”

  I turned to look at him over my shoulder. “I got bored.”

  He picked up a cookie and took a bite. “I hope you get bored a lot.”

  I didn’t. We had to talk about that, but right now, he had an angry female glaring at him.

  “Saxon!” she shouted.

  He sighed. “What, Declan?”