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There’s nothing I’d rather be looking at anyway, not when this woman is what lies before me.

The bastard really did win in the end.

AUGUST



















Twenty-Eight

“How much?”

My ears perk up. Leaning back, I peek around the wall that half separates the dining room from the kitchen to see Draven’s eyes the size of saucers.

It must be good then.

We haven’t heard one word from any of the Creeds since the day I left Alex at the altar, but Dray’s hacker friend has been working overtime trying to make sure we stay ahead of them.

He’s also been trying to get us some reparations.

“Holy fuck,” Dray laughs. “And you’re sure he won’t find out? Screw it, for ten million, I’ll fight him with a toothpick and a garden hose. You’re fucking amazing.”

Ten million.

It’s more than Ephraim would have paid me in a dozen lifetimes. It’s more than I thought possible, and it’s more than enough to set a bastard and a pawn up for life.

We’re gonna be fine, and we never have to go back.

Smiling softly, I place my hand over my growing belly. It’s still small, but I see the changes every day. I feel her growing, changing, preparing to carve out a place in this world for herself.

I haven’t told Dray yet. The doctor just called last night, and he was sleeping so peacefully I didn’t have the heart to wake him. But we’ve got names to pick out and a nursery to decorate, so as he says goodbye to Damian and meets me in the kitchen, I blurt out, “It’s a girl,” before he can tell me about the money.

The smile that takes over his face is blinding. It’s so beautiful, so genuine it makes my chest tighten as I glide my hands along my stomach absentmindedly.

“I knew it,” he says happily, his mouth crashing to mine before trailing down my neck to my belly. “Hey, baby girl. I’m your daddy.”

“She knows. I can’t feel her moving just yet, but she knows.” I lean down, planting a quick kiss to the top of his head. “If only she knew how rich she just became.”

Dray chuckles, rubbing his nose along my skin affectionately before standing to cradle my face. “Now I can take care of my queen and my princess so they never have to lift a finger. I’m gonna spoil the fuck out of you two, you know that?”