Page 222 of Conquered

“Lilly’s pregnant,” Loki tells him, not looking in his direction, keeping his gaze on me.

Ash stops like he’s just been sucker punched. “What?”

I can see the others come up next to him, shocked expressions on their faces, but my gaze catches on Loki’s, waiting for his reaction.

"It's not the end of the world, is it, Loki?" I whisper, pleading with him to anchor me, to tell me that it’ll all be okay, regardless of how crazy this is.

"No," he answers, and my shoulders sag, my breath whooshing out of me at his answer. "It's really not the end of the world, Pretty Girl."

He cups my face in his palm, his emerald eyes full of such tender emotion that my own fill with tears.

"I couldn't imagine anyone else I'd rather be in this mess with," he tells me, his own eyes wet as he places a soft kiss on my lips. “Me and you are in real trouble now, Pretty Girl.”

Then he drops to his knees, his hands framing my middle as he kisses over my flat stomach.

"Hello, little one."

My eyes close, the tears falling freely as I feel a sudden lightness wash over me. Fingers wipe the tears away, and I open my lids, turning my head to the side to see Jax looking at me, his gaze full of fierce protectiveness and love.

“We’ll look after you both,” he tells me simply, cupping my face and making more tears fall, my throat aching.

“Nothing will happen to you, I swear,” Kai vows from my other side, and an uncomfortable shiver runs through me at hispromise. I shake the uneasy feeling off, giving him a watery smile.

Loki stands back up, wiping his eyes, and my heart aches with love for him, for them all.

“Fuck, I’m gonna be a dad,” he says, running his hand through his hair.

“Yeah, to my wife’s child,” I hear Ash snap out, and I look past Loki to see Ash standing there, a face like thunder.

Loki’s face blanches. “Shit, that’s a cluster fuck.”

My attention returns to Ash, who’s still standing there, looking lost. Stepping away from the others, still clutching the damn test in my fist, I walk towards him in a swish of silk. Dropping the test onto the side table with a clatter, I step right up to him, my hand coming to cup his jaw.

“Hey,” I say softly, his blistering gaze landing on me. There’s anger there for sure, but also a blinding terror. “I need you, Asher Vanderbilt.Weneed you,” I tell him, taking his hand with my spare one and placing it on my stomach. I swear I almost feel something as his palm strokes me, his fingers twitching. “You will all be fathers to our baby.”

“What if I’m no good?” he asks, the terror shining brightly in his eyes. “I don’t exactly have a good role model to look up to,” he huffs out a self-deprecating laugh that cuts me to the quick.

“You will be an awesome dad, Ash, and our child will love you for it,” I say, my voice firm with conviction in that truth.

His eyes close for a moment, his head tipping forward until our foreheads are resting together, his hand still resting over my stomach, warming the area under his palm.

“I love you, Lilly,” he says, his voice choked with emotion.

“I love you, Ash,” I reply, placing a gentle kiss on his lips.

The others come to us, surrounding me in their loving protection as their hands come to my stomach, until there’s not a space left untouched where our baby is growing.

Aweek goes by, then two, then three, and yet no word from Julian, or any of the other members of the board. I can’t even bring myself to think of them as the guys' families, there’s no familial love there, nothing that gives them the right to be known as such. The radio silence leaves a sour taste in all our mouths, distracting us from our schoolwork as we wait on tenterhooks for some kind of backlash.

Meanwhile, Kai works on the plan. The murder plan. I hate how right it feels, to be plotting someone’s death and the downfall of several others. But this is one thing that they have earnt, and if that makes me a monster, then so be it. I’ll embrace the darkness with open arms if it keeps us all safe and stops the abuse that my guys have gone through, and continue to go through.

The weather warms up, signs of spring in the air, although apparently, it’s not officially spring until we get snow on the tulips that fill the Academy planters. Something eases in my heart, my breaths coming a little easier as winter starts to wane. It’s silly really, bad things can happen at any time, regardless if the birds are chirping and the sun is shining.

We’ve decided to keep my pregnancy quiet for the moment, I’m only ten weeks or so along anyway, so it’s not as if anything shows yet or will for a while. The sickness still plagues me, and reminds me of stories Mum told me of how morning sickness was a load of bollocks when you feel sick all damn day. How right she was.

Kai spends hours in our kitchen making me things to try and tempt me to eat, and he brings me lemon and ginger tea in the mornings which helps to settle my stomach enough for a plainbreakfast of peanut butter on toast. He tells me he’s stockpiling recipes for when I feel up for more and has researched the best diet during pregnancy to ensure that the baby and I are getting all that we need.

Jax has me on various vitamins and supplements, having done his own research into what I need. He’s also planned an entire exercise regime suitable for pregnancy and has added a massage course which includes pre and post natal massage to his studies.