Page 344 of Conquered

“She probably wants feeding,” I tell them, the sound of her cries hitting me hard in the chest. Ash steps away immediately, he knows how a sense of panic washes over me when she’s upset, and he helps me down off the piano and Loki pulls up his sweats and grabs my PJs.

“Go get cleaned up, Jax can soothe her for a minute,” Ash tells me gently, pulling his own sweats up and intertwining our fingers, leading me from the room as Loki follows.

We walk into the big bedroom to find Jax rocking Violet in his huge arms, wearing only boxer briefs, and the sight stuns me for a moment before Ash gives a chuckle and pushes me into the bathroom.

“Clean up first, fuck him later,” Loki says with a quiet laugh, and Jax looks up with a smirk, his blue eyes heating as he takes in my nudity and freshly fucked appearance.

Kai walks in then, carrying a tray of freshly baked cookies and a thermos of mint tea that I know will be the exact right temperature to drink straight away. I place a kiss on his cheek, his own eyes growing warm.

“You look stunning, sweetheart,” he murmurs in my ear, and I shake my head with a giggle.

Reluctantly, I head to the bathroom, turning around as I reach the door to see all four of them cooing over the small baby in Jax’s arms, and my heart feels so full it might just burst out of my chest.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

ASH

Guilty.

That one word holds such weight. A word that signals our freedom.

Both my father and Loki’s are charged with first-degree murder, life in prison with no parole as their punishment, and we’ve made sure that they won’t be able to bribe their way out by getting there first.

We drive the new mini bus that Jax picked up yesterday back to my place in the woods, Violet asleep in the back with Lilly at her side and Loki next to Lilly.Lost My Mindby Alice Kristiansen plays quietly over the speakers, and I can’t help feeling that this is our song. All five of us lost in each other.

“I can’t quite believe it,” Lilly whispers, resting her head on Loki’s shoulder as we drive through the fall afternoon. “Is it really over?”

“It’s really over, Princess,” I say from the front, craning my neck to look back at her.

“And what happens now?” she asks, a small smile playing on her lush lips.

“Anything we want, sweetheart,” Kai tells her, and her smile grows, rivaling the sunlight filtering through the trees alongside the road.

“I’d like to invite my grandparents over, and Ryan and Lexie,” she replies.

“I’ll message them now for you,” I say, pulling out my phone and sending an email to them all asking if they’d like to visit, an idea forming in my mind of what we could all do while they are here.

We sit in comfortable silence for the rest of the journey, letting the fall sun wash over us as we drive home, unencumbered for the first time by the shackles that our parents put on us.

We’re finally free to live, and I intend on doing just that with my brothers and our woman and child.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

LILLY

TWO MONTHS LATER

“Motherfucker!” Ash roars as he storms into the living room, the morning sunlight casting his inked-up body in a soft glow. I wince, glaring at him as Violet starts wailing at the noise.

I rock her in my arms, shushing her and trying to settle her as he looks devastated at upsetting her.

“I’m sorry, darling one,” he tells her gently, coming up next to us and stroking her head in the way that always calms her down.

Once she’s fallen back asleep, I pass her over to a waiting Jax, who continues to rock her in his huge arms because she has him wrapped around her tiny finger and he adores her sleeping on him.

“What happened?” I ask Ash quietly, Loki and Kai having come into the room, Kai handing me a hot chocolate with a kiss on my cheek.

“Somehow, my father has managed to change his sentence to some bullshit and is getting out on parole later today,” Ash seethes, his whole body vibrating with anger. “Apparently, he has proven that he was coerced or some shit.”