Page 26

26

Lyon

We’d been home for two weeks, settling into a quiet routine—if life with Niki could ever be called quiet. But today was different. Today, we were going to see our baby for the first time.

It was still too early to know if we were having a boy or a girl, but that didn’t matter. We just wanted to see her , to know she was safe. I say her because Oliver, who had been crashing at our place, refused to call the baby anything else.

Brutus had also made his stance on the matter clear. He had taken to growling at anyone who got too close to Niki, his massive form positioning itself between her and anyone who so much as looked at her the wrong way.

“He knows,” Niki had told me last night, stroking Brutus’s thick fur as he rested his head in her lap. “Dogs always know. He’s already guarding the baby.”

I didn’t doubt it. That dog would give his life for her—and for Niki.

As we stepped outside this morning, Brutus padded after us, his watchful eyes scanning the yard. He wasn’t happy about being left behind but obeyed when Niki told him to stay.

I opened the car door for her. “Are you ready to see the first photo of our baby?”

Her entire face lit up. “I’m so excited. It’s too bad we won’t know what we’re having yet, but I don’t care. I just want to see her. To know she’s safe.”

“Me too,” I admitted. “I want to make sure both of you are safe.” I glanced at her as I pulled onto the road, hesitating before asking, “Do you still want to go to Vegas to get married?”

She was quiet for a moment, chewing on her bottom lip. “I think so…I don’t have the energy to plan a big wedding.”

I could see the wheels turning in her head before she spoke again.

“We could get married here,” she said thoughtfully. “Just our close friends and family. That would be simple, and it would make my parents happy. What do you think?”

I reached for her hand, lacing my fingers through hers. “That would be perfect. We stay home, our friends get to celebrate with us, and your mom gets to plan something without driving you crazy.” I smirked. “But what about all those FBI friends she has?”

She rolled her eyes. “No. We’ll send them a photo. They have enough on their plates. They’ll be happy with a picture.”

I chuckled. “Sounds like a plan.”

She leaned back in her seat, a small smile on her lips, her fingers absently tracing circles over her stomach.

I glanced at her, my chest tightening with something deep and unshakable. Love. For her. For the life we were building. For the tiny heartbeat we’d soon see on a screen.

No matter what happened, I would protect them. Both of them.