Page 41 of Oathbreaker

A furrow appears between Jade’s brows. “What do you mean?”

“The eyes, the hair, those lashes.” She pushes up out of the armchair she occupied and comes over, stealing Maisie from my arms, the stink, and she doesn’t miss a beat when she does on, “The anchovies on the freaking pizza?”

Jade’s eyes go wide.

Willow nibbles at the corner of her mouth. “Are you saying?—?”

“That our little Thorny and big, bad Colt did the nasty and that nasty resulted in our adorable but extremely beautiful and smart, like her mama, and fierce and brave, clearly like her daddy?” She pauses, gently swaying back and forth in that instinctively motherly way that many women seem to adopt around babies—and God, when she and Atlas get around to having kids, she’s going to be a natural. “Yeah, sweetie, that’s exactly what I’m saying.”

Willow’s eyes are wide, and they drift to mine.

Jade looks surprised but also not as surprised as I would have thought—like somewhere in the back of her mind, she expected this.

Aspen…well, I can’t get a read on her.

At least until she says, “Well, one good thing is that Banks and I already kind of knew, months ago, but we figured that was your business to share so we didn’t say anything or push.”

“What?” we all say in unison.

“Briar, honey,” she says, gently tugging Maisie out of Lily’s arms and cuddling her baby close. “We knew you had your reasons for not sharing, and while Banks wasn’t thrilled when we put the pieces together, he also understood. He always said you two had something special.”

“And you held out on sharing that piece of juicy gossip with the rest of us?” Lily accuses.

“Lily,” Willow begins.

“Seriously!” Jade chimes in. “I agree with Lily! This is something we should have known.”

“No,” Aspens says firmly. “We shouldn’t have. It was Briar’s business and right now she’s asking for our help.”

Lily scowls.

And Jade is right there with her.

Willow seems halfway between concern and scowl, something that would have normally amused me.

If I wasn’t worried about my brothers murdering the father of my child.

“Right,” Aspen says, sinking down onto the couch but letting Jade commandeer Maisie. “The first thing I’ll do is let Banks know that we all know, so that’s one less that you have to worry about.”

“Frankie’s upset,” I whisper. “And Dash and Atlas couldn’t even look at him.”

Lily sighs. “You know Atlas will come around, sweetheart.”

“I hope so.”

“And Frankie’s bound to be upset,” Jade says. “But she also has her mama’s big heart, so we know it won’t be long before she comes around. Give her time, maybe talk to a therapist—I’m sure Royal’s can give us a recommendation as a starting point. And we’ll all be patient and encouraging without putting too much pressure on her.”

I nod because I know she’s right.

It’s just…

“What if they hate me?” I blurt. “I mean, me having been with Colt.”

“What does that mean?” Willow asks, her tone far fiercer than I’ve ever heard it.

“I was a nerd in high school, glasses and frumpy clothes and thirty extra pounds. I didn’t have a boyfriend, didn’t go on a date until college. I didn’t even kiss anyone—not until I got laser eye surgery and tamed my hair and lost the baby fat. Not because I didn’t want to, but because no one gave me the time of day to have that.”

“Honey,” Willow says, taking my hand.