Page 58 of The Burdens We Share (Satan’s Angels #3)

I give her a disbelieving look and she adds before I can speak, “You didn’t make him do any of those things. He was fucking insane, Dallas. Psychotic. None of what happened is your fault.”

My head falls to my chest, “I don’t deserve you.”

She reaches for my jaw with her free hand and holds it up so that I have to meet her eyes. “Did you get my letter?”

“Yes,” my voice is low.

Her eyes glimmer as she asks, “Do you remember what I told you in that letter?”

Every. Fucking. Word.

When I don’t respond, she opens her mouth to speak, but I stop her, placing a hand over her mouth softly.

“No. I get to say it first. I fucking love you, Ivory Aslan. I didn’t become your bodyguard to protect you.

I did it because I was already in love with you.

I forced my way into your life because I couldn’t stand being on the outside anymore.

Every second I spent near you, I was falling harder.

And every time I had to watch you hurt, it wrecked me.

Losing you—Jesus, losing you almost killed me.

But I’d do it all over again. Every moment, every banter, every sleepless night—because I will love you for the rest of my life. Fiercely. Stupidly. Forever.”

Her eyes glaze over and her voice cracks, “I love you so much, Dallas.”

Tears stream down her cheeks and I lean down and kiss her, careful not to brush against any bruises. When her monitor starts beeping again with her racing heart, I withdraw my lips from hers and kiss her forehead. “I am so sorry that my burden became yours.”

She shakes her head as tears silently stream down her bruised cheeks, “All of your burdens are mine to share.”

“And yours are mine,” my voice is raw.

I brush away her tears with my fingers and grin at her, my eyes soft, “I promise you when all of this is nothing but a really shitty memory, I’m going to put a giant rock on your finger.”

She giggles and the sound is like ecstasy through my nervous system. God, I’m addicted to that sound.

The door opens and Brody, Aria, and Selene barge inside, frantic expressions on their faces. “She’s awake!” Aria cheers as the girls all rush to her bedside.

Brody kisses Ivory’s cheek, “We missed you, Iv.”

“Missed you too,” she answers as Selene squeezes her shoulder.

Aria reaches for her hand, careful not to touch or brush her wrapped arm. “You’ve been promoted to most iconic final girl of all time.”

Ivory raises a brow, “I wasn’t the final girl though, the three of us are all alive.”

Brody adds, “Three go in, three come out.”

They exchange silent looks of understanding before Selene speaks up, “I’m so relieved you’re okay. Seriously, the three of you are making me gray prematurely. I’m spending so much money at the fucking hair salon.”

Brody rolls her eyes, “You can afford it. We pay you more than enough.”

Selene shoots her a warning look before focusing back on Ivory, “If you ever run off and pull some hero shit like that again, I will kill you myself. Got it?”

“Yes, Mom,” Ivory smirks.

Selene swallows uncomfortably.

Ivory

SELENE SHIFTS HER WEIGHT awkwardly and I take the opportunity to really assess the state she’s in.

For starters, she’s wearing a knit sweater with leggings.

Selene would never casually wear leggings.

She’s always a designer suit and heels kind of woman.

I also note the disheveled state of her hair which is down and very frizzy.

Something is seriously wrong. She’s looked unkempt for a couple of weeks now and I chalked it up to stress, but what’s there to really stress about now?

The three of us are fine. And when Aria was in the hospital after her Rogan incident, Selene still looked pristine.

I scrunch my nose at her, “I hate your outfit.”

Everyone laughs and Dallas grins, “Someone’s feeling better.”

I smirk as I focus my attention on Selene who anxiously crosses her arms. “Thank you, asshole.”

Brody raises a brow, “What’s up with you? You’ve been acting so strange lately.”

Aria mock frowns, “You didn’t find new rockstars to manage, did you?”

I place a hand on my chest, “I’ll be so offended if you did. We’re irreplaceable.”

Selene chews her lower lip and nervously looks around the room. “There’s something I’ve been keeping to myself and I was hesitant to share it with you because it means things are going to change.”

My stomach sinks, “Aria was joking, but please say it isn’t true!”

Brody’s face goes pale, “You’re not quitting, right? Please say you aren’t quitting.”

Aria joins in, “I promise we’ll be on our best behavior. Don’t leave us.”

Selene gives us a sad smile before she breathes a low laugh, “I’m not quitting and I did not find new clients even though more often than not you three make me want to repeatedly bang my head into brick walls.”

I sigh in relief, “Thank God.”

Brody asks, “So what is it then?”

Selene licks her lip and takes a deep breath before she blurts out, “I’m pregnant.”

The room goes silent.

“You’re what?” Brody asks, totally neutral.

Selene looks at me and I just blink at her. It sounded a lot like she said she was pregnant, but I’m not sure I was hearing correctly because I’m sure I’m on painkillers right now. She rolls her eyes, “I’m pregnant.” Nope. I heard correctly. Selene is having a fucking baby!

Aria’s jaw drops, “Holy shit.”

Brody squeals and wraps Selene in a bear hug, “Congrats, Selene!”

A smile spreads across my face and I reach for her hand, “Congratulations.”

Aria laughs and joins the hug, “Oh my God! I am going to be an auntie!”

Selene looks like she’s seen a ghost. “I swear to God if you three corrupt my baby and teach it curse words and how to be a menace to society, I will kill you all.”

I laugh, “The only thing I’m teaching that baby is how to dress.” I wink at her, “And maybe how to get under your skin for sport.”

Aria claps her hands together, “I’m going to teach it how to play guitar!”

Brody’s brows pull together, “No, little Stone is gonna be a drummer.”

“What about a bass player?” I add.

Selene waves her hand in the air to silence us. “My child will not be a rockstar. I’ve had enough of it dealing with you three all these years. I don’t need any more rockstars around me.”

Brody crosses her arms over her chest, “Whatever. We’ll see about that. But wait, how far along are you?”

Dallas interrupts, “I’ll leave you girls to your baby conversations. Congratulations, Selene.” He leans down and kisses my forehead before he whispers in my ear, “I’ll be right outside the door.”

I look up at him and nod and watch his back as he rounds the bed and exits the room. As the door closes behind him, it’s like a spell wears off of me and I suddenly realize where I am. I’m in a fucking hospital. I hate hospitals. They remind me too much of my father and what happened to him and I-

“Hello?” Aria’s voice draws my attention.

I take a few rapid breaths, “What?”

Brody asks, “You okay?”

I lay my head back, “I’m fine. I just…I just realized I’m really in the hospital and I can’t handle hospitals. Not after my dad.”

Selene lays a hand on my shoulder, “You’ll be out of here soon. Just focus on your breathing and if it gets to be too much, we’ll have Dallas come back, okay?”

I nod and take a long breath, “You’re gonna be a great mom.”

For the first time in my life, I get to witness a true, glowing smile on Selene’s face. “Thank you.”

Brody repeats her earlier question, “Tell us the details, Mom! How far along are you?”

Selene answers, “I’m about three months right now. Barely showing I just look fat.”

Aria’s eyes light up with excitement, “Do you know the gender?”

Selene shakes her head, “Not yet. The doctor said it may take another couple of weeks.”

I ask, “What do you want it to be?”

Selene raises a brow and my manager returns, “I want it to not be anything like you three, that’s for damn sure.”

We laugh and the room suddenly goes quiet. I swallow and ask, my voice low, “Things are really gonna change now, huh?”

Selene nods, “They are. After I have this baby, I’m not going to be able to focus as much on managing you three. I may need to take on some extra help, or you three may just need to stay out of trouble.”

Brody sits down on the edge of my bed and places a hand on my shin, “Things have been changing a lot lately. The truth is Selene, we aren’t really those girls anymore.

We’re not the girls that drove you insane with stress and gave you a ton of problems to deal with.

I got my shit together and I stopped partying, drinking, smoking, and taking drugs.

I’ve been on the straight and narrow and I got my life on track.

I’ve never been happier in my entire life and I have an amazing fiancé that I still can’t believe is mine.

I have no desire to resort back to my old ways, I just want to keep being this version of myself forever.

I grew up. The things that used to matter don’t matter anymore and all I want now is to spend the rest of my life with my fiancé and maybe have a kid or two. ”

The confession is so raw. The emotions that pour out of her words leave no room to question her own conviction.

Aria speaks up, “I’m in the same boat. I used to care so much about being the best band, winning all the awards, and I totally lost who I was in the process.

None of that shit matters anymore. Did the sex tape ruin my life temporarily?

Yes. But I’m so glad it happened because it made me grow up.

I couldn’t keep going down that path I was on and acting like a wild animal constantly and waking up in places I didn’t remember being at the night before.

It was all fun and games in the moment but it left me feeling so vacant inside.

I’m with B. The only thing I want now is to settle into this life Sly and I created for ourselves and maybe start a family in a couple of years. ”

Everyone looks at me and I swallow before lamenting, “Nearly dying put a lot of things into perspective for me. It made me realize that I could’ve died and the only things I would’ve accomplished were being a famous bass player with a temperamental attitude and an affinity for drugs and alcohol, a model with a fucking eating disorder, and a really shitty actress who didn’t even get to finish starring in her first film.

None of that holds any true substance. I mean don’t get me wrong, without all of it I wouldn’t have you three and you three are easily three of the most important people in my entire life and I wouldn’t trade you for anything.

But where’s the substance? Where’s the depth?

I don’t want those things the way I used to.

I mean, of course, I still love what I do, but it just isn’t my first priority anymore. ”

Selene asks, “What is?”

My lips curve in the corners, “Not taking on every burden imaginable. Letting someone, Dallas, share them with me.” I continue, “Love is my priority now.”

Selene cocks her head to the side, “So what you three are saying is that you’re going to stop causing me heart palpitations and high blood pressure so that I can be a new mom and still continue to manage you?”

Brody laughs, “That is exactly what we’re saying.”