Page 106 of The Deals We Make

“Don’t get mad, but I heard about a problem they were having. Just wanted to make sure it wasn’t you.”

“Be kinda funny if I were, though,” she says.

I shake my head. “No. It would not.”

“As it stands, the stalker situation has made me realize I don’t need to take the same kinds of risks anymore.” Calista laughs. “It’s probably time I hung up my hacking habits.”

“Maybe we just make sure we have such a fucking good life you don’t miss it.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” Calista says. “This could be the most successful merger I ever negotiated.”

I smooth my hand over her hair. “You’re giving up a lot for me.”

“I could let you think that. But the truth is, I’m excited at the potential of who I could be if I do this. I need to know I face a life here that balances our relationship with the work I want to pursue and who I am as a person. I might need to see what not being a workaholic looks like.”

And that actually makes me feel better about the whole thing. “That’s healthy. Glad you’re staying for more reasons than me. Although, I’m the biggest reason, right?”

She glances briefly in the vicinity of my cock. “Definitely.”

Her eyes on me like that make my cock sit up and take notice, but there’s one last thing I need to say. “I need a promise from you, Cal.”

“Anything.”

“What we went through? I’m not saying we could have avoided it by talking about it, because I know threats were made to each of our lives. But we need to not let misunderstandings get in our way again. I want us to promise that we’ll always talk to each other. No matter how hard the conversation.”

Calista puts her hand on my cheek. “I promise you, I’ll never run again. And I promise I’ll always talk to you. Even if you’re the reason I’m mad.”

Her smile warms me from the inside. “I promise you the same. I’ll always talk to you first. I’ll never walk out of a conversation, and I’ll try not to assume I understand your reasoning before acting.”

“Trynot to assume?”

My smile matches hers. “I’m a work in progress, Cal. I’m bound to fuck up. But I trust you to call me on it if I do. It’s in my nature to want to take over and to solve.”

She steps up onto her toes and kisses me. I wrap my arms around her and hold her close as a light flurry of snow swirls around us.

Happiness flows unbounded in my veins.

And it’s all because of her.

My phone rings and it’s Switch. “He’s here, brother.”

“This could be the best fucking day of my life,” I say to Calista. “Thank you.”

“Oh, and yes, I didn’t say it yet, but love you too.”

Calista cups my cheeks and kisses me until my knees are weak and I wish we were anywhere other than a frigid hospital courtyard.

We hurry back to the waiting area where Spark is standing unashamedly with the track marks of tears down his face and a baby swaddled in a blanket in his arms.

“Vex,” Spark says. “Quick. Meet Archer Draymond Hyatt.”

The little man has a screwed-up wrinkly face, and he’s making it known to everyone around us that he wasn’t a fan of the whole “sliding out of the birth canal” thing.

“Hey, sweetheart,” Calista says softly to Archer, and his face softens a little.

“How’s Iris?” I ask as the little guy spreads his tiny fingers over my thumb.

He shakes his head and sighs. “Little chick has the strength of a fucking lion. Never loved her more than seeing her bring Archer into the world. She’s just taking a minute while I brought him out here. Gotta go back,” he says. When he gets to the door, he turns. “Thanks, all of you, for sticking around.” His voice is ripe with emotions that are hard to name, and we all feel them.