Page 95 of The First Cut

“Maybe in the kitchen. Tracey made cookies and Lola said the baby liked them.”

“The baby, huh?”

Millie grins before looking away.

We head to the kitchen, but before we get there, Sever and Mud pass us.

Mud looks over. “You looking for Lola?”

“Yeah, you seen her?”

Mud waves for us to follow him into the main part of the clubhouse. I pause near the pool table when I spot her, making Millie run into my back.

“Sorry,” she whispers, but I don’t answer. My eyes are only for my woman who is curled up, fast asleep, in the middle of one of the sofas with a blanket tucked around her. Her feet are resting on Byte’s thigh as he works at decoding the ledger on his laptop. Her head is lying on Gunther’s shoulder.

“She was complaining that her back hurt, so Byte made her sit down. She went out like a light after that.” Mud chuckles.

“She’s okay, right?” Millie questions.

“Yeah, she’s just tired. She forgets she’s baking a whole-ass human. How about we let her sleep for a bit and check out the house ourselves?”

Millie nods, so I turn to Mud and Sever. “Let Byte and Gunther know where we are in case she wakes up.”

“Will do, Prez.”

I lead Millie outside and slow my pace so I can walk beside her. “I wanted to talk to you about something anyway.” She freezes for a second until I nudge her to continue. “Nothing bad, Millie. I just didn’t figure it out until Lola explained it to me. Turns out I’m a dipshit sometimes.”

She cracks up and laughs.

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. Just remember this for when you want to start dating: Boys are dumb, so never throw yourself at one. Throw rocks at them instead.”

“Maybe we should leave the dating advice to Lola,” she states quietly.

“Maybe you should just leave dating to the other kids.”

She rolls her eyes at me but doesn’t push it, so I let it go. I’ve got a few more years yet before I have to think about it. Girls don’t date until they’re in their twenties, right?

“What I’m trying to say, badly, is that your mom loved you so fucking much. I went to see her before she died, and she told me how much of a great fucking kid you are. She felt blessed she had you for as long as she did and heartbroken she had to leave you. You’ve gotta know, if there was anything she could have done, she’d have stayed. You were her whole world and, like she pointed out, the most amazing gift I’d ever receive.” I run my hand through my hair. “I’m so fucking sorry you lost her, Millie. But I’m glad you’re here.”

She walks beside me in silence. I try to think of something else to say, but I’m not the guy who gives fucking pep talks. Fuck, I should have kept my mouth shut.

I open my mouth to say something—fucking anything—when I feel Millie’s hand slip into mine. I snap my mouth closed as I blink and look down at our joined hands. She keeps her eyes forward, her steps never faltering, but I can see her tense as she waits for my reaction.

I do the only thing I can. I close my hand around hers and don’t let go.

We walk in silence to the house, where Chris stands outside waiting for us. Millie lets go of my hand when she sees him and tucks it in her pocket, making me want to knock the asshole out.

“Hannibal, good to see you.” He holds out his hand, but I ignore it. After holding Millie’s hand, I don’t want to touch his.

“Meek said you were done,” I grunt.

His smile slips for a minute before he pushes on. “Yeah. If you want to take a look around and let me know if you have any issues, I’ll wait out here.”

“You do that.” I grab the handle, shove the door open, and stand aside so Millie can walk in.

“Wow.”

I stand behind her, taking it all in.