Page 126 of Thorns of Deceit

“She might,” I protested weakly, padding over to the cradle Aiden had delivered yesterday. I gently laid him in it, swaddled him in a blanket, then took a seat next to him.

“You’re a natural at this,” Tristan remarked, causing me to scoff.

“I don’t think so, but I’m learning.” I glanced at the sweet, plump face and felt my heart swell. “It’s not hard to love him, though.”

He let out a soft chuckle. “Call me when he’s a teenager.”

I smiled. “Gosh, I know. My friends and I were such trouble as teenagers.”

“I bet I have you beat in that department,” he retorted wryly, drawing my attention to him. “It’s the reason I’m here. I owe Aiden big-time.”

My eyebrows rose, but I didn’t question him. If he wanted to tell me, he would.

When he didn’t elaborate, I glanced at my phone, but strangely our girls’ group chat was as silent as my mom. It made me worried for Reina and Phoenix. Isla and Athena were in good hands, but the Romero sisters’ whereabouts were still a mystery, and I worried whether the Leone brothers would make or break them. Amon had already broken Reina’s heart once. Would he come through this time? If he did, I wasn’t sure where that left his brother, Dante, or Phoenix for that matter.

The door to the cabin opened, a gust of cold air sweeping in, and I quickly blocked the cradle with my body.

“Ah, mama bear in full mode,” was Aiden’s greeting as he shut the door behind him. “How is he?”

I huffed in mock-annoyance. “Shouldn’t you ask how I am first?”

He closed the distance between us in five strides and pressed a kiss on my lips. “How is my wife today?”

“Great,” I murmured, smiling against his mouth.

“Well, I know when I’m the third—or in this case, fourth—wheel.” Tristan cleared his throat, getting to his feet. “I’ll give you another day to decide who I should register as the parents, although the answer is plain to see.”

When he disappeared, Aiden said, “You haven’t talked to your mom yet?”

I shook my head. “Every time I go to her, she’s either asleep or silent. I hate upsetting her after she’s been through so much.”

He nodded in understanding. “I’ll have to let Tristan go. He has patients waiting in France, and I’ve been selfish in keeping him here. I just hoped we could settle it before he left.”

I glanced at the baby, sound asleep. Strangely, he didn’t feel like my brother, but he did feel like my blood. Maybe he made the motherly instincts in me flare, or maybe my hormones were at work here. It didn’t matter, because I’d protect him with my life, just as I would this baby growing inside me.

Aiden’s hand came to rest on my lower belly. “How are you feeling?”

“Good. No nausea or sickness.”

“Remarkable.”

I scoffed. “That’s what Tristan said too.”

Aiden stiffened. “Did he examine you?”

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. “Don’t go all macho shit on me. No, he didn’t examine me. Although, if you must know, there’s a fifty-fifty chance the doctor who delivers our baby will be male.”

“A dead male,” he grumbled.

I patted his chest.

“It just came up in conversation,” I said, heading for the deck down below. “Why don’t I go check on Mom and you watch our baby boy?”

I froze mid-step and glanced over my shoulder in time to see Aiden grinning widely at me. “Like I said, mama bear.”

I found my mother lying on the couch, a linen blanket draped over her lap, her eyes sunken with fatigue. Her skin had regained some color, the bruises fading into pale yellow patches, but the light in her eyes was dimmer than ever.

I approached slowly, glancing at the tray of untouched food on the table next to her.