“Do you want me to go with you?” I asked.
She thought for a moment, then shook her head. “Not now, not the first time. I wanna make sure by myself.”
I wanted to overrule her. Wanted to say no, but I understood. I parted her hair and kissed her on the top of her head. “Whatever you want, baby girl.”
I meant it, too. I’d give her the entire world if I could. And I’d go through a million men just to do it.
“I need to get up, baby. Need to get make a few calls.”
“Greyson?” she asked.
“Among other people.” Time was coming, those bastards were going to pay, but I needed to make sure we were clear of the f*ck
ing blast.
Kathryn shifted against me and grabbed a blanket, pulling it around her. “You call whoever you need to. I’m exhausted.”
She snuggled against my pillow and looked up at me, her eyes dreamy. She was what I really wanted to be doing. Holding her, cuddling her against my skin.
But duty called and I needed to make sure that everything was taken care of.
Chapter Twenty
Kathryn
I swallowed hard and fidgeted in the waiting room. All these women, all of them pregnant, sitting around with their hands on their bellies. It was enough to make me want to cry.
I fought so hard not to get pregnant, but now that I thought I was, I knew it was precious. Something I had to protect at all costs. I thought about Janson, about what he was doing right now. Was his father being taken away? Was there another fight? Would he come home?
These were all questions I was going to have to ask for the rest of my damn life. I knew it was the consequence of loving a man like him, but I didn’t care. I would take it. I’d already known that life. I’d already known the truth of it. At least with Janson he wouldn’t be hiding things from me. He wouldn’t be lying to my face.
It was the only way I’d stay in this forsaken family. I wanted better for us. Better for my children. I didn’t want to be my mother.
I knew that I wanted this baby. Wanted Janson by my side. He promised he would take care of me. He promised that everything would be alright.
“The doctor will see you now,” a nurse said. I stood up numbly and followed her back.
After a couple of tests and a physical exam, the doctor told me what I needed to hear. I sat there on the bench and swallowed hard, my heart drumming inside my chest.
“Between the testing and your general exam, I’d say that you are pregnant and healthy,” she confirmed as she pushed back away from the exam table and took off her gloves. “I’ll leave you to get dressed.”
I did. I was in a hurry to get out of there, in a hurry to tell everyone. Janson, Joanna, Mom, even Greyson. Tell them the news.
I wanted everything to be perfect. It had to be.
I walked out of that office and dialed Janson. Straight to voicemail. So instead I hit Joanna’s number. “Jo?”
“Hey, hon. What’s up?”
“Guess who gets to be the aunt this time?” I said, a smile on my face as I hopped in the car Janson supplied for me. The driver started back towards our place.
Ours. It was our home now.
“Oh my god. Really?” she asked the excitement in her voice genuine. “Are you sure you are ready to have this little sleep?” She chuckled.
“Yes, I’m sure. It’ll be worth it,” I said.
“It really is.”
“Will you be there to help me?” I asked.
“Every step of the way. Janson will, too, I’m sure of it,” Joanna reassured me.
“I can’t reach him.” I was worried about him. I was always worried about him.
“I was told that probably would happen. For both of them. It’s today,” she said.
I sucked in a breath. He’d said soon, but I didn’t realize soon meant now.
Janson
“So we just go to our jobs, we sit there, and we work like nothing is happening?” I asked. Greyson gave me the exact instructions last night for this morning.
“Yeah. We do that shit just like it’s important. Just like we always do,” Greyson reassured me.
“Well, not always.” I grinned. We spent more time out of the office than in, but it wasn’t abnormal for us to be at work.
Right where we would be when the raid was conducted. It would look like we had no idea about what was happening. Like we had no clue what was going on.
So in the morning, when I checked my phone and I saw a text from my father requesting a meeting, I grinned.
I might just be there to see him get his ass dragged away.
I walked up to his office at noon and sat in my chair, waiting. My father was probably going to chew my ass out, but I didn’t give a shit. Not one.