I watch as he opens his eyes, stares straight ahead and filters through the truth and what he can actually admit.
“Now, you and Eric will stay with my parents,” he states.
“You’re not staying with us?” I torture us both by asking the question he doesn’t want to answer and the one I already know the answer to.
“Kitten, you saw what I saw, the club needs all capable hands on deck. I want you and Eric back home with me in our little apartment, filling the front of our fridge with pictures of him and sonogram pictures of that little pea inside you. But I won’t do that unless I know it’s safe, and knowing means seeing, it means doing it myself with my own hands and mind.”
“I get it,” I say softly as he turns his gaze and assesses my features to see if my words are truthful. “I don’t like it,” I add. “But I get it and I’ll go along with whatever you think is right for now but you have to promise me something.”
“Anything,” he replies quickly.
“You’ll stay safe. You’ll think before you act and when you feel like jumping into the line of fire, remember me and our babies and take two steps back. Bones isn’t going along for the ride; he won’t be there to step in front of a bullet, he’s not here to make sure our little family stays intact. It’s all on us now.”
“I promise you,” he says, throwing an arm around me and pulling me closer to him. “You’re pretty fond of your Tiger aren’t you, Kitten?”
I shake my head as I clutch his leather jacket with my fingers.
“Fond doesn’t even begin to describe it,” I admit. “I love you, Riggs. I finally understand what you went through after the shooting. When I first woke up and I looked into your eyes I couldn’t explain what I saw reflected at me, but after sitting in that waiting room tonight with you and feeling helpless as we watched our friends and family being brought in with all those injuries, I tried to imagine how you felt. I put myself in your shoes and I don’t think I could do it. I couldn’t sit beside you and beg God to let me have you. I couldn’t look at Eric and wonder how I’d raise him without you. I need you, Riggs, I need you to keep me believing that dreams come true because no dream is worth having if you’re not in them,” I whisper.
He moves his hands up to my face and drags my mouth down to his, kissing me softly at first before his lips and tongue turn into a frenzy of desperation.
“Luckiest guy in the world,” he mutters against my mouth. “I love you, Lauren Bianci,” he adds, pulling back his mouth to stare at me as I push my black-rimmed glasses onto the bridge of my nose. A smile spreads across his face and he winks at me. “I’m so fucking glad they chose me to kidnap mama Bianci.”
I roll my eyes and try not to laugh as he wraps his arms around my waist.
“Hey,” he says, tipping my chin with his index finger. “I will be fine and you know what we’re doing as soon as this whole thing is over?”
“Well you can’t say make a baby,” I tease.
“You’re going to marry me,” he says confidently.
“Oh yeah? You’re going to make an honest woman out of me?”
“Yeah, I am,” he agrees, then furrows his brow.
“What is it?”
“We can’t be Mr. and Mrs. Tiger,” he mutters, actually looking scorned.
“No, babe, we can’t. It would be Montgomery,” I say, holding back the chuckle as I lift the knit beanie from his head and run my fingers through his hair. “Is that such a bad thing?”
He glances out the window as the limo pulls up in front of the mini mansion.
“I guess not,” he murmurs. “Let’s go see our boy.”
The driver opens the door and Riggs slides out of the limo first, holding out his hand for me and together we walk to the front door. He raps his knuckles against the large oak door and rings the bell like an annoying child, laughing to himself as his mother calls from somewhere in the house that she’s coming.
I glance over at him, studying his strong profile and while it’s still a mystery as to why he is not wearing a suit and tie, walking in his father’s shoes instead of the leather boots of a Satan’s Knight, I wouldn’t change a thing about the colorful man who I’m in love with. He’s eccentric as the day is long but he’s got tons of heart.
The door opens and I watch Riggs’ eyes widen in shock before the laugh escapes his mouth and I let my eyes travel the path of his and my mouth drops open.
Lenore is standing at the door with a naked Eric on her hip, spaghetti in her hair and tomato sauce splattered across her white silk shirt. My baby grins widely, displaying his top tooth as he snuggles against his grandma. I extend my hands, expecting Lenore to throw Eric into them like he’s a fireball but instead she wraps her arms tightly around him and laughs.