Page 121 of Viper

Not long after, they were in the meeting room, her sat on his lap while the others settled themselves on the chairs gathering around the table. “I’ll get straight down to it. Ella’s pregnant.”

“She’s what?” spluttered Hustle, shocked.

His face going slack, Dice straightened in his chair. “No way.” He exchanged glances with the others, who were all equally stunned. “This is … I mean, it’s good, butwhoa.”

“Whoa works,” mumbled Ella, still a little dazed.

Ghost smiled, rubbing his hands. “Well, congratulations.”

The rest of the club passed on the same sentiment.

Viper nodded his thanks. “We don’t know how long the pregnancy will go on for—the lengths differ for archangels and demons. We think Ella’s roughly three weeks along, so that gives us something like four or five months before the baby is here.”

Raising his hand, Darko bit his lip. “I hate to be the voice of doom and gloom—”

“No, you don’t,” argued Jester. “You love that shit.”

“—but you know what the Uppers will do if they find out, right?”

“We’ve always been prepared for them to ‘visit’,” Viper reminded Darko. “We’ll be ready if and when they do. They will not touch Ella or our child.”

“No, they damn well won’t,” agreed Razor. “Every person in our club will fight to keep them safe. If the Uppers do come here, they won’t know what hit ’em.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Sitting in the clinic’s waiting area the following day, Viper idly scanned the room. It was fairly basic with its white walls, generic framed pictures, rows of padded seats, informational posters, and wall-mounted TV.

It was apparently typical of the doctor to hold private ultrasound scans during out-of-clinic hours. Which explained why the receptionist desk was unattended.

The only people there were him, Ella, Dice, and Mia. The VP would guard the door while the rest of them went inside for the scan. Mia had nagged at Ella to allow her to attend the ultrasound, and she’d eventually caved.

Ella had worked a glamor spell on him and Dice, altering their appearance to conceal their identities. They didn’t want word of the pregnancy to get out before they were ready to share it.

She turned to him, worrying her lower lip. “I just telepathically reached out to the baby. They’re nervous. Why would they be? Is something wrong?”

“They’re nervous because you’re nervous. They’ll respond to your emotional state.”

Her face fell. “Now I feel bad.”

“Don’t.” To distract her, Viper splayed his hand on Ella’s thigh as he asked, “Where and how do you want to break thenews of the pregnancy to your family and Luka?” They’d decided to do it tomorrow, but they hadn’t gone into specifics yet.

Grimacing, she replied, “At my apartment would be best. We want to keep the pregnancy on the downlow, so a public place is out,—the risk of them using their indoor voices is minimal. And we can’t exactly take them to the clubhouse. I suppose I could invite them for dinner and just blurt it all out there and then; tell them all at once.”

Sitting on her other side, an eavesdropping Mia said, “That’ll work. I don’t think you should tell them ahead of time that Viper will be there, though. They’ll arrive all worked up. That won’t help.”

Dice looked at Ella. “Do you think your family or anchor will want you to get rid of the baby?” he asked, a deceptive casualness in his voice.

“No,” she replied without missing a beat. “But they’ll be pissed that I kept my relationship with Viper from them.”

“They’ll be equally pissed at me,” Viper pointed out, “so at least we can shoulder their reactions together.”

Ella pressed her lips together. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but say as little as possible to them.”

He felt his mouth kick up. “Just smile and look pretty?”

“The more you remind them that you’re there, the more annoyed they’ll feel.”

“I’ll let you do the majority of the talking. But if they step out of line, I will speak up. They don’t get to yell or give you a hard time.” Viper draped his arm over the back of her chair. “I doubt they tell you every little thing that happens in their lives. Just keep that fresh in your mind.”

---