Page 89 of Allegiance

“Okay, Mom,” she said. “It was good seeing you, Dakota. Bye.”

That hurt his heart.

Dakota knew the truth.

Eve didn’t want him near Violet, her, or the baby she was carrying.

The dead silence was uncomfortable, but he earned every single second of it.

“Anyway,” he said, trying to build back what he’d destroyed three months ago. The kicker was that he’d had it all, and he never knew it. “I looked over, and you were getting deliveries for a baby.”

She shut that down.

“You must be mistaken.”

He expected as much.

Dakota took the advice of his friends and kept showing up. Oh, he wanted to run, but he wanted a second chance more.

“I know you’re pregnant, and I know the baby is mine, Eve. You should have called me.”

Why?

So she could be told it was a mistake? So that she could be told he didn’t want the child?

OR HER?

Pass.

There had been enough of that bullshit her whole life, and she wasn’t moving forward with that. Eve wanted more for her children.

She wanted a good life for them, and Dakota, the man she’d slept with, wasn’t that person.

He was filled with hate, anger, and rage. She needed someone who understood, and wanted to build something. It didn’t have to be perfect, but he’d have to try.

Dakota Rakin was not a ‘try’ kind of guy. He was way too angry over his dead wife.

Because this was her turf, she stood her ground. In the back of her head, she realized that they might need to move on and leave the city.

Which sucked because she’d miss Jinx.

“Actually, Dakota, it’s not yours. It’s mine.”

That said it all.

How could he argue that?

He couldn’t.

“You’re right. It is. I just figured you might need some help putting furniture together, and I’m pretty handy with tools. I’d like to help.”

Honestly, she did need help.

While she could kill, hide, and defend, she didn’t know the difference between a bolt, screw, or wrench. That was not in her wheelhouse.

Only, she needed to know one thing.

“Are you stalking my house?” she asked.

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