Page 35 of Claim Me Forever

“Will you be back tomorrow?”

“I will.” Fate gives me a tight hug that makes my eyes water.

I hate leaving her. She has been staying with her second mom, Gina. Her birth mother died a year ago, but I could tell Gina was overwhelmed with her own kids and that Fate was often left out. Her father is now in jail, and Ace said he’d be staying there.

“You okay?” Winter comes to stand next to me, still cradling the baby in her arms.

“Yeah.” It’s a mix of emotions. You want to be happy because you should be, but there is still a lot of sadness that is lingering here. “You try to see Mother?”

“Not today.” Winter doesn’t ask if I did.

Not after the first and only time I tried to visit her. She had some very vile things to say to me. Not to Winter, but me. That I’d ruined her life and stolen the only thing she ever had. My father. Which I sure as hell didn’t understand. That man was cruel to me. He treated me the worst out of all of them combined. I mean, he literally scarred me for life.

“I’m done with her.”

“As you should be,” Winter says without hesitation. “I’m glad. They’re not our family anymore.” I nod in agreement. They never really were.

I smile when two arms wrap around me from behind. “You ready, babe?”

"Yeah.” I turn in Ace’s arms and give him a quick kiss, feeling something in his coat.

“Let me go say hi to Fate. I promised her I would.”

“What’s in your coat pocket?” I ask before I let him go. A sheepish expression crosses his face. “Go on.” I laugh, knowing that he's carrying a stuffed animal for Fate. I watch him go over to her. He drops down to be level with her. Fate throws herself at him. He wraps her in a hug. A wave of emotion fills me, seeing their reaction to each other. It’s the most adorable thing I’ve ever laid eyes upon.

“I think I found us a place,” Ace says on the drive back to our place.

“What?”

“I wanted to find us somewhere to live for the next year. Until we can build a house of our own.”

“Wait.” I laugh. “I need to catch up here.”

"We can't continue living over the bar."

“It doesn’t bother me.”

“It does me. I found a place close to my brother. It will work until we can build.”

“Build?”

“Yeah, build. My brother owns a substantial amount of land. He and I already found the perfect spot. I’ll take you tomorrow to see it. We have even mapped out the road that will connect the houses.”

“That’s what you were up to today?” I reach over, putting my hand on his thigh. This man is always ten steps ahead. I’m not surprised in the least. He shrugs like it’s no big deal. “Was that before you went and bought a teddy bear to smuggle in?" I tease.

“She likes them.” Ace smirks. “She really likes it when she thinks we’re doing something sneaky. We’ll have to keep an eye on her.”

“Yeah, a close one,” I agree.

“Libby—”

“Hmm?”

“What did I say about you not asking or telling me things because you're unsure?” I chew on my bottom lip.

“Fate?”

“Yeah, Fate. Fate is kind of our thing.”

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