Page 74 of Gunner

Penny jerks her head up, huge eyes staring straight at me. “You know it’s a girl?”

“Yes. We could see it on the ultrasound.”

“Why don’t you know, mom?”

“Because, sweetheart, you have to be further along to find out. I need at least another two months before it’s going to be possible, but your daddy and I want it to be a surprise. Some people wait to find out and others want to know.”

“I want to know!”

Lark laughs. “You’ll know in seven months. Either way, you’re going to be the best big sister.”

Lark picks Penny up and walks her to her car. Mine is parked right beside them. The prospects are standing at the compound gates, ready to let us out. They’re manual gates, but Tyrant likes having them out there keeping watch at the outside door and over all the bikes and cars.

Lark gets Penny in her booster seat in the back, and I wave at them both as I slip into the front seat of mine. It’s been a beautiful summer and even a great fall, but winter is slowly creeping in. They’re mild here, but never as mild as it was in Italy.

I think about my father all the way home. He hasn’t given up his empire and I’m not sure if he ever will, but two months ago he flew to Florida. We joined him for two weeks. Once helanded, he took care to pretty much disguise himself and Ronan made sure that we also flew under the radar. My father is still worried about attracting attention to me. He’ll always be worried about my safety. And the one time he let up on security because I asked him to, I was kidnapped and that’s always going to haunt him.

I still miss Italy and my papa very much, but I can’t wish things were different.

I wouldn’t have Ronan if they had been, and I wouldn’t have the little life growing inside of me now.

What other people think of as crazy is pretty much our version of normal. You can’t grow up like we did and not have your quirks.

***

I pull up in front of the house, parking on the street.

Ronan installed all new cameras in and around the house as soon as he moved in, which was literally the same day I didn’t get on that plane with my father. Like I said… quirks. For us, it works. He was at the clubhouse a good portion of the time and I was teaching up until the summer, so we weren’t always together and that probably had a good deal to do with how we made it work. We were able to acclimate to each other slowly, even though we’d been pushed into the deep end pretty much right away.

I did give my resignation at the school. I thought about taking a year of maternity leave, but I want to be there for our daughter and any other children we have. I don’t want to rush going straight back to work. I’m lucky enough that I have the luxury of doing that while others do not, and I’ll never take asecond of it for granted. My father put a large amount of money into my bank account when I came here. The house is paid for and so is my car. Ronan also has a big chunk of my father’s money, as it turns out. Does it bother me that the money is ill gotten? Yes. It does. It always has. I guess I made my peace with it the same way I don’t like what my father does, but I love him. I always spent as little as I could to live and used most of my teaching money instead of touching that account.

I have my own savings now, and one day, I hope to be able to donate most of that money. I’ll do the same with anything my father ever gives me. I’ll make sure it all goes back to charity. It will never heal the pain that my father has caused. I know one won’t cancel out the other. I just can’t think of a better use for it.

My father was astonished to find out about the pregnancy, and if I’m being honest, he was afraid, like he was afraid for me when I was born. I was his greatest treasure, along with my mom. He said he was glad that I’m over here, living under this identity. I might have to be Haley Black, but on the inside, I’ll always be Diletta Cosmo. I’m away from Italy and that life now. I want my children to know their grandfather, and I’ll never lie to them when they’re old enough to understand, but I’m also relieved that they can grow up here in a small city, where there’s peace and love and innocence, for as long as I can give it to them.

The house is quiet when I step inside. I lock the door, take one step and immediately freeze as a black gloved hand grasps my shoulder. A dark figure looms in front of me, clad entirely in black, wearing a black hood over his face. The man is a mountain of granite muscle. I wasn’t expecting this, but it’s not the first time Ronan has greeted me this way when I’ve come home. He knows how much I love it.

My jeans are already soaked. I’m a bundle of nerves, all needy, screaming out for his touch.

He left the clubhouse ten minutes before I did, on his bike, and I pretty much knew that he’d have something exciting waiting for me when I arrived home.

“Ooh, I’m so defenseless, Mr. Masked Man. So unable to kick your ass and fight back. You better just hurry up and ravish me. I can hardly stand the waiting. I mean… I hope I can outrun you.”

He rips the hood off and tilts his head back, his great big laugh filling up the tiny living room. His hand shoots past me to flick on the light.

“Christ, Dil. That’s hardly convincing roleplay.”

“Put the hood back on,” I’m sure it’s clear from my massive smile just how much I love seeing his face and hearing the sound of his laughter. “That’s hardly convincing either.”

“But how will I kiss you breathless with it on?”

“That is a fair point…”

He chuckles, never losing his grin. I feel absurdly proud of putting that smile on his face. Ronan is a good man beneath the hard exterior. We’ve been working on showing more people that part of him.

Ronan scoops me and up carries me to our bedroom. In an instant, he has my leather jacket unzipped, my tank top peeled off, my bra undone, and then he does a number on my boots and jeans. He sits down on the bed, hugging my legs with his arms, his face right near my lace clad pussy.

“I’m going to devour my favorite meal in the whole world. I waited all night for this.”

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