Page 43 of Broken Chains

Lily looked up and truly checked out the table, her eyes landing on me. “Who are you?”

“Lil, this is Oliver, and I’m pretty sure you’re trying to steal his kid,” Thomas said, earning him another smack.

I’d never felt so scrutinized as she looked me over, finally nodded, and announced she was still stealing the baby. I was speechless as she and Eve headed for the kitchen.

“Sorry, man. I don’t even know what to say,” Thomas apologized. “But, welcome to my insanity. That was my beautiful mate, Lily,” he said proudly.

Zach waved Kate over and placed his order like everything was perfectly normal. The only thing keeping me in that seat was knowing that Peyton was on the other side of those doors, and there was no one in this world I trusted more with my daughter.

Peyton

Chapter 15

The lunch madness had largely passed, and I took a few minutes to head to the small kitchen in the back of the diner to begin prepping for dinner the next night. I had a full schedule set up for the weekend, but all I could think about was whether Eve was okay or not. I hadn’t even had a free second to call and check on her.

The door flew open and I glanced over my shoulder long enough to see Lily walk in.

“Hey, look who I found with some sexy man out front,” Lily said.

I turned around and saw Evie in her arms. I squealed. “Give me my baby,” I told Lily. I checked her for fever and found none. She was cool as a cucumber and I had to sit down from the overwhelming relief. I had been so worried about her.

I kissed her sweet cheeks and stroked her curls as she cooed happily in my arms. I was on the verge of tears as my fears and worries about her illness released.

“Hey, it’s okay,” Lily said, hugging us both. “She’s going to be fine.”

I wiped a stray tear from my cheek. “I know. It was just so hard seeing her like that, struggling to breathe and there was nothing we could do. I didn’t realize how much it weighed on me ‘til just now, seeing her happy and well.”

Lily rubbed my back. “She really is beautiful.”

“Yes, she is,” I agreed. “Aren’t you a pretty girl?”

“And she has one hot, sexy daddy. Holy shit, girl, how did you fail to mention that?”

I laughed. “He’s definitely not hard on the eyes,” I admitted. “Did you meet him?”

“Not really. I just said hi and stole the baby. Wyatt, Thomas, and Zach have him pinned in a booth talking.”

“What? Dad’s here?”

“Yup. Afraid so, girly. I told you weeks ago when you finally confessed they were moving in with you to just bring them all over and introduce them to the family.”

I pouted. “Lily, he doesn’t even want me. Oliver made it very clear we are not and will never be mates.”

“He said that?”

“Yes, which is why I haven’t brought him around much, because it’s just kind of embarrassing and hard right now.”

“It’s not embarrassing, and you should bring him around. I’ll be happy to give him a piece of my mind,” Lily offered.

“Stay out of it, please. It’s my mess, my life. But for now, he’s still staying at the house at least, so that gives me hope,” I confessed.

“Mating sucks.”

“It really does,” I said.

We sat and chatted for a few minutes before I worked up the nerve to walk back out. The way Oliver’s face lit up when he saw me holding Eve told me things were going to work out. He just needed time.

I knew he’d had a rough life growing up, and that taking care of three small boys when he was just a kid himself couldn’t have been easy, but there was so much more good in him, than he saw. Sometimes I wished he could truly see himself the way I saw him.

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