Page 132 of The Heir

"Anytime, lass." His eyes glint as he looks at me. "No disrespect, but I hope to never see you again. At least, not under these circumstances," he says with a chuckle, letting go of my hand and stepping back to Micah's side, who's shaking King's hand and murmuring something to him about flying in to visit us next week.

King's eyes slide back to mine, and I see a mountain of worry and stress is absent from his features.

Taking King's hand, he leads me out of Buckhead quarters and back the way we came, into the rest of our lives. And when we get home, I enjoy the best plate of fettuccini alfredo I've ever had. My very first pregnancy craving.

And all is well.

Chapter thirty-five

Epilogue

Reaching out a hand, I stroke my pen down the paper as the early morning breeze flutters the curtains and causes the piece I'm working on to flutter too. I eye the design for the tenth time, making sure it's perfect. I refuse to tell Isobel that I can't get a piece of the miniature house right that she'd asked me to build for Mariah, our one month old daughter.

It's a two story stone house, like ours, just a smaller version, with pink shutters, a black roof, a fully functioning living room, and she wants it attached to our house so when Mariah is older she can go to her house at any time of the year. This is going to be one spoiled child. A couple months ago, Isobel took my idea for a garden and asked if I could build Mariah a tiny house to go next to it.

OfcourseI can.

I can give my love whatever she wants.

A movement in my peripheral catches my eye. My head turns, glancing out the door of Mariah's nursery, to see Isobel in our bed laying on her side next to her, holding a soft lovie and stroking it gently down her face. When Mariah smiles and jerks, my heart squeezes with happiness. To think just a year and a half ago I'd met her for the first time.

Never in my wildest dreams did I think my life would look so full.

"King?" Isobel calls in a soft voice. "Honey, we have to go!"

Putting the paper to the side, I walk into our bedroom and sit on the edge of the bed, admiring her. She's wearing a beautiful strapless blue maxi-dress and her hair is natural, falling in curls and waves down her breasts and arms. Arousal rises swift and hard, causing my groin to tighten and my blood to race with need; however, we have another two weeks to go before I can make love to her.

"You look gorgeous, love," I compliment, bending down to give her a kiss on her forehead. Leaning down further, I press my lips to Mariah's cheek, taking in her new baby smell. "Come here, sweet thing. You're pretty, too," I coo to Mariah, pulling her gently into my arms and cradling her to my chest.

Just having been fed, she yawns, her tiny body stretching hard between my two hands. She nuzzles into my neck, and her light gray eyes blink twice before shutting. I rub her back in soothing circles, keeping my voice low. "I'll get her in the seat, if you can grab Teresa's gift?"

Isobel smiles. "Do you think she'll like it?"

Chuckling, I rise off the bed and hold my hand out, helping her up. "If she doesn't like it then tough luck because there's no plan b."

"Plan b?" Isobel giggles. "Think they know what that is?" She bends, grabbing the flat, wrapped gift off the nightstand and then tucking herself under my arm as we walk out of our bedroom.

"You be careful before we forget what it is, too," I warn her in a low voice, sneaking my hand down to grab her ass.

She shoots me a wary look, but if only she knew how tempted I was to take her right this second so she could become pregnant again.

We split at the end of the stairs, me, heading to the mudroom where we store Mariah's stroller and carseat, and her, going towards the kitchen to grab the deviled eggs she'd made for Teresa's baby shower. She'd found out she was pregnant not even a month after Isobel was abducted by her father.

An hour an a half later, we make our way through Teresa and Brody's front door of the exquisitely decorated penthouse, handing our coats to their butler. I take Mariah out of the seat, and put it in their mudroom, out of the way, before rejoining Isobel who is handing off her tray of eggs to Alice, my sister's maid.

"Straight in the refrigerator, please Alice," Isobel says, giving the blonde woman a smile.

We walk through the hallway, following the chatter and noise of our family. Mariah wiggles in my arms, finally waking up. Rounding the corner into the two story living space, my smile broadens at the plethora of blue and white balloons, and the table laden down with gifts wrapped in blue and green paper.

And the fancy, eight-foot diaper cake smack dab in the middle, courtesy of Donna, who did the same thing for us at our baby shower.

Teresa was overjoyed for a boy.

Everyone's here. Teresa and Brody, Donna, my father and mother. My eyes search through the sea of people, not seeing Mason or Melody. I frown, bending down to accept a kiss from my mother who's trying to take Mariah from my arms. But I'm tense, my eyes scanning the room, looking past the faces of the various guests who are milling around andtalking.

"Henny,"Madre snaps. "Let me have her, please."

Turning my head, I see my mother standing in front of me, looking at me with a furious expression. My brows rise and I fight against the incredibly uncomfortable feeling of irritation that's becoming more familiar with every family get together. "Where's Mason?" I ask, handing Mariah to her, intending to do a deep dive of my sister's apartment.

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