Page 111 of Vegas Daddies

And then there’s Brander. Hard-as-nails, takes-no-shit Brander. Considering his parentless, homeless background, I know he’ll treat the child like royalty, and do everything in his power to protect it from harm. Discipline is one of the things I know he’ll also excel in, though. Tough love is something that children need.

Something Daddy never gaveme.

I trust all three of them to be fair, and to love the baby with everything they have.

But what if something happens? Outlawing through the desert comes with many risks. Yes, it protects, but there’s high risk for it to also destroy.

Nerves filter back into my stomach.

Can I trust Levi?

He lied to me once about hooking up with another woman.

Does that make him capable of lying again?

Did his involvement in the Bratva really begin when he said it did? When Vlad caught him red-handed pressing his wife up against some wall?

What if it’s more complicated than that?

“Thanks,” I say to the nurse as we wrap up the ultrasound.

“Anytime. And make sure to get lots of rest. Stress isn’t good for the baby.”

Just what I fucking need to hear, when tonight I’ve got to get up onto a podium and extend my body against a pole for a crowd of men that are trying to picture me naked.

Sunlight streams down from a cloudless blue sky. I haul my bag over my shoulder and stick my hand up to wave at Brander—he’s been loitering in the parking lot on lookout.

He climbs off his bike and envelops me in a hug.

I press my face into his neck, inhaling the spiced caramel scent of his cologne. The fragrance unties a few knots.

“How was the scan? How was work?” he asks.

“All good.”

He takes a step away to examine my face, iron-gray brows scrunching together. “You don’t have to listen to your father, you know. You’ve been doing that you’re entire life. Besides, you’re twenty-two, not some sixteen-year-old high school dropout with no direction. You have your job.” He pauses. “And us.”

He smooths a piece of stray hair behind my ear. “We’ll look after you, but I understand your sadness. He’s your father, through thick and thin, and he’s a good guy that made a bad mistake.” He chuckles softly. “I know it sucks, but sometimes I wish I had this problem.”

Right. Because he never properly got to meet his father.

Shame heating my cheeks, I drop my face.

Brander lifts my chin back up. “Everything will work out.”

I swear every time this man smiles, his face lights up the world like a starry sky on a clear night.

Looking into his eyes makes things half feel okay again.

That’s when it hits me.

I want the child, genetically, to be Brander’s.

He deserves it the most, and the thought of him and I making something together makes my heart fuzzy.

I feel good.

Until I realize that our plan commences tonight.

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