Page 16 of Riot

But what if she didn’t? What ifhe’sfound a way to take her?

Breathe, Ivy.

I pull on my robe over the towel and head through the apartment in search of my child.

She’ll be fine.

Breathe.

I hear voices as I approach the kitchen, and my panic unfurls.

Riot is standing at the counter with my daughter in his arms, like she’s always belonged there. Like she’s a piece of him.

Despite how hollow I feel, my heart surges. It’s a snapshot of what could have been if I’d made better decisions. If I hadn’t saddled my child with an animal for her father.

In another life maybe.

“What I’m getting is being pregnant is like having a nine-month hangover without any of the fun.”

“It’s worse than that.” Maylie sits at the table, her eyes closed as she sucks air through her nose. “At least if you keep drinking, you forget about the hangover.”

“You see how much your mum had to go through to make you?” Riot says in a silly voice to my daughter, and the ice around my heart thaws a little more.

“Do you make a habit of stealing people’s babies?” I step into the room fully, getting that dimpled smile from him, and the bands around my ribs loosen enough for my lungs to inflate.

My daughter’s fine and safe in the arms of a man I know would die to keep her safe.

“Only the ones that are fuckin’ cute as hell.”

“Language,” I chastise. “Her first word isn’t going to be a curse.”

Maylie snorts. Even though she’s pale, she gives me a smile that cuts through my bone-deep sadness. I’m loved. My daughter is loved. That’s what matters, right?

“I keep telling him and Mace to watch their mouths,” she says, “but they don’t listen.”

There’s a plate of half-eaten toast in front of her, like she’d tried to get food inside her and gave up.

Riot pins me with a look that lingers just a fraction too long, and there’s a flicker of heat in his eyes. Then it splutters like a dying candle and doubt creeps in.

Did I imagine that?

A dark voice taunts my thoughts.

No one will ever love you.

You’re nothing but a tight cunt.

Worthless bitch.

Do you think anyone cares if you live or die?

Riot’s smile is soft and disarming. It should burn away those hateful words emblazoned on my mind, but it doesn’t. It never will.

Link destroyed any semblance of self-love I had. He made me doubt everything about myself, and his vile whispers will always be there.

Why would someone like Riot want me?

“Where’s Mace?” I force the words through my suddenly tight throat.

---