Page 54 of Property of Big Daddy

She smiles up at me and I don’t wipe the dark expression from my face fast enough.“If you need to go home, I can call Cecilia to give me a lift home later.”

“Naw.I’m where I need to be.”I push the negative thoughts to the back of my mind.

“You know, I’ve been thinking about this baby thing.”

“What about it?”

“We do have a substantial age gap, and chances are that you’ll die before I do.”She pauses to move the baby back to the bassinet.Which is smart on her part, considering the way this conversation is sounding.“The medical community makes new advances every day and women are having children well into their forties.So I figure I have at least fifteen years before my chances shrivel up.”

“So you’re planning my funeral and your future with another man?”I growl.

“Don’t stress yourself out, big guy.You won’t know anything about it.”

“Because I’ll be dead.I’m going to tan your ass,” I warn.

“Can you please do it elsewhere?Some of us are trying to sleep,” Lucie complains, and Gwynee smiles sweetly at me.

I shake my head.“You’re trying to kill me, aren’t you?”

“Not anytime soon.”

The only baby she will ever have will be mine.

Fuck.She knows how to play me and press all my buttons.

The next few months pass us all by in a blur.

Hero and Ophelia are getting married soon.Lucie and the baby are thriving and the two of them are moving into the guesthouse behind my place where Hero used to reside since he moved out with his woman.I watch Gwynee watching all of her friends move on with their lives, getting everything she wants, and I know her heart is breaking on the inside.She puts on a brave face and is happy for them.Hell, she even helped Jessika plan her nuptials to that punk Thad, but I know Gwynee.I hear her cries when she thinks no one is around.

I don’t know how to fix this for her.

She’s not brought up marriage or babies since Liam was born.She pretends to be content playing Auntie, but I know it’s not enough.

The cartel has been off our back since I took Meko down, but the tension is always there.The threats never really go away.I know they’ll turn up soon enough with bigger demands.I watch my brothers’ backs and they watch mine, a loyalty that’s gotten us through hell and back.A few more months like this and I might start to believe this peace will last.Right now, we’re enjoying the calm before the storm.

However, I can’t seem to shake the feeling of dread that lives in the pit of my stomach.Gwynee deserves more than I’m able to provide her.An existence without needing one of my guys to check her car for explosives before she leaves the house.A life without the stress about my club rivals using her to get to me.I love her too much to want this life with me for her, and yet I’m too fucking selfish to let her go.

“What are you out here sulking about?”my woman comes up behind me, wrapping her arms around me and pressing her head to my back.

“Just thinking.”

“About?”

I twist around to face her, leaning against the railing.

“You.The future.”

“That sounds ominous.”

“That’s because it is.Every day you stay with me, it’s another day you’re in danger.Another day you could be out there finding the man who wants to give you the family you dream of one day having.”

“I’ve made my choice.I know the risk and what I’m giving up to be with you.”

“It’s not right, Gwynee.”

“I love you and you love me.That’s all that matters.You’re not going to scare me away.”

“Yeah.Figured that.”I pull her in close, torn between letting her go and hoping she’ll stay.

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