Page 108 of Savage Reign

Rachel was down in the kitchen cooking when I finally got in. She offered me a kind smile, and I hesitantly smiled back.Before, when I was being held here against my will, I didn’t try to get close to Rachel, mostly because I knew she was loyal to the brothers and wouldn’t be much help to me. But now that I was back, and the situation was different—at least, I hoped so—I should get to know her better, shouldn’t I?

“Good morning, Mila.”

“Morning.”

“Are you hungry?” she asked.

As if on cue, my stomach grumbled. Rachel let out a light chuckle. “I take that as a yes. Why don’t you sit down, and I’ll prepare a plate for you.”

“Thank you,” I said softly. She smiled at me. I took a seat at the kitchen island, trying hard not to think about that one time I had been here with Killian and…

I shook my head. The last thing I needed to do was think about the way Killian and I had done some rude things in Rachel’s kitchen. I was blushing already.

I jumped when Rachel placed a bowl of eggs, bacon, and potato breakfast skillet in front of me. As if I wasn’t already blushing, my stomach decided to growl a second time.

“Eat up. Pregnancy can take a lot out of us.”

“They told you?” I asked.

Rachel didn’t say anything for a moment, then, “Yes. Were they not supposed to?”

“No, it’s okay. I was just surprised since I’d just told them last night.”

She shot me a gentle smile. “My boys are pretty excited about it.”

I assumed it wasn’t really a secret that I was in a relationship with all three men, but to hear her mention it so casually, I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to react to that.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Sorry. I’m fine.”

She didn’t look like she believed me, but thankfully let it go. “Why don’t you eat? And I know you still don’t know me very well, but if you want, I can accompany you to buy some baby stuff. Lord knows those brothers can get so busy.”

She rolled her eyes as she said it, but there was still that fondness on her face. She probably wasn’t blind to what the brothers did and who they were, but she seemed to have no problem accepting them.

I thought about her offer while I ate. Rachel busied herself with cleaning up a little in the kitchen, and once I was full, I pushed the plate away. “Do you think we can go today?”

She seemed surprised that I asked. And happy.

“Of course. Let me call Maverick and have him arrange everything. Why don’t you get ready, and I’ll meet you by the front door in twenty minutes?”

I nodded. I was technically ready, though I was in one of Maverick’s shirts and sweatpants.

I walked up the stairs and into my room. As I was pulling on my jeans, I thought about my mom. I didn’t think about her often. The last time we spoke, she had unwittingly helped me discover the brothers’ true identity. I still haven’t forgiven her for leaving New Orleans the moment I showed up after running away from the clubhouse.

I hadn’t forgiven her for abandoning me to my father when I was eleven.

It might have happened over a decade before, but the wound never completely healed. And now, I was about to be a mother. And I couldn’t ever imagine myself abandoning my child, so why was it so easy for her to do it to me?

I knew now my dad would have never let me go. Not with Grandpa’s inheritance attached to me, but why was it so easy for her to leave me behind?

Didn’t she love me enough to stay… for me?

I shook away the melancholy I was suddenly feeling this morning. The only blessing today was that there was no morning sickness, though the day was still new.

I just… I didn’t want to be sad anymore.

I took a deep breath before walking out of the room and down the stairs twenty minutes later. Rachel was right by the door, where she said she would be. Rachel looked to be older than my mom by only a handful of years, and she didn’t know me. Even if I had lived in this house for months, we were nothing more than strangers to each other, but she had shown me more kindness in that time than my own mother had my entire life.

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