Page 55 of Ruling Scar
Her nervousness grows.
“What about Lia and Peter’s parents?” Adeline presses. “Are they really going to be okay with this?”
“They’ll marry.” It’s the one fact Nat is certain of.
“Where are you going to live?” I ask.
“My house.” She’s got a brownstone in Brooklyn.
“Will they both move in?”
She nods. “And Peter works from home. He’ll set up an office and while we might need a nanny some of the time, I think we’re lucky. He’ll be around since Lia and I have to go into the office.”
This is the Nat I know. The planner. No wonder she’s tired every time we see her, though. She’s bottling everything up.
“You can talk to us,” I say, ever the hypocrite. For a second I forget about the last few days and how my own life took a nose dive.
“We’ll get to come over and help you decorate the nursery, right?” Adeline snuggles beside her.
Nat leans her head against Adeline’s, a faint smile tugging at her lips. “Yeah.”
“Good, cause I’ve been all over Pinterest.”
“I don’t care about the theme,” Nat says. “I care more about the safety. Do you know how easy it is for babies to choke on things?”
Finally, Nat is back to being herself. I can’t imagine how baby-proofed her brownstone’s about to be.
“You know I think this is really badass of you,” Adeline says after a bit. “Changing the bratva, one throuple at a time.”
Nat laughs under her breath before her eyes settle on me. “Hey, what happened on this date of yours?”
I shake my head. “Nothing. I mean it was fine.”
“Who was it again?”
The head shaking doesn’t stop. I never want to mention Leopold Stuart’s name again. “Just an old friend. It wasn’t even a date. Just a catch up.”
Nat studies me with clear eyes now that she’s calmer.
“But I do have a favor to ask.” I’ve stopped myself from texting her several times already. “Can I tell the guards I’m staying over at yours tomorrow night?”
She frowns. “You realize you’re twenty-six right?”
“You realize Mom’s gonna put even more guards on you now that you’re pregnant, right?”
Her face falls at the realization. We’ve spent our lives in this hive of overprotection. But Nat pushed back early on, adamant she had space to move without a lurking bodyguard.
I’m ashamed to admit I never thought to even be annoyed. It just was what it was. Only recently, have I wanted to push back slightly. Only the panic in Mom’s eyes, makes me hesitate.
“Please,” I ask nicely.
“You just said your date was only okay.” Adeline raises a brow.
“It’s something else.”
“Like what?” Nat asks.
I squirm in my spot. “I’m gonna hang out with Ren and Isolde. And I don’t want to have to travel all the way back here so I’m going to crash with them.”
