Page 112 of Breaking Conviction
Epilogue
One month later
“But I’m nottired,Mommy. It’s not fair you and Wes get to stay up and go dancin’.”
Naomi resisted rolling her eyes, not wanting to teach her daughter a new bad habit. “Baby, Wes was just kiddin’.” She whipped her head back to Wes and narrowed her eyes with a grin at his mischievous smile. “We’re not gonna go dancin’. We’re gonna stay inside and be borin’ old adults, okay?”
“Wealwaysstay inside. But Wes and Hawk get to go outside all the times. It’s not fair.”
Naomi blew out a breath, not sure of exactly what to say, because her little girl was right. Ever since they realized their safe houses were compromised thanks to Phoenix’s betrayal, the BlackStone men had taken significant security measures to protect their makeshift home for Wes, Naomi, and Thea to stay.
It was a luxury cabin in the middle of the woods on Mount Ash, an hour outside of town, and completely hidden to everyone but the BlackStone Crew. Which was the problem now that Phoenix had flipped. But it was still one of the safest places BlackStone already had on short notice, so modifying it was the best option.
Unfortunately, that meant that Naomi and Thea were essentially cooped up all day until Wes felt like it was safe enough for them to go outside.
“T, we’ll get to go explorin’ all over the mountain soon, I promise. I know you wanna go outside but just be patient a little while longer, okay? It’s not safe yet.”
Wes swore up and down that it wouldn’t be too long now until she and Thea could explore the many acres of land the cabin sat on, even promising they could venture off Mount Ash soon. It was frustrating, but it was also the reality of their situation at the moment. She couldn’t blame the guy for being overprotective. Hell, she was too.
Thea sighed and threw her head back onto her comically large, king-size pillow. “Fine. But I get one more story in y’all’s bed for bein’ good.”
Naomi snorted. “T, we already read you a bedtime story and it’s time for you to go to sleep now, okay? Remember how Ms. Erica said you need to get good sleep by yourself in your big-girl bed? I can’t wait to tell Ms. Erica how good you’ve been at it.”
And she really couldn’t. Ms. Erica was Thea’s new therapist. As soon as she safely could, she’d called every child therapist in Ashland County that Wes vetted to see if they’d do on-screen appointments. The woman was amazing. Hopefully, getting Thea in to talk with someone early would stave off any potential harm her father and the past year had done to her psyche.
“But I’m nottired,” she grumbled into a very ironically timed yawn.
“Princesses need good sleep so they can rule their kingdoms, T.” Wes leaned in conspiratorially, as if he were her royal adviser.
Thea pursed her lips and seemed to think about what he said. “Okay... then how ‘bout I go to sleep if we watch one more movie.”
Naomi laughed out loud. “That’s enough negotiating tonight, my little CEO. I’m kissin’ you good night and then I’m leavin’ you to sleep like the big girl you are, okay?”
“Fine,” she exclaimed yet again before crossing her arms and frowning. “But I won’t like it.”
Naomi kissed her defiant daughter’s forehead before standing up to leave the room. It was basically Thea’s now. It had been every night since they’d had to flee BlackStone.
“Good night, Thea.”
“Good night, Mommy. Good night Wes.”
“Good night, Princess T,” Wes whispered before turning out the lights and letting Naomi leave the room first.
Naomi rested against the wall beside the closed door and massaged her temples.
“Dancin’? Really? You couldn’t have said something less fun for a four-year-old?”
Wes chuckled and rested his hands on her hips, drawing her in close enough that she could smell his soothing citrus-cedar scent. It now reminded her of home.
He kissed her lips and she melted into his touch. “Well, I couldn’t tell her what Iwantedto do, now could I? Definitely couldn’t lie. It was the best I could come up with on the spot.”
She pulled on his shirt before tugging him toward their room. “Yes, thank God you didn’t go with the truth.”
They had the place to themselves. Everyone but Hawk had maintained their sleeping arrangements they’d had since the night BlackStone was bombed. Hawk had apparently gotten an apartment in town. At first she’d felt guilty that they’d run him off, but Wes had assured her that Hawk had always liked to keep to himself.
Hawk had Devil as a houseguest sometimes, but mostly Devil stayed with Ellie in her large dorm suite. Jules and Jason had their hands full with their brand-new baby girl, who was already proving sassier than her momma. And Nora stayed at Jules and Jason’s, helping with the baby, and going back and forth from Sasha Saves to Draco’s bedside at the hospital. The BlackStone teammate had only just started to recover from his coma, but he was trying hard as hell to get back on his feet.
Even though they were alone, it was never very wise to get frisky out in the open with a four-year-old in the house. When they got to their room, Wes picked her up and carried her bridal style through the door. Naomi held on to her giggles, trying to make sure Thea didn’t hear how much fun they were having, so she’d stay in bed.
