Page 174 of Captivated By Danger

“You could leave her,” I joked.

He looked taken aback.

“I was kidding, Dad. If you left that woman, she’d fall apart.”

“Don’t I know it.”

“Just do what you did when you got tired of her talking shit.”

His eyes bucked. “Excuse me!”

I gasped. “Oh! I am so, so, oh my God. I have to go; Elle is waiting on me in the car.”

“Yeah, you do that. You went to New York and got grown,” he said, laughing. “And Grey, I really hope that you know you are the most important thing to me and one of my greatest gifts.”

I squinted. “Are you okay? You’re not dying, are you?”

He chuckled. “No. That just told me that I really didn’t tell you how much I loved you enough.”

“Dad, but you showed me. That matters too.” I stood on my tiptoes and kissed his cheek. “And I love you too, Dad.”

Birthday Evening…

Me, Elle, and Quinci sat in the corner of the restaurant having dinner. It was my twenty-seventh birthday, and I was supposed to be on my tenth shot by now. Since I was pregnant, I had to watch Elle have all the drinks. Quinci was also only drinking water. Though I was having a good time being out of bed on my birthday for the first time in years, I still felt kind of down. I hadn’t heard from Diesel all day. I’d called and texted him to let him know that I needed to talk to him about something and that he needed to get in contact with me as soon as possible. I thought he would have called me back minutes later, but he didn’t. Shit, that was two days ago. My birthday was nearly over, and I still hadn’t heard from him.

“So, Grey, I’ve been dying to talk about the pregnancy all night,” Quinci beamed. “How are you feeling?”

“Actually, I don’t feel any different. I hadn’t thrown up anything like that, but I am going to knock on wood about that.”

“What if you have the—”

I clapped my hands together. “Aht!”

Elle looked at her with wide eyes. “I said the same thing!”

“Can we throw the baby shower at the grove?”

I nodded my head. “Of course. Has Dymon talked to Diesel?”

She shook her head. “It’s been a few days. He’s going to go back out there once I go back home to stay with the baby.”

“Wow. Do you know what’s wrong with him?”

“He old and cantankerous, that’s all.”

That made me laugh because that was the perfect word to describe him. I looked at the waiter approaching the table with a candle-lit cupcake. When they started singing, both Quinci and Elle had their cameras in my face recording, so I had to fake smile, even though I was mortified because everyone was looking at me.

“Make a wish, Grey,” Elle said.

I closed my eyes, but my mind was blank. Regardless of how my year ended, I’m still grateful to be where I am right this moment.

“Any longer and that wig getting burnt off baby,” Elle said.

I wish for continued healing and happiness.

I opened my eyes and blew out the candle.

“Have some?” I asked them.

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