5
Walker paced the front porch of the tiny home he and Dane had built.The cornerstone of their foundation at Hot Rides.Unfortunately, it wasn’t anywhere near big enough to contain the tension turning his muscles into pretzels.Which was why he’d spent the darkest stretch of the night freezing his balls off as he kept watch in case someone had followed Joy to their not-so-hidden hideout.
The first rays of sunrise pierced the glowing sky.It should have relieved him to see the breaking dawn, the start of the new year and new life he’d resolved to make the most of only hours before.
Walker should have known it was too damn easy when the very woman he craved had appeared before him as if his wicked thoughts had summoned her.
Of course there was some fucking wrinkle.Even more reasons—including a giant one in the form of a tiny, adorable human who hadn’t asked to be entangled in their ongoing bullshit—why Joy still couldn’t be theirs.A reminder that he wasn’t destined to have simple pleasures like ordinary people.Hell, he’d be better off if he learned to quit hoping for them anymore.
Dane was inside.He’d stayed after helping Joy get settled into their space.Though Arden didn’t seem to be a big fan of sleeping through the night, Walker had glimpsed Joy crashed out on their couch for several stretches while Dane had fawned over the exhausted woman.
Walker wished he could go in there and care for her, too, even though he knew that wasn’t his place.Several times he’d gotten as far as laying his hand on the door knob before he remembered who he was and why Dane was much better suited to the role.
He should stay the fuck away from them.Let the universe reunite his best friend and his best friend’s girl—Walker’s own stepsister.Maybe Arden would bring them together, the way they always should have been.That baby had to be Dane’s.Walker refused to ruin the lives of the three people who meant the most to him in the world.So what if he’d only met one of them a few hours ago?He refused to intrude on what could be a perfect, happy little family.
Walker rubbed his chest as if that would erase some of the pressure there.
At six on the dot, Walker’s phone buzzed in his pocket.He withdrew it in time to see an unknown number flash across the screen.His eyes narrowed.He’d long ago blocked Angus from contacting him.That didn’t mean the bastard didn’t try to get around the ban.Often.
His father woke this time every morning.No doubt Clive had been there to suck his dick.Okay, not literally—probably—but he’d almost certainly had Joy tailed and reported their reunion to his pops.
It would never be finished.They would never escape entirely.
Just knowing his father was on the other end of the line, reaching one of his slimy tentacles out toward Middletown, made Walker want to hurl his cell across the yard into the woods beyond.So he stabbed the icon to disconnect the incoming call.
Less than ten seconds later, he got a text from the same number.
If nothing else, he’d inherited his stubbornness from his father.
The message readHow’s Joy?
Walker pinched the bridge of his nose before tapping out a reply.Don’t worry about her.I’m taking care of the situation.
Joy had come to them.If nothing else, that meant she’d had enough of Angus and his God-complex, served with a side of oppression.Walker wasn’t about to let his father dictate the situation any more than he already had.
Merry belated Christmas, son.And congratulations on one hell of a gift.Remember, you and your family—myfamily—always have a place here.This is where you belong.
Fuck that.Whether or not Joy’s baby was also Walker’s, there was no way in hell he was about to let either of them stay stuck under Angus’s thumb.Unless that’s what Joy wanted.
He froze, his booted foot clomping onto the deck boards.
What if she hadn’t left on her own but had been ostracized instead?
Angus said they were welcome to return to their old life.But what if he would only take Joy if it was a package deal?Had Walker cost her a cushy existence?One where she was a prized possession, just like her mother had been before her?
Shit.
Walker stormed inside for answers.Ones he could trust.At least he could look Joy in the eye as he questioned her.Nothing Angus told him was reliable and he didn’t want to give his father any additional advantage by admitting he had no idea what was going on.
Hell, he’d hardly recovered from the astonishment of seeing Joy with a baby and knowing there was a chance Arden could be his daughter too.He was terrified to even imagine the possibility only to have it snatched away again.
So he might have slapped open the door a little harder than he’d intended, sending it careening into the shiplap with a bang.
Of course that startled Arden, who began to scream.
“I just got her to sleep.”Joy closed her eyes, her head tipping downward.She looked as if she might conk out mid-sentence.
“Here, let me.”Dane held his hands out, waiting for Joy to place the baby into them.“I don’t really know what I’m doing, but I can walk around with her like you did.”