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I watched in fascination as the little things I could now see were legs moved back and forth.
Liam’s hand tightened on mine, and I pressed my lips together to keep from letting out another sob. I had been more hormonal lately. I’d cried over a picture of a mother holding her baby after birth that I’d seen while searching the pregnancy websites. But this was by far the most emotional I had been.
“Oh, and now, that is its arm. Looks like it’s waving,” she said, smiling at the screen and making notes as she clicked on certain things.
When the probe eased out of me, I wanted to beg her not to stop yet. I wasn’t done looking at it. She handed me several photos, and I took them to see she had captured pictures of the head, legs, and arms.
“You and the baby are in excellent condition. I know you’re ready to use the bathroom. Be sure to leave a urine sample. You can go in that room right there and do it. Once you’re done, get dressed and meet me back in the examination room. I have some things to go over with you, and I’m going to give you a book that I like all my prenatal patients to read and keep for reference.”
Liam had let go of my hand once the screen went off. I sat up and then handed him the photos to look at before hurrying to the bathroom. Getting a moment to myself, along with relieving my bladder, was needed.
I opened the bathroom door, then glanced back to see Liam looking at the photos in his hand with such intensity that my stupid eyes started stinging again.
22
Liam
Sitting in the booth with a glass of whiskey in front of me, I wished like hell I had a cigarette. The shit with Diamond’s death had been heavy. Blaise had just left with Huck and Gage. They’d traced it back to the Vipers and identified the man who had been here with her that night. The detectives assigned to the case were turning a blind eye to the family’s interference. But they always did.
Tex walked up and sat down across from me. He’d been in Miami the past four days. I hadn’t expected him to return until tomorrow.
I took a drink.
“You’re back early,” I said, setting the glass back on the table.
He sighed and leaned back. “Yeah, thought you might need me here. With the Viper shit. Saw Blaise and his men leaving.”
I nodded. “Yeah. Per usual, my son-in-law found them before the cops.”
Tex chuckled. “There is a reason why the Mafia is powerful.”
I still hadn’t spoken to Madeline about Liberty. Blaise had brought that up, too, and given me a deadline. I wanted to tell him to stay the fuck out of it, but I also respected that he didn’t like keeping shit from my daughter.
“He demanded that I tell Madeline before Saturday, or he’s doing it.”
Tex raised an eyebrow. “About the baby?”
I nodded.
Tex smirked. “I wouldn’t worry about it. From what I’ve witnessed this week, you let Madeline spend a little time with Liberty, and she’ll be fucking tickled pink.”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
He ran his thumb over his bottom lip as his expression bordered on amused. “You might not like your baby momma, but the club, she’s got them all wrapped around her pretty little finger. Eating out of her hands. There might be a riot when the baby comes and you move her out of there.”
I straightened in the booth and narrowed my eyes as I watched him fight back a smile. “You telling me she’s flirting with my men down there and they are letting her?”
Tex shook his head. “Fuck no. The guys know better. Well, all but one,” he said, then winced as if he’d not said it.
Her appointment had been a week ago, and it had taken me days after getting back here to get over the shit it had stirred in me. I hadn’t wanted to leave. Seeing her getting all fucking emotional when the baby came up on that screen had mirrored my own unexpected response. For that moment when we were in there, watching our unborn child, I had felt connected to her in a way I’d never experienced with a soul in my life.
She had given me one of the ultrasound photos to keep and then thanked me for going with her and paying for it. I was so damn confused with how I felt that I didn’t say much on the way back to the clubhouse. She went to show Nina and Goldie the pictures out at the pool, and I went to church. After that, most of us headed to Pepper’s bar for some drinks.
Then, I had left and driven back here.
But every time I looked at that ultrasound picture, I remembered how seeing the baby and hearing its heartbeat had felt. With her hand in mine and the way she’d sobbed and laughed at the same time, looking at the screen. It was hard to see that woman as the one Selena seemed to know.
“Who’s she flirting with?” I asked, feeling rage spark deep in my chest.
