Page 27 of Unruly

“Wouldn’t that be a good thing? Catherine is beau—”

“Shut your mouth. I know my wife is beautiful. I don’t need you pointing it out.”

Zeke held his hands high in surrender. “Well, I’m just saying.”

“We’re going to have a girl.”

His voice came out faint.

So wary.

God was punishing him because he had been such a shit as a teenager. God was giving him a girl for him to worry about, to make him more homicidal than he already was, and to test his very short self-control.

“God is not punishing you,” Zeke said with a roll of his eyes.

Had he said that out loud?

Wonderful.

“You don’t think?” Cross asked, moving into the office and closing the door behind him. “Because it kind of feels like it.”

“Cross, God is not punishing you. He’s giving you something wonderful.”

“I’m going to spend the next two decades of my life forcing myself not to hurt every little thing that makes her cry, or sad, or … anything, Zeke.”

“And that’s what’s going to make you a great father, man. Really. Don’t be scared, Cross. She’s going to be perfect. She’s going to adore you. You’re going to have a princess.”

“And if she looks like her mother?”

Zeke laughed. “We’ll teach her how to use a gun before she ever goes on a date.”

“Oh, my God. Dating. Fucking hell.”

“Maybe you should talk to like, your father. Or Dante, even, because—”

“So he can laugh at me?”

“Well, you would deserve it.”

“You’re not helping, Zeke.”

“Cross, she’s going to come from you. That kid is going to be just fine, and pretty damn amazing.”

“Obviously.”

“Relax.”

He was going to have to try.

Somehow.

“Would you be her godfather?”

Zeke instantly froze, and looked up at his friend from behind his desk. “What?”

“My daughter, after she’s born. Would you be her godfather?”

“I mean, yeah, of course, man.”