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“Let’s go meet the others.” Keeping his hold on her hand, Christian led her across the lobby and into the lifts. They went up to the sixth floor and into an apartment that was bustling with people.
A pretty redhead lay on the couch, and a woman with wild dark curls had a gurgling baby balanced on her hip while she leaned over a little girl with long blonde locks sitting in front of a computer. Another woman, this one a blonde, was also watching over the child. Four burly guys and a pretty brunette were sitting around a table, and a man with dark hair and black eyes was fussing over the woman on the couch.
It was the redhead who spotted them first. She grinned, clapped her hands, and gently pushed away the man at her side. “You have to be Lila. I’m so glad you’re here. Surf hasn’t been the same since he broke up with you. We all hated to see him suffering, and no one liked the idea of you being hurt, but we also didn’t want you in danger.”
“Julia, hush, you’re going to scare him off,” the man beside her said, sounding bemused.
“Oh, come on, Dom, you can’t tell me we haven’t all been itching to meet her since she dropped her bombshell and literally got Surf down on his knees apologizing. I should have made you do that for me after you acted all stupid and pushed me away.” Julia swatted playfully at Dom.
“I would have loved to see you down on your knees when you messed up with me,” the woman with the dark skin and curls said to a big, burly, growly-looking man, who smiled indulgently at her and stood to go and take the baby from her arms.
“I think I would have been the one who had to get down on my knees for you, Asher,” the blonde said.
“Daddy would have thought that was funny,” the little girl said, giggling.
“My guy knows that’s the only way to apologize,” the brunette said, tweaking the cheek of the man sitting beside her.
“I don’t remember that,” he said, clearly fighting a grin.
“Well, I definitely remember you on your knees in my office, telling me how deeply you regretted …”
“Okay, okay,” the man said, pulling the woman into his lap and silencing her with a kiss.
Christian rolled his eyes at his team and their families. “I think what these guys are trying to say is welcome to our crazy little family.”
Lila smiled and introduced herself to everyone as they all came forward to greet her. Everyone was friendly. They all smiled, seemed genuinely happy to meet her, congratulated her on her pregnancy, and told her how Christian hadn’t been himself this last month. While hearing that definitely helped her to believe he really hadn’t wanted to hurt her and had been doing what he thought was best, there was a rock of fear sitting in her gut.
Her childhood had been difficult, even though no one would believe that, and even though she hadn’t been planning on having kids, if she’d ever wanted to, she would have wanted them to have the complete opposite upbringing to what she had. But now she was pregnant, and her baby was going to be born into a world where it was being hunted just because someone had a grudge against its daddy.
How could she keep her baby safe when she hadn’t ever been able to protect herself?
And could she trust her baby’s father not just to keep them alive but also never to hurt her again?
Chapter Four
November 14th
8:24 P.M.
His gaze tracked her no matter where in the room she was.
Surf couldn’t seem to keep his eyes off Lila.
Not only was she breathtakingly beautiful, but she seemed to have slipped into his team without a single bump along the way. It was so seamless he wondered why he hadn’t introduced her to the guys and their partners before.
Maybe it was because what Lila gave him was so sweet, so precious, so important to his healing as he struggled to cope with what had happened in Somalia that he had wanted to keep it all to himself. It was selfish of him. Because he’d kept her separate from the rest of his life it had been easier to cut her out of it rather than risk her like Bear, Mouse, Arrow, and Domino were forced to risk the women they loved.
Now he realized he hadn’t been protecting her, he’d actually left her alone and in potential danger.
If anyone had connected her to him, she would have been alone and vulnerable if Dark Beauty sent someone after her. If anything had happened to her, it would have been entirely on him, and he never would have forgiven himself.
“Relax, man, she’s here and she’s safe,” Arrow soothed.
“She fit right in with all of us. She’s quiet but intelligent, and she hasn’t hesitated to assert herself when needed,” Mouse added. “Lolly and Phoebe both like her already.”
“Mackenzie too. And Mikey. She’s been peppering Kenzie with questions about babies, pregnancy, and birth. Mackenzie loves sharing everything she’s learned so far about being a mom,” Bear said.
“Phoebe is excited that there will only be a few months separating our baby and yours, Bear’s too, they’ll all grow up together. You guys had better hurry up and get reproducing,” Mouse said with a teasing smile to Arrow and Domino.
