Rafe removed the painting from the wall that concealed the safe. It was one of those high-tech, digital safes. They could have used some advanced technology to crack the safe, but honestly it was just easier to watch the video footage and wait until the owner entered the code.
Maybe the younger agents aren’t the only ones who are spoiled, Rafe thought wryly.
These days the challenge of an op wasn’t what drove him anymore. Getting home safely to his fiancée was what mattered the most.
He entered the code and then stepped back as the door swung open. He ignored the stacks of cash and reached all the way to the back to grab a black fabric pouch. With one tug the drawstring loosened, and Rafe smiled down at his palm.
“Hello, beautiful.”
Diana was dreaming.
She was conscious that it was a dream the whole time, but strangely it didn’t bother her to know that. In the dream she was pushing a grocery cart. Pushing a grocery cart was actually a strange thing for her to dream about since she hadn’t done it too many times. Growing up, her father’s staff had done all that. She hadn’t gone to a grocery until she was in college. But she was happily pushing a cart and checking items off a list. In the front of the cart, happily chewing on its fist, was a baby.
Her baby.
She smiled at the cherub-cheeked toddler and passed a hand over his short, dark curls. His brown eyes were bright and watchful as she grabbed a few things off the shelf and put them in the cart. It was such an ordinary scene, a mom shopping with her little boy in tow, but it hit Diana with all the force of a battering ram. This simple, everyday domestic scene represented the most secret longing of her heart. To have a family of her own that she could love and care for. There was only one thing missing.
Strong arms encircled her from behind, and she sighed into the embrace. The little boy let out a squeal at the sight of his daddy that brought a deep, rumbling chuckle from the man.
Diana loved that laugh and that she was one of the only people who could coax it out of him. He was her husband and the love of her life. She’d never felt safer or happier than she did right then.
“I love you, Rafe.”
His answer was a soft kiss to the side of her neck.
“Diana. Wake up, sweetheart,” he whispered.
After a few moments, Diana opened her eyes and blinked as the dream faded away. She’d come into the room for a nap right after lunch and meant to wake up after an hour. Rafe, Noah, and Matthias had been out of town on a quick business trip overnight, and the place had seemed so quiet and boring without them. She knew Lucia felt the same way even though JJ had been working hard to take her mind off Noah’s absence. Diana had been counting down the hours until they were expected back. She suspected that everyone else was too. Having one cranky, lonely pregnant chick, with a worried wife and toddler in residence couldn’t be fun for the others either.
The light in the room indicated that she’d slept much later than she’d intended. At a soft brush against her cheek, she turned her head. Rafe knelt beside the bed, watching her with a gentle look on his face. It shouldn’t have been such a surprise; she’d been expecting him home in the early evening. But it still took her off guard how happy just the sight of his face could make her.
“You’re home!” She sat up and threw her arms around his neck. Laughing, he caught her to keep them both from tumbling to the floor.
“Careful. You’ve got precious cargo on board.” He rested a hand on the curve of her belly. His thumb traced a gentle path back and forth. Gently. Reverently.
She was barely showing at four months, but if you were looking, you could definitely tell she was pregnant. Diana thrilled with every new change in her body because it was evidence of the amazing little person she and Rafe had created.
Together.
“I was so tired that I wanted to take a nap before you were due home. But I must have slept longer than I meant to.”
He kissed her forehead softly. “Is my daughter wearing you out?”
She grinned. They’d had a running feud for the past month about the sex of the baby. Neither of them wanted to find out beforehand, happy to leave it as a surprise. Rafe, however, was convinced it was a girl. Mainly because he said the universe loved to challenge him.
“Our son is doing just fine. I was craving sauerkraut yesterday, but I managed to survive it.”
She cringed just thinking of it. Jonas had been a great sport and gone out to buy her some. It had been delicious while she was eating it, but thinking back on it made her gag a little. It was so strange how she could crave things so intensely and then as soon as she had them, revert back to thinking they were gross.
“Do I owe the guys a favor? You didn’t make them watch you eat ice cream and pickles, did you?”
“That is a stereotype. I have never eaten anything weird with my ice cream.” Diana had eaten the sauerkraut and then eaten a cherry Popsicle right afterward, but he didn’t need to know that.
When she tried to stand, Rafe put a hand up to keep her from rising. Before she could ask what he was doing, he reached into his pocket and pulled out something that she couldn’t see. Her heart started beating wildly for some reason, but she wasn’t sure why. Diana just had a sudden feeling that Rafe was up to something.
Then Rafe opened his hand.
Diana put a hand over her heart. “Is that… is that really…”