Claimed By The Devil (Devil's Riders 8)

“Thank you so much for doing this. I don't even know what to say,” she said with a worried look.

"I told you, you’re one of us now," Kaylie said. "Your mom is doing fine. She was sleeping, so we came out here to let her rest.”

“She is an amazing lady,” I added. What I didn't tell her is that we were all on the same page about Nick. Her mom was thrilled when we told her how seriously he was taking their relationship. She had seemed so relieved to know that someone else would be looking after her baby girl.

It was heartbreaking and inspiring to watch someone face their own mortality so openly. Though I was pretty sure she wasn’t doing that in front of Melissa. Still, she knew her daughter had support now. I could tell it took a weight off her mind. She had visibly relaxed after our talk.

"We need someone during the day tomorrow," Nick said once Melissa had disappeared into the room. "Not you," he said jokingly to Kaylie. He commented that he was surprised Dev had let her come at all, this far into her pregnancy. Kaylie had just raised an eyebrow at that. Dev was bossy sometimes—hell, he ran the whole club—but he knew better than anybody that his wife was a sweet, cute little bulldozer. Especially when it came to looking out for the inner circle.

“So, what do you think?” I asked Kaylie as we headed outside where Donnie was waiting to drive us home. “Will you have more after this one?”

"Two seems like a good number," she said with a slightly panicked look. "But I'm not sure I'll be able to convince Dev of that."

"Donnie doesn't pressure me, but I know he'd like more.” Kaylie knew that it had taken us a while to get number two. I’d had to make peace with having one. But then a miracle had happened. Donnie was more than happy with our two kids. But I also knew there was plenty of room in our hearts for more. “Speak of the devil," I said with a smile as he came to press a quick kiss to our cheeks.

"More for you later," he whispered suggestively in my ear. I swatted him away. Kaylie got into the backseat of the car with his help. When I climbed in, he took the opportunity to grab a big handful of my butt and squeeze.

“You are incorrigible,” I whispered.

“You are delicious,” he countered. And just like that, I knew that we were going to have some fun tonight. Not that it was unusual. The only times we’d ever slowed down was toward the ends of my pregnancies, and even then, he’d tried to talk me into receiving as much oral as humanly possible.

My husband was nothing if not consistently horny for me.

He buckled me into the passenger seat and drove us all home.

Chapter Nineteen

Melissa

"I want you to know that I'm going to take good care of her."

I stood unseen, just outside the doorway, listening to Nick make outrageous promises to my mother. I hadn’t meant to eavesdrop, but his words had stopped me in my tracks. I’d been with the doctor getting more bad news. I was my mother’s medical decisionmaker on paper, so they were allowed to tell me anything I needed to know.

The moment she signed those papers, everything had become real. Mom was not getting better. I’d known that. I just didn’t expect things to happen so fast.

But this . . . this was unexpected.

“I’m glad, Nick. I always hoped you two would find each other.”

I blinked. She did? That was news to me.

“I’d like to ask you for her hand in marriage. I know it's really soon, but I don't have a single doubt in the world about what I want.”

Silence. I could hear my heart beat in the quiet of the hospital. It beating was so loud, I was amazed that neither of them could hear it.

“You will wait to ask her?”

“Yes, of course,” he vowed. “It's not the right time. And it's too soon. But that's where this is heading. I just wanted you to know and wanted to get your approval.”

“I approve, Nick. I’m so glad she’ll have someone when I’m gone.”

“Don’t give up hope yet,” he said. “You don’t know what will happen.”

I must have moved then because her eyes shifted. Mom saw me in the doorway. I watched as she put on a brave face. I wished she didn’t feel the need to pretend everything was okay for me.

“You’re right, Nick. It’s not over yet. Come in, Melissa. Did the doctors say when I could go home?”

I nodded.

“We can take you back in the morning. But we will need . . . home care.”

“You mean hospice,” she said with a tart look on her face. I knew she hated it when people minced words. “It’s okay, sweetie. It’ll be good to have some help.”