Bryant grins. “She’s already here.”
A mother’s love is infinite, and if it’s not, then God fucked up and gave you the wrong one.
-Isa
“I’m nervous.” I grab at Bryant’s hand as we head downstairs and into the main foyer. “What if she doesn’t like me? If she thinks that I abandoned her?”
“Baby, she’s seven months old, not seventeen. She won’t even remember this when she’s older.”
My anxious footsteps clink on the marble as we descend. “What if something happens?”
He stops me, shoving me against the wall and pinning my hands above my head by my wrists. “Stop talking shit to yourself. This house is guarded and armed. So tight, in fact, that not even your incestuous brother is allowed through the gates. She is going to be safest here, with us.”
I still don’t think he’s right, and I blatantly ignore the jab at Max. “I’ve been nervous about this since the day I woke in that cabin, Bryant! That’s not going to turn off just because you wave your power around in my face.” I pull out of his grasp.
He growls, so low that I would have missed it had it not been directly over my collarbone. I bite down on my tongue to remind myself to remain in control. He may be my husband, my life, and the person I trust more than anything, but he is not my controller. At least not when sex isn’t involved.
“I’m trusting you, Bryant. If this fails and something happens, I will never forgive you.”
He gestures down the staircase, pushing up from the wall. “Deal.”
Rounding the bottom, I clutch the railing in my hands, take two breaths, and turn to see Jess standing there, holding Harper in her arms.
My chest throbs with emotion, my heart screaming in my chest. “Holy crap.”
Jess smiles, bringing her eyes from Harper to me. “That’s Mama, Harper.”
I make my way to the both of them, as Bryant hangs back behind me. “Hey, princess.”
Harper reaches up with her little hand and clutches my hair, bringing it back to her tiny cupid shaped mouth and sucking on it. Jess hands her over to me and I take her, the heaviness of not just Harper’s weight but my own guilt pressing down on me.
I missed so many milestones in her life. I will never miss another.
Her hair is light chestnut brown, her eyes the color of warm hot chocolate, and when she smiles, I see—“Of course you look like your daddy.”
Jess chuckles. “I tell her that a lot.”
Finally, my focus locks on Jess. “I can’t thank you enough for all that you have done.”
“Oh please.” Jess waves me off. “I should be apologizing to you for you know, being an obvious little sister…”
I roll my eyes. “I’m not hurt by that or honestly surprised. It’s a testament to how close you and Bryant are and for that alone, I am thankful.”
“We do need to talk, though,” Jess says, removing her jacket and placing it on top of her suitcase. “All of us. Is Devon here?”
I’m still smiling down at Harper when I shake my head. “He’s not. We can talk over dinner.”
“That sounds really good.” She jumps onto Bryant, who lifts her off the ground. “I take it I have a room here, right? Got any new hot security guys I can play with? It’s been a while. Safe to say, Gary didn’t last.”
Bryant laughs. “You’ll have to take that up with Devon. He’s occupied the entire wing, and no. I don’t hire anyone younger than forty now.”
“Hey, I’m all for the silver fox thing.” She stands back to her feet. “Devon took an entire wing? That mother—”
Bryant glares at Jess.
“Fusher.” She leans into Harper and squeezes her little cheek. “We won’t tell Daddy how many swear words Auntie Jess shared with you, pumpkin.”
* * *
“I love family dinners,” Devon murmurs around a mouthful of steak.
Jess pours herself another wine while fixing her anger on Devon. “We need to talk about me taking one of those rooms after this. I prefer ground level.”
“Actually.” Bryant glowers at both of them. “Neither of you need to live here. It’s not like you can’t afford to be somewhere else. You choose to be here. You can both move out.”
“What! But you just got me back!” Jess argues, but I see the hint of a smile on her face.
“You have a condo in Brooklyn,” Bryant counters, stabbing his steak knife in her direction.
“True.” Jess shrugs. “Fine, but I’ll be here every day.”
Devon snickers. “Sleeping with what security?” Their bickering dies out behind me because I’m still trapped in Harper.
“Hey! You okay?” Bryant kicks me from beneath the table.
I flash him a genuine smile, one that bares all of my teeth. “Yeah, really good.”
“Okay, anyway, so the reason why I wanted to have this chat with you all here is that while Harper and I were living our best life in Florida, someone sent this to me.” She slides a photo across the table. Bryant picks it up, scanning it and then sliding it over to me. I place my fork on the table and pick it up.