“Yes.”
My body craved to be near Maren, let alone inside her. I missed her. Maren dropped my hand. “Let’s get some sleep.”
Slipping into my side of the bed, I fought the urge to pull her to me. This was the most progress I’d made all week, and I wasn’t going to do anything to mess it up.
Through the night, her sleepy voice wound through the air. “Night, Bane. Thanks for caring about the baby. I’m glad you want to be involved.”
“I care about you both. I care about you, Maren.”
A hand came out to grab mine. “I care about you, too.”
I swallowed and knew what I needed to do. Before I had a chance to second guess myself, I spoke. “I was fresh out of Black Division. My first stop was Alaska which was where Jasmine lived. I’d met her in New York City when I was on a two week leave between assignments. The day I landed I found out Jasmine was six months pregnant. Our last time together, she’d gotten pregnant. There was no way to reach me with being on assignment and getting debriefed out of the division.”
Taking a deep sigh, the memories came back as I continued, “I already knew I wanted to marry her. Had already bought us a house. The baby was an added bonus. I was ready to embrace the family life. The second morning I was back I took Jasmine to the spot I told her I loved her the first time. I proposed and then the familiar sound of a sniper shooting came through the air.”
I closed my eyes as the most painful part of the story washed over me. “Turning to get Jasmine, I noticed she’d been shot in the head. I felt the last kicks of my child within her as our daughter fought to survive. There was nothing I could do. They died because of my ties to the Black Division. If I hadn’t of gone to them, they’d be alive.”
Sniffles stopped my story. Maren squeezed my hand. “Maren, it’s why I vowed to never be close to anyone. It’s why I denied myself from telling you that I wanted you to stay. For us to have a chance to figure things out. Then, the baby was like the miracle I needed to keep you in my life.”
Anticipation filled me as I waited for her response. All I wanted was to have a chance.
The bed shifted and I felt Maren scoot closer. “The baby is a miracle, Bane. It’s our miracle. I get it, I do. I’m scared about being a mom, giving you another chance, living through this threat that I see hanging over us as we wait for the next thing to happen. It’s a lot to process.”
A thought occurred to me on what I could do. I squeezed Maren’s hand. “Let’s get some sleep.”
“Okay.” I could tell that was not the response she expected. Showing her would be better than telling her.
Through the night, we never let each other’s hand go. It was the first time in a week I’d slept.
Morning was upon us as I finished putting the bagel and cream cheese on a plate with Maren’s orange juice. For now, she kept her breakfasts simple for the slight nausea she had. Thank goodness she hadn’t been too sick. Some smells bothered her more than others … especially meat.
I nudged open the door to see Maren’s brunette hair splayed across the pillow while she peacefully slept. My angel. She’d unknowingly snuggled closer to me through the night and whispered my name. Music to my ears as I cherished the way her body felt against mine.
She stirred. Normally she woke up around seven. It was seven twenty-three. I laid the tray on the nightstand. “Morning, angel. How does breakfast in bed sound?”
Wiping her eyes she smiled sleepily at me. “I haven’t had breakfast in bed since before my Dad died. This is a treat. Thank you.”
Every moment of every day I was going to try and show Maren how special she was. “You’re welcome.” Taking a deep breath, I prepared to say what I’d been thinking about when my phone rang. Only a few people had this number. Pulling it out of my pocket, I saw it was Hampton. “I need to take this.”
Maren took a sip of orange juice. “Of course.”
Standing, I answered. “Hampton?”
The familiar voice answered me, “Hey, Bane. Division stopped by. I would imagine they’ll be at your doorstep at any minute.”
I knew they’d come, but I thought out of courtesy they’d call me first. Those fuckers had gotten my location and then kept Hampton engaged in conversation until they were too close for anything to be done. My earpiece buzzed and security came across the line. “Sir, three black vehicles have turned down the dirt road. Are they cleared?”
I muted the phone with Hampton before answering, “Yes. Stand down. I’ll be out to greet them.”
Unmuting the phone, I said, “Hampton. They’re here. We’ll talk later.”
“Sounds good.”
My heart thundered in my chest. I wanted to grab Maren and run away. We’d make it out of here, but then I’d look guilty as hell. The last thing I needed was to have the wrath of the Black Division rain down on us. We’d be on the run for the rest of our lives. I wanted a different life for Maren and our child.
With someone like Sarge vanishing they’d be turning over every stone to find him. Plus, there was a chance they knew about the communication with him. It surprised me they hadn’t come before now which was a good sign hopefully.
Of course, I had a plan if we did need to escape. Being afraid of stressing Maren out with the spotting, we hadn’t discussed the possibility of Black Division visiting. Maren took a bite of bagel and stopped when she saw my face.