I didn’t say a word as I hugged him and took in his manly woodsy scent. This was all too close to what we’d gone through not long ago. The fear and loss was still too close to home. I took deep calming breaths. The last thing I needed to do was alert Alex that more was going on than appeared. Footsteps came back into the room. “Is she okay?”
“Yes, just shook her up a little.”
Alex’s voice was directed to me. “I’m sorry, Maren. He’s back in the car. It will be dealt with.”
Pulling back, I gave Alex a quick smile and got my emotions under control. “I’m okay. The hormones have me a little more emotional and jumpy than normal.”
Alex gave me a smile. “I hear congratulations are in order.”
“Yes, we’re very excited.” Glancing up to Bane, he looked down at me with … could it be love? Little flutters filled me as the possibility seemed more likely from Bane’s actions. I hoped our paths were going in the same direction. I wanted to give Bane a chance—to be a family.
Alex nodded, pleased. He was different than Sarge had been. He shook Bane’s hand. “We’ll be in touch. I need to get going.”
“Thanks for stopping by.”
Leaving the room to follow Alex, I blew out an imperceptible breath as we made it to the door. Was it that easy? I remained in the living room as Bane stepped out the front door. I’d only been up for less than an hour, but felt exhausted from this morning’s activities. Overall, I was more tired than normal from the pregnancy. Cars cranked and Bane stepped inside, holding his finger to his lips. I nodded and laid on the couch.
If we weren’t able to talk about anything, I’d close my eyes for a few. A blanket covered me and lips pressed to the side of my cheek. “Angel, I’m going to work on my laptop for a bit. Rest.”
“I will.”
That was all it took for me to fall asleep.
I woke up with the sun high in the sky when I glanced out the windows. Bane sat at the kitchen table with his laptop, doing who knows what. “I feel like I could give the dead a run for their money with how much I’ve been sleeping lately.”
Bane closed the laptop and gave me a smile. “You’re creating a life. It’s normal until the first trimester ends.”
“How do you know all this?” Bane constantly seemed to know more than me when it came to this sort of thing even though I read about what to expect all the time. Faith. Instantly, I felt like an ass. “I’m sorry. I forgot. That was insensitive of me.”
Coming to sit on the coffee table in front of me, Bane grew serious. “I wasn’t a part of Jasmine’s pregnancy except for two days. I’ve been reading up on everything while we’ve been here this last week, making sure I’m doing everything I can for you.”
The warmth spread inside me as a smile spread across my face. “You’re showing me up already.”
He chuckled and his voice resonated. “There’s nothing I could do to show up the mother of my child.”
I sat up and Bane took this as an invitation to sit beside me. Against his shoulder, I asked. “Can we talk?” What I wanted to ask was, are we safe?
“Yes, we’re safe. We’ll be monitored from afar, but we are safe. Alex asked why we were here with security. I explained you were pregnant, we were dating, and that I wasn’t taking any chances this time around given my history. He understood and wanted to know how I’d explained it to you.”
Oh, I was glad that Alex hadn’t pushed for information from me. Bane coached me on the standard answers, but I didn’t want to be questioned by someone at Black Division. After my experience with Sarge, I had a rather dismal view of the group. “What did you say?”
“What I’d told you—that I’d made some questionable enemies while I worked for an oil company in the Middle East. That I lost my first child and all you cared about was keeping the baby safe.”
How many lies had Bane told Jasmine? Or did she know the truth? It wasn’t my place to ask. If Bane wanted to volunteer the information, he would. “Did he ask anything else about Sarge?”
“Yes, he wanted to know what happened. He knew about my communication with Sarge. I told him Eric Thornhill came after us and you believed it was someone from the Middle East. Sarge had been contacted. Originally, I’d been set to meet them, but I received a message from Sarge that Eric had been eliminated. I never left your side, saw Eric or Sarge.”
Everything seemed too easy. Maybe Bane and Hampton’s incessant planning paid off. The answer was obvious, but I had to ask. “What happens if they find out we’re lying?”
“They won’t, angel. Hampton and I have covered our tracks. We’ll be fine. If something goes wrong, we’ll disappear.” Being on the run wasn’t something I wanted to do for the rest of my life. Hopefully, it wouldn’t come to that. “How about I cook you something? We could talk.”
That was an abrupt change of topic. Talk? We always talked, but I enjoyed spending time with Bane. Talking helped lessen me missing the intimacy we’d once shared. “I’d like that. What do you want me to do?”
Bane led me over to the bar where he directed me to sit at one of the two high-backed chairs. “How about grilled cheese?”
I giggled. “Really? Grilled cheese?”
“It’s one hell of a grilled cheese.” He wagged his eyebrows.