Tainted Forever (Tainted Knights 5)

“Your mom?”

Natalie looked at me with pained eyes. “Stella Stevenson is a narcissistic, manipulative cunt. I hate her. She still hasn’t accepted that I’m married to Devlin. She’s only met my daughter twice, and that was because Dad forced her to when we were in Ohio for a concert. It doesn’t matter to her that I’m happy and in love. It won’t matter that Jenna is either. She has her standards, and neither of us has ever or will ever meet them in her eyes.”

“I’m sorry, Nat,” I told her, crossing to her and hugging her.

She hugged me back. “It’s her loss,” she said after a moment, giving me a small, tight smile. “That’s why Jenna and I have always had each other’s backs. We don’t need Mom if we have one another.”

I met her gaze, hoping she would realize what she as saying. Her chin began to tremble, and she bit her lip, hard. Swallowing, she glanced at Layla. “Uh, Lay, could you maybe…”

The other woman smiled. “No problem. We got this, don’t we, Kin?”

I nodded. “Yeah. Don’t worry about it.”

She grabbed her purse. “Could you tell Dev that I don’t know what time I’ll be home?”

“Dev knows,” a deep voice said from the kitchen doorway. We all turned to look at the rocker, a loving smile on his face making his dimples pop. “Go on. Trinity and I can walk home from here. That’s a perk of living so freaking close to our son. Just drive carefully, baby.”

She rushed across the room and kissed him. “I love you.”

“Love you, Nat.” He stroked his hands over her hair. “It’s about time you two cleared this up.”

“Yeah,” she whispered a little shakily. “I’ll be home later.”

“Take your time. Don’t rush on my account.” He kissed her again. “I know you’ve missed her.”

Natalie hugged me on her way out the door. “Thanks, Kin,” she breathed.

“I didn’t do anything.”

“You did more than you realize,” she said with a laugh, dashing tears off her cheeks. “I owe you one.”

Chapter 16

Jace

The sound of my phone blasting beside my ear had me jerking upright in bed. Hea

rt pounding, I didn’t even glance at the clock before answering.

But before I could ask what the fuck was going on, Harris was already talking a mile a minute. “Get here, man! I’m about to be a dad.”

“She’s in labor for real?” I was slightly skeptical.

Lucy had been having contractions on and off since her baby shower on Sunday. It was the middle of the night now, Tuesday going into Wednesday. Kin had been sending me various texts letting me know Lucy’s progress, and I’d been a little grumpy because that was all she would talk to me about. If I mentioned anything heavier than that, she would go radio silent on me, and I’d be left staring at my phone, begging those three dots to appear.

“Her water broke. We’re at the hospital, and she’s being wheeled up to a room right now.”

“Hey, Jace!” Lucy’s voice called out. “Please hurry. Harris needs you to keep him calm.”

I grinned as I got out of bed. “I’m on my way. Be there as soon as I can.”

“Pick up coffee,” my best friend instructed, and I could hear the stress in his voice under all the excitement. Lucy was right; I would need to keep him calm.

“Kin there?” I asked as I pulled on sweat pants and grabbed a shirt. Picking up my keys and wallet, I sprinted through the apartment and out the door.

“Right here beside me.”

“Good. I’ll pick up enough for everyone, minus Lucy.” The elevator arrived seconds after I pressed the call button, and I stepped inside. “I’ll be there as soon as I can, bro.”