Atonement (Angel's Halo MC 5)

The second though was even more mind numbing: is it mine? Then I remembered how tight she had been, how innocent she had been, and all the years she had been patiently waiting for me to stop being so fucking stupid.

Of course the baby was mine. Quinn wasn’t the type of girl to sleep around with just anyone. I had taken her virginity, had claimed her body as mine that night over four weeks ago.

Then I remembered what had happened earlier. The bullets, the broken glass, Quinn on her stomach with me on top of her.

“Are you okay?” My voice was hoarse, full of a new fear and a million new emotions I had never felt before.

My kid was growing inside this female. We had just gotten caught in the crosshairs of the war that some psychotic Italian wanted to rage on me and my MC. No wonder she had been so upset. I had just found out that I was going to be a father, and suddenly I couldn’t breathe for fear that something had happened to my child before it even had a chance to live.

She smoothed her fingers over the sheet in a loving kind of way only a mother would do. “I’m good—we’re good.”

The breath rushed back into my lungs as relief flooded over me like a welcomed tsunami. “Thank God.”

Quinn’s face scrunched up. “You … You’re glad?”

“Of course I’m glad. It would destroy me if something happened to you, Quinn.” I touched the hand that had been cupping her face only moments ago to her belly, my fingers covering hers as I pressed both our hands over where I could only imagine our child was growing safely. “I know I haven’t shown it all that well, but I care about you, Quinn.”

“Oh,” she murmured, her lips pressing together.

I didn’t know what I expected, but an “oh” wasn’t it. I thought confessing that I cared about her would make her soften toward me. That she would get that look back in her eyes she had always seemed to have in them whenever she had looked at me in the past. I wanted that look back, but it hadn’t been there once since I had been back.

Had I finally accomplished what I had always stupidly said I wanted? Had I killed her love for me?

Fuck, I hoped not.

“Quinn …”

The door opened without warning, cutting off what I was about to say. I wasn’t even sure what I would have said. Maybe I would have admitted that I didn’t just care about her. That I loved her. Maybe I would have begged her to love me again.

Kelli walked in with a snarl twisting her face. “You stole my fucking car.”

I shot her a glare, hating her for interrupting. “You weren’t

moving fast enough.”

“The Flash wouldn’t have been able to move fast enough the way you were running to chase after Colt and Quinn.” She stood at the foot of the bed, her hands on her hips. “And the cops were at my house. What was I supposed to do? Let them walk in and do whatever the hell they pleased?”

I shrugged, not giving a shit about her, or anyone else. Except for Quinn. Nothing mattered but her … and the baby. “I don’t really give a fuck.”

“Of course you don’t.” She rolled her eyes at me then turned them to Quinn. “How are you feeling, honey?”

“I’m good. The baby is fine, too.”

Kelli shot me a quick look, as if expecting me to go off at the mention of the baby, but Quinn shook her head.

“It’s okay. He knows now.”

“Okay then.” She moved around to the other side of the bed. “Are they going to let you out of here? Or should I run home and get you a few things?”

“I’m getting released, but Colt said we can’t go home. We’re back on lockdown. We will have to go to the clubhouse.”

“Great.” She grimaced. “Just where I wanted to sleep tonight.”

Chapter 24

Raider

After what had happened at Quinn’s house, lockdown was in full-force once she was released from the hospital later that night. The clubhouse was packed, which meant very few places for privacy. The one thing I needed more than anything right then with Quinn was privacy.