Cruz (Dark and Dirty Sinners' MC #5) - Serena Akeroyd Page 0,109

scowled up at him, like a meerkat telling a grizzly bear to back the fuck down. "You hear me, Nyx? Get yourself under control."

Because she'd barged in, I stepped inside the room, tucking myself small so that they wouldn't notice me and wouldn't toss me out.

I needed to know what was happening more than they could understand.

Everyone attached to the Sinners was going through the same hell, but not all of them had my past.

The need for security, the need for things to be copacetic, was an urge that might keep the wolves at bay, and that would stop me from going crazy.

Nyx's nostrils flared at Giulia's retort, and Link asked, "What's going on?"

I shot him a look, saw he was concerned, and Link didn't really do concerned. He was too cheerful, too playful. Too happy-go-lucky.

Well, as much as a natural born killer could be.

There was a reason we easily accepted the notion of killer clowns, after all.

With the grins and the chuckles, it was too easy to think they could stab someone in the neck...

Exactly like I had.

Oops.

"Giulia, well, she—"

She heaved a sigh. "For God's sake, Nyx. I don't have cancer."

He gnawed on his lip, and for the first time in my life, a long life of knowing this man, of seeing his downfalls and his vices, or knowing what made him tick, I had to admit, I'd never seen him so uncertain. So...

Jesus.

Was he nervous?

"What's going on?" Storm demanded.

"I'm pregnant. I found out after they ran some tests."

Link blinked. "Huh." Then, as the surprise faded, his grin made a massive reappearance, and like always, that goddamn smile of his was contagious.

So much so that even though shit was crazy and our worlds were tossed upside down, the sight of it had me grinning, and as the brothers swept around Nyx, whooping and hooting their congrats, I slipped to Giulia's side and carefully wrapped my arm around her waist, much like I'd done with the kids out there.

"You're going to be a momma."

She bit her lip as she shot me a look. "What a day to find out, huh?"

"Yeah, it is," I agreed, "but maybe it's the light at the end of the tunnel, no? What the fuck else are we doing all this for if it isn't for the ones we love?"

She frowned at that, then murmured, "You doing okay?"

I shook my head. "No. I've been better. But this is good news." I kissed her cheek. "You're going to make psychotic parents, but I wouldn't miss the show for anything."

She pulled me into a hug. "That sounds like you were planning on going somewhere."

"I was." But I sighed. "Now I need to be the cool aunt who remembers important things like school and shit."

Giulia snorted. "I'm not an alien. Not like Nyx."

"You're the one having his Martian baby."

"I prefer to think he's from Jupiter," she teased, pulling back to smile at me. Something softened in her gaze as she studied me, before she murmured, "You're really happy for us?"

I nodded, and I meant it. "Terrible timing, like you said, but the best kind of timing too. That's probably going to set up the kid for a lifetime."

Giulia's smile was shaky. "I didn't expect it, not really, so it came as a surprise."

"On a night of surprises."

Before she could reply, Nyx dragged me into his arms, and he burrowed his face into my hair, much like he'd done earlier.

He was the strangest kind of beast.

So strong, so fucking rabid, so dangerous, but with the women he loved? Fucking putty.

It was, I knew, one of the reasons we weren't that close. Because I meant too much to him, and what he could avoid, he would.

The thought resonated, and I murmured, "You'd better not check out on her if she's carrying a girl."

"Giulia's got my fucking soul, Indy," he growled.

"Wasn't talking about Giulia. She knows how to get through to you, but I know what you're like with the women you aren't boning but love."

"Never boned anyone I loved before," he countered.

"True. I guess this is virgin territory for us all, but you know what I'm saying, so don't try to change the subject. You think you can pull away from your daughter because it hurts too much to love her and need to protect her, I'll kick your ass."

"That's nothing to what Giulia would do."

"Which makes her perfect for you," I teased, squeezing him tightly. "For your sake," I carried on, my voice more serious now, "I hope it's a