body reacted. Every cell. Every organ. This was his child. The meaning of that slipped, for the first time, all the way into his mind. Before, he’d been careful not to think too much about it, because that way led to disaster. Now that Zane was safe and with them, Steele could let the reality slide into his brain. He’d never been more emotional.
This was his son. He’d made him with Breezy. He might not be good at telling her he loved her, but it was the stark, raw truth. Having a child with her was nothing short of miraculous. He wanted to crush the boy to him, absorb him through his skin the way he wanted to with Breezy.
Zane put both little hands on his jaw, reminiscent of the way Breezy sometimes framed his face. He knew she must do that to their son.
“So your mama told you I was brave, did she?” Steele’s gaze jumped to Breezy’s face. Slow color slid up her neck. She shrugged and tried to look away, but he didn’t let her. “She told you stories about me?”
“Steele.” Her voice held embarrassment.
“Baby, I fuckin’ love that you did that.” He moved his hand gently over the boy’s body, feeling the heat he generated reaching into his son.
She frowned at him. Narrowed her eyes. “There is no need to teach him foul language.”
“Got it. No more saying fuck in front of the boy.”
She rolled her eyes and he grinned at her. Teasing her. She smiled back and shook her head, pretending to be exasperated. He loved that she got that he was teasing her and shared the moment with him. His woman. Not giving him a rash of shit when it wasn’t needed.
“Let’s go home, baby. Can’t wait to get him back where he belongs.” He turned his attention to his son, finishing with his arms and legs and that bruise on his face. He was so little, it didn’t take long. “You’ll love your new home. We’ve got a swimming pool, and I can see you were very fond of swimming. Ours is warm.”
Breezy shook her head. “I’ve got to go to the hospital and see Candy. She took that hit for our son,” she added when he shook his head. “I can’t just leave her behind, Steele.”
“Lizard is with her. He didn’t see any of us. He can’t know you found us.”
“I’ll go into the hospital alone, honey. Lizard won’t try to keep me there and if he did, I could yell for help or tell him there’s a gun on him.”
“I don’t like it, Bree. We’re out right now. Free and clear. No one saw us and there’s no trace of us left behind. We even cleaned up the baby’s DNA.”
“You saw what happened. She stepped in front of him and took the hit. I have to at least ask her.”
“Do it over the phone.”
Breezy shook her head. “I need a face-to-face with her. If nothing else, I can thank her for taking care of Zane. I know you can keep me safe. You’ll have our son with you, and no matter which way it goes with Candy, we’ll be ready to leave immediately.”
“She’s no longer in the hospital. We’ve got eyes on her and Lizard. Her father put her up in a motel. He hasn’t gone back to the estate, but he did get pizza. They’re both there now.”
She reached out and caught his hand. “I need you to make this happen for me.”
What the fuck was he supposed to do when she gave him those emerald eyes and it made sense? Candy had risked herself to save Zane. He just didn’t want to trust her around Breezy and Zane. He wanted to wrap them up in a cocoon and keep them safe from every possible threat.
SEVENTEEN
The motel looked as if it had seen better days. Breezy approached from the other side of the street. She wasn’t to go near the room unless given the signal that everything was clear. Torpedo Ink didn’t want any other Swords member close by. They would have preferred that Lizard was gone as well, but they didn’t have the time to wait him out. For one thing, someone was bound to discover the gruesome scene at the estate very soon. They wanted to be long gone from Slidell when that happened.
She glanced up and down the street warily. She knew Steele’s main concern with her going into the motel room with Lizard was another Swords