Wicked Ever After (Wicked & Devoted #2) - Shayla Black Page 0,79
placated the woman. It would take far longer to explain, and it was none of anyone’s business. Still, she struggled to keep a silly grin off her face. Marry? “We’re drawing attention, and the last thing I want is for you to stop your festivities for me. Go. Enjoy your honeymoon. I’ll be fine.”
Cutter looked reluctant. “I won’t leave you when you need me.”
“Yes.” She took his hand and squeezed it. “You will. You and your wife have two amazing weeks in paradise at the most beautiful little bed-and-breakfast in Maui, ignoring the rest of the world, including me. I’ll talk to Pierce. Josiah and Logan are nearby, just in case.” She wouldn’t need them, but it seemed to make everyone feel better if she had “bodyguards.”
“Are you sure?” Cutter still looked reluctant to leave her.
He needed to stop being overprotective.
“Really.” She hugged him. “I’ll text you later.” At that point, she lost all patience for everyone’s well-meaning interference. “Excuse us.”
People mercifully backed off. Pierce didn’t waste any time taking her hand in his. He felt so warm and big and alive. It was all she could do not to cry tears of joy.
Then he dropped to his knees and placed a hand on her belly, cradling their baby. Around them, the small crowd gasped. She ignored everyone else as he touched her with such tenderness. Then there was no stopping the tears from welling in her eyes.
“Come on,” Shealyn murmured to Cutter. “Let’s give them some privacy and get started on our married life.”
“All right, sweetheart,” Cutter conceded. “Brea, call if you need anything at all.”
Nodding absently, she fisted a trembling hand at her side, trying so hard not to throw herself against Pierce in a sobbing puddle, ask him a million questions, and make him promise he’d never leave her again.
He settled her into a chair and crouched in front of her, his hands in hers. “You okay, baby?”
She nodded. “Are you?”
“Yeah. Don’t cry. I’m fine. I promise.”
She pressed a hand to her mouth to hold in a sob, but it was useless. “Another month with no word from you… It scared me so much. Then I heard this morning that Montilla is dead. Is it true?”
He nodded. “I killed him last night and I started making my way back to you as soon as the deed was done.”
“So it really is over?”
“Yeah. I’m home for good,” he promised. “We can finally be together without you being in danger, and I don’t give a fuck who knows. No, I hope everyone knows. I’m here to finally make you mine.”
Relief crashed through her. Happiness flooded in, destroying the last of her composure. Tears fell in earnest.
He cupped her shoulders and pressed his forehead to hers. “That shouldn’t make you sad.”
She shook her head. “It makes me so happy. But I was scared. I didn’t know what I was going to do if you didn’t come back and—”
“Shh. You’ve got nothing to worry about.” He gave her belly another stroke. “Neither does the baby. Everything okay?”
She nodded. “Fine.”
“Boy or girl?”
She’d kept the gender of their baby to herself, wanting him to be the first person she told yet so afraid she’d never get the chance. Now she was bursting to deliver the news, but… “Not with an audience. I’d rather tell you and you alone.”
He glanced around at the wedding guests still gathered, pretending to be interested in the reception, but too close to be paying attention to anything but them.
“I’d like that.”
“All right. I have to have a glucose screening next week. You can come with me to that.”
He tensed. “There a problem?”
“I don’t know. The test is standard. I get woozy when I forget to eat, so…” She shrugged. “But I’m otherwise okay.”
“Forget to eat?” He raised a brow. “You won’t be doing that anymore. Do you feel okay now? Do you need food?”
He’d been in a foreign country for the better part of two months, dodging thugs and criminals as he plotted to single-handedly take down the overlord of a drug cell, and he wanted to know if she’d eaten? “Josiah brought me a snack after the ceremony, and I nibbled a little more during dinner. I just…haven’t been able to eat today for worrying about you.”
He cupped her face. “I love that you think of me, but don’t ever worry about me. My job from here on out is to take care of you.”
Brea didn’t think she would ever stop worrying about him, but the white