replied immediately, "but you need to rest. Do you want to wait until tomorrow?"
He looked concerned, and while he hadn't mentioned the baby, I knew that's what had him worried. "Maybe I can do both," I suggested, "if you're cool with hanging out in my room."
Dylan just laughed, and before I could ask him what was so funny, he swept me up in his arms. It wasn't until I was off my feet that a bone-deep tiredness hit me. I didn't even fight him as he started to walk, carrying me wedding style up the stairs.
"You could have just said you were cool with chatting in my room," I told him, yawning.
"Brooklyn Lawson, the fact that you even had to ask that tells me that this conversation is a long time coming."
He was right, and I desperately needed to make sure I didn’t fall asleep before we got upstairs, no matter how relaxing it was to rest against his chest. I wanted to know more about where we both stood with each other. Not just wanted. Needed.
It was a desperate driving need.
31
I directed him to my room, and he strode in, making the entire area seem positively tiny, before he gently set me on the bed. Scooting back, I leaned against the many fluffy pillows before patting the spot next to me so Dylan knew I wanted him to sit there.
"So," I said, staring at him, as he shifted closer and settled in next to me. He was so close and warm, and I found myself leaning toward him, even when I knew I shouldn't. "Where should we start?"
He let out a low breath, rubbing his hands across his dark pants, and I wondered if maybe he was a little nervous. "Firstly, we have followed all known leads on Blake and whoever he’d been dealing with. I believe that you should be safe now, but we’ll keep digging until we’re totally sure."
"Did you find the bracelet?"
He nodded. "Yeah, it was in the hospital. They must have taken it off when you first came in, and it was being held in their storage."
"Were all the plans on it?"
Dylan’s face was serious as he let out a low breath. "That and more. There were a few important documents on there that we had no idea Blake was in possession of. In particular, there was some information pertaining to the Delta vaults that, if it fell into the wrong hands, would mean a lot of trouble for us."
I was near speechless at how open he was being with me right now, sharing secrets like... a couple. "What's the Delta vault?"
He made a frustrated sound. "It's a vault filled with all of Delta's secrets that we've been trying to track down so we can destroy it. It has blackmail material on all five Delta families so none of us would ever betray the others, among many, many other things. The vault’s last secret-keeper died, and now all we have are a few photocopied pages from Riley's brother's journal to go on for cracking the code—pages that were on Blake's data chip."
These people legitimately lived in some fucked up thriller novel. "Wait, Riley has a brother?"
Dylan shook his head. "She had a half-brother, Oscar. He was murdered. It's a long, complicated, and, frankly, almost unbelievable story. I'll tell you all about the years when Riley first came into our lives one day, but for now, I want to talk about us."
Us. Such a tiny word, but fuck, it meant so much.
"Okay," I agreed with a small yawn. "Us sounds perfect."
Dylan just gave me a slow smile. "I'll start, shall I?"
"Sure, yes, perfect." I nodded like an idiot, feeling my cheeks flame. This was both horrifically awkward and insanely romantic, all at the same time. I'd never in a million years thought Dylan would be the kind of guy to openly discuss his feelings... yet, here we were.
"Brooke..." he murmured, stroking a blonde curl back from my face. "I'm in love with you."
Boom. Just like that.
My jaw flapped a moment as I frantically searched for words.
"No, you're not," I finally replied in a strangled voice.
His dark brows hitched, and an amused smile touched his full lips. "Uh, yeah, I am. Why do you find that so hard to believe?"
I frowned, and acid soured my stomach. "You're not; you just think you should be because I'm pregnant. It's not the same thing, Dylan."
His amusement slipped, and irritation flashed through his green eyes. They were so similar to