Page 110 of Illicit

“And Marley,” Teagan amends. “And you. But that’s it.”

“Yes, sweet Marley. That’s why I’m here.”

Teagan finally relaxes. “She’s beautiful.”

Evie smiles. “I can’t imagine she’d be anything less. I can’t wait to meet her and check on Sammie. Sounds like she had quite the night.”

“It was rough,” Teagan says. “But my parents are up there. If you could not mention this.” She motions between the two of us. “We’d appreciate it.”

Evie frowns. “Is this a secret?”

“It was,” I say. “But we’re about to fix that.”

Evie steps forward and pulls Teagan in for a hug. “Don’t keep it a secret for long. Life is too short. I’m just glad you’re both back.” She takes a step back. “Oh, wait. You’re moving to New York. How is that going to work?”

I roll my eyes as Teagan clams up.

“I see,” Evie says. “Well, I won’t say anything to your parents today. But that’s all I can promise. I don’t like secrets.”

No, Evie wouldn’t like secrets. That’s understandable given what she went through before she met Micah. Hell, it’s how she met Micah.

“We’ll take care of it,” I promise.

Evie beams. “A new baby and new love. This is the best day ever.”

And with that, what I assume are pricey shoes click on the pavement and take her into the hospital.

Teagan and I stand here, frozen to our spots.

She faceplants in my chest, and I bring my hand up to the back of her head. “You okay, baby?”

“No.” The word is muffled in my chest. “Not really.”

“You’ll be fine,” I promise. “But now our conversation might be a little bit different than we planned. And I have a feeling we’ve just been put on the clock.”

26

UNDER DURESS

Rocco

Today at 10:47 AM

Brax Cruz added Rocco Monroe to the conversation.

Brax – What the fuck?

Brax – Rocco!

Brax – You’d better fucking answer.

Micah – I’m just going to put it out there that we’ve known Teagan since she was in diapers.

King – Would you assholes chill? Do you really think he’s going to fuck her over? I mean, you’d better not fuck her over, Roc. I don’t think you would, but it’s our duty as uncles to say it.

Micah – He’s not going to answer. Evie said they were up all night.

Brax – This is not the time to sleep. We have shit to discuss.

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