Page 193 of Heir

The fact that I was pregnant didn’t feel real.

I hoped it was normal that I still hadn’t been able to connect to my baby, not the way Kai seemed to.

I hoped I would be a good mother, despite all my quirks.

I hoped Kai would show me how to be patient because I was sorely lacking patience, and I needed patience to be a parent.

I placed my hand over my belly and tried to think of the baby growing.

I was only one year away from turning thirty, yet I still felt like such a kid.

Or perhaps that was the wrong word.

Perhaps a better way of explaining it was that I felt like I was being an adult wrong.

I had no job right now. No idea of where I wanted my future to lead.

I didn’t even know what I wanted to do, and I was essentially living off Kai.

My heart raced a little from the panic that hit at the thought, and I closed my eyes, trying to focus on my breathing.

Breathe in, breathe—

A noise out in the living room caught my attention.

What was that?

Slowly, I climbed out of bed.

I was in one of Kai’s T-shirts and sweatpants.

I hadn’t wanted to go to bed in just my panties and shirt with the men out there.

I moved toward the door and cracked it open, peeking out.

Two men named Ace and Vice stood guard.

They turned to me when they heard and smiled softly.

“It’s okay. It’s one of the neighbors next door. Why don’t you go back to sleep?” Ace said to me. Ace had a neatly trimmed goatee and pitch-black hair. He looked like a typical biker in a black leather vest with the King’s Men symbol on it and two full sleeves of tattoos.

He also had the kindest smile and had put me at ease when I’d walked out earlier for a glass of water and met the men for the first time.

Vice was a little harder to read. He didn’t show much emotion on his face. He was also a little older, but I found his presence to be equally calming.

I nodded. “Thank you—”

There was a loud knock at the door.

“Gemma, get back in the room,” Vice said.

“But—”

He shot me a sharp look as he and Ace pulled out their guns.

“Go.”

I went into the bedroom and slammed the door shut without thinking.

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