Page 29 of Unbound

“I need to be there; I need you with me. And it doesn’t matter the venue; it’s strategic.”

“Huh?”

“I don’t wanna get into it. It’s about who took her, why, and all that shit. You don’t need the details but her being there will send a message to the little fuck that took her.”

“Tommy,” I whined and rubbed my eyes.

“Tia, I need to fuckin’ know you’re okay. Do this for me.”

“Last time we were there, things were kind of rough.”

Understatement.

“It was rough, yeah. But it was also beautiful, baby girl. Vegas was where you told me you loved me that first time, where you told me you were mine. It’s also where I knew how important it was for me to fix what’s broken in me.”

My heart swelled. “You and me are both a little bit broken, Tommy. But we’re like puzzle pieces that fit together.” I linked my fingers with his and tightened them.

“You’re not a little broken, Tia. You’re ten times stronger than I am.” He kissed each of my knuckles and closed his eyes, pulling me tight to his warm body. “I’m sorry for being a dick this morning,” he said.

I nodded.

He put his hand on my belly. It was still flat, but that wouldn’t last with the way I’d been eating in the last twenty-four hours. I was keeping food down since the day before too, which was a welcome change.

“Talking names? Can’t even see a bump yet but it’s…fuck…shit’s getting real.”

“Yep.” I looked him in the eyes.

He looked back into mine with warmth. “You forgive me?”

“Not sure yet. And it might be a girl, you know. Fifty-fifty chance.”

He shook his head, looking a little disgusted.

“Such a man thing. Prove you’re a man by having boys?”

“Naw, fuck. It’s not that. The idea of having a little girl? Scares the shit outta me.”

I smiled. “God help her boyfriends.”

He sorta looked a little green. He flexed his jaw muscles.

“You gonna puke?” I asked.

“I might.”

I cuddled into him and he wrapped me up tight in his arms.

“Well, whether it’s a boy or a girl it sure as heck isn’t gonna be Bella now,” I grumbled. “Thanks for ruining that for me.”

He put his mouth to my forehead but wisely kept his mouth shut.

I started to trace his tattoo, getting lost in thought. His hand started to move up and down my leg and then he was cupping my ass, his lips moving down my face with feather-light kisses as he made his way to my mouth.

I got lost in a hungry kiss, but then his phone rang and he looked at the screen and declined the call, a muscle ticking in his jaw as he fiddled with the phone a second and dialed another number. I didn’t tune into his conversation.

My mind wandered back to Tess. Thank God she was okay. She’d been through so much these last few months.

I thought back to my time in Mexico, in the little girls’ room in that dank basement. I felt a little sick, suddenly, remembered it with vivid detail. I smelled it down there. Tasted what that horrible guy down there did to my mouth. And then I remembered what that cop told me Tommy had done to Juan Carlos and to Earl. I felt the contents of my stomach coming up. I untangled myself from Tommy and dashed to the bathroom.

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