Page 67 of Wild Night

“You’re pregnant,” she states.

“I’m pregnant,” I confirm her statement.

She presses her lips together, then leans forward, whispering her next words, “Is it Ivy’s?” she asks.

I don’t know why she’s whispering. It’s not like Nathan can repeat any of this conversation. “It’s Ivy’s,” I confirm.

“We’re going to be a family,” Dakota murmurs.

“We’re already a family,” I state.

She shakes her head once, then walks past me to the living room. I watch as she sinks down on the sofa, holding Nathan against her chest as she does. “Of course we are,” she says. “But now we’re a found family, commingled in a way that nobody else could ever get between.”

Thinking about her words, I wonder if she’s indeed right. A found family. We are, aren’t we? I mean, she is my family, but I didn’t know she existed. We’ve found one another. We are found.

“I can’t believe it’s real,” I say.

She nods her head once. Then I feel her fingers wrap around my hand, squeezing me gently. “I’m glad it’s real,” she says softly.

Sucking in a breath, I hold it for a moment, then let it out slowly. “I’m sorry,” I confess. “I fucked up, and I’m sorry.”

Her hand falls from mine. She shifts in her seat, then leans back against the cushion. “What do you mean, sorry for what?”

To her credit, Dakota seems genuinely surprised. Her brows snap together in confusion as she stares at me. She no doubt has zero fucking clue about what I’m apologizing for. She hasn’tbeen here, but she needs to know everything. She deserves to know it all.

“I’m sorry,” I say. “I came here not just for your wedding, but because I needed protecting, and I knew that the Vicious Reapers would do that, because you would make sure they did that for me.”

“Of course I would do that for you,” she says. “Any minute of any day.”

“I was going to take advantage.”

Dakota smiles before she speaks. “But you didn’t, and you tried to take it all on yourself.”

“I did,” I say.

She shrugs a shoulder. “We are related, then. I totally believe it. So, what’s the plan now that you’re having Justin Whitaker’s baby?”

“Live happily ever after?” I guess with a laugh.

“Youarea princess,” she says.

The rest of the afternoon, we chat. She doesn’t ask me details about my weeks away, and I’m glad for it. Instead, I tell her about my life in California. The good parts, at least, like working for the winery.

I leave out the stuff that is depressing, the stuff about Lucian. The stuff about my parents. Dakota doesn’t need to know any of that, not unless she specifically asks, and I hope she never does.

“What now?” I ask.

“Are you going to stay?”

“I want to,” I whisper.

“Then that’s what you’ll do, no matter what.”

Her determination and confidence are truly outstanding, especially considering all the things she’s gone through. I hope I can be like her one day. It’s what I aspire to be—a good wife, a great mother, and the most compassionate friend that ever existed.

IVY

Court goes the way I anticipate. My client is nervous but trusting my process, which is what he needs to do because I know how this is going to play out. There is truly only one way it can, unless the jury loses their goddamn minds. I’m confident in jury selection, so I don’t think that’s going to happen.

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