Page 153 of Jagger's Remorse
"Having second thoughts?"
"No." The word comes out firm, certain. "This is our world. We built it, we rule it, we'll teach her to navigate it. I just..."
"What?"
"I think about what she'll need to be. Strong. Smart. Ruthless when necessary." I look around the room at these women who've become my family. "But also this. Capable of loyalty. Oflove. Of throwing a fucking baby shower with weapon-themed decorations."
Jagger sits on the arm of my chair, his hand finding mine. "She'll be all of that. How could she not be, with you as her mother?"
"And you as her father. The man who kills for family but reads Psalms to his dying mother."
"We're all walking contradictions," he says. "Maybe that's what'll make her special. The ability to be both."
"Both?"
"Gentle and violent. Loving and lethal. A princess and a killer."
"Like me."
"Like you," he agrees. "But hopefully with better timing. Kid's been kicking my hand every time I try to sleep."
"That's my girl," I laugh. "Already knowing how to make her presence felt."
Raven approaches with a gift I hadn't noticed before. "One more," she says. "From all of us."
The box is small, wrapped in simple paper.
Inside, on a bed of velvet, lies a pendant—a dragon, wings spread, crafted in white gold with tiny rubies for eyes.
It's delicate but fierce, beautiful but dangerous.
"For when she's older," Raven explains. "Every princess needs her emblem."
"It's perfect," I manage around the tightness in my throat. "All of this is... I didn't expect..."
"What? That we'd celebrate this new addition properly?" Raven snorts. "You're family, Scarlett. Have been since you took a bullet for me. That means the kid is family too. And family takes care of family."
"I'll drink to that," Hammer calls out, raising his beer. "To Valentina Dragon Morales. May she be as beautiful as her mother and as deadly as her father."
"To Valentina," the room echoes.
I raise my sparkling cider, feeling the baby kick as if she knows we're talking about her. "To family. Blood and chosen. May our enemies fear the dragon's daughter as they've learned to fear the dragon herself."
"Fuck yeah," someone shouts, and then we're all drinking and laughing.
Later, after the party winds down and gifts are packed away, I find myself in the chapel with Jagger and Squirrel.
The scene of so many plans, so much bloodshed, now quiet except for our voices.
"News came in during the party," Squirrel says, lighting a cigarette. "FBI task force is officially redirecting their focus to the Norteños."
"Yuki's obsession finally compromised the investigation?"
"Among other things. Turns out someone leaked that their lead prosecutor has been conducting unauthorized surveillance. Real sloppy work. Shame."
I smile. "Couldn't have happened to a nicer fed."
"This mean Digger's in the clear?"
