Page 155 of Jagger's Remorse
"No, it doesn't." He kisses my neck. "Good thing her mother wrote the book on being extraordinary."
"Her father contributed a few chapters himself."
We stand there in our daughter's nursery, surrounded by weapons and baby supplies, motorcycles and stuffed animals. The contradictions that make us who we are.
"I love you," I tell him. "Both of you."
"Forever?"
"And then some."
Valentina kicks again, as if agreeing. My little dragon, already fierce in the womb. She'll need to be. The world we're giving her demands strength.
But tonight, she's just our daughter. Growing safe inside me while her family—blood and chosen—prepares for her arrival.
Let our enemies come—rivals, feds, anyone stupid enough to threaten what's mine.
They'll learn what Jagger learned that night in my father's office.
Dragons don't just breathe fire.
Sometimes, they build empires from the ashes.
