Page 166 of Illicit Heir

She freezes, her eyes widening in fear.

Tully reaches into the car, ordering, "Come on inside."

She swallows hard and asks, "Who are ya?"

"I'm Tully O'Connor."

She shrinks back a bit, as if she's unsure if she should be scared.

I don't blame her. I understand it. Tully's the opposite of what we've known.

He adds, "I won't hurt ya. We're very grateful that ya brought my grandson back. Now, please come inside."

Maeve reluctantly gets out of the car, and they disappear into the house.

I spin, and Devin's staring at us, eyes full of emotion and wearing an expression I've never seen before. I choke up even more.

His eyes lock on our son's head.

I turn our baby around and state, "This is your son."

Devin keeps his gaze on him as if he's unsure what to do. Then he holds his hands out and cautiously asks, "Can I hold him a moment?"

I don't want to let my son go, but I do. "Of course ya can." I hand him to Devin.

He pulls him close to his chest, murmuring, "Hey, buddy, I'm your real da."

I can't see. My eyes are too blurry from my tears.

Devin takes his other arm and pulls me into him. He continues, "You're safe now. I'm going to make sure I protect ya and your mum." He kisses both of us on the head and then leads us inside.

I take a deep breath, trying to calm my residual fear.

Devin quietly asserts, "It's over. We can now begin."

"Begin what?" I question.

He kisses me on the lips and answers, "The rest of our life."

30

Devin

"I wake up and roll over, but Lauren's not beside me. I groan, grip my raging hard-on, then mutter, "Fucking wedding rules."

Fuck this.

I leave the guest bedroom and wander naked down the hall, wondering what time it is, knowing it's still early.

I sneak into our bedroom. Lauren's quietly sleeping. She's probably exhausted. I know she's been feeding the baby several times in the middle of the night. But I'm a selfish bastard, and I want my soon-to-be wife.

I stare at her for a moment, thinking about how lucky I am. I finally have everything I want—her and our son, whom she named Dominick Devin O'Connor. There's nothing else in the world I'll ever need. And I'm never letting either of them out of my sight again.

She moves her hand, and the diamond ring peeks out from under the pillow.

Warmth fills my heart. I assumed marriage was for the weak. That it was a noose around a man's neck, and I swore I'd never tie the knot.

Yet here I am, counting down the hours that stand between Lauren and me saying our vows.

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