“I f**ked up!” he shouts this time, making the guard take a step towards us.

“You did, but what I want to know is—are you still f**king up?”

“What do you mean?”

“You said earlier you wished Sophie had died. Do you still feel that way?”

“Do you know why I’m in this fucked-up place?”

I do know. I know he’s in here for murder. “I do,” I reply, looking him dead in the eyes.

“Do you know who I killed?”

“No.” When Justin told me where Sophie’s dad was and why he was there, I didn’t ask any more questions.

“I killed the guy who touched her. It was two days after she left. I had been sober for two whole days, looked around, and realized what I was doing to myself and what I let happen to my daughter. I tracked the guy down that hurt her and killed him. I’m in here for the next fifteen years. I do not regret for one second taking that fucker’s life. I know I should have prevented it from happening in the first place, but I didn’t, so I made it to where it would never happen again.”

“Holy shit.” I sit back in the chair, my body sagging.

“I know I f**ked up with her, but I never wanted her to be afraid again,” he says softly.

I shake my head, still in shock from what he just said. “Someone has tried to hurt her twice since she moved to Tennessee.”

“That’s where she went?”

“What do you mean?”

“I had someone keeping an eye out for her, and then one day she was just gone.”

“Yeah. She’s in Tennessee with me.”

“How long have you been in the picture?” He cocks his head to the side.

“A while.”

“How is she?” he asks, closing his eyes, but not before I catch the look of pain in them.

“Good, but I really need to know who’s after her. Do you know of anyone here from her past who would be messing with her?”

“The only threat she had is dead.” I nod. “What’s your name?” he asks.

I debate for a second if I should tell him, but seeing him in here behind bars and knowing the reason he is here, I quickly make up my mind.

“Nico Mayson.”

“And you’re with my daughter?”

“Yes.”

“Is she happy?” he asks quietly, hopefully.

“Very,” I tell him.

His eyes search my face. “Take care of her,” he chokes out before hanging up the phone and standing. He leaves me sitting there in shock.

I still know nothing about who’s after Sophie, but I do know that her dad loves her, and now I have to figure out if I should tell Sophie about him.

“Fuck,” I grumble out before hanging up the phone and getting the f**k out of there.

Sophie

“Girl, you know I don’t do the whole ‘white meat’ thing, but that man of yours is seriously fine. I mean F-I-N-E,” Maggie says, throwing herself down on the bed next to me.

“I know.” I smile.

“I’ve never seen you this happy.”

“I’ve never been this happy before. He makes everything okay. With him, I feel safe, like I can explore or just be me and know he will watch over me.”

“Yeah, I saw that. He’s kinda scary,” Maggie says quietly.

“He told me he doesn’t have to be nice to anyone but me,” I tell her, watching her eyes widen.

“Wow.” Her head turns towards me, her lips parting slightly.

“You know, when I first met you, I wondered how the hell this little ol’ white girl was gonna make it in the world if she couldn’t even be around a group of people without freaking out. Then you surprised me by never giving up. Yes, you did freak the hell out every time, but you never quit trying. You’re one of the strongest people I know, Sophie. So yes, that man will probably kill anyone who ever tries to harm you, but your strength is internal,” she says, and I start to cry immediately.

“Don’t mind me. This baby has me all messed up,” I say before thinking. No one knows I’m pregnant. Well, no one except Kenton, Nico’s friend Leo, the EMTs, and a whole bunch of cops. Okay…so a lot of people know I’m pregnant.

“Did you just say what I think you said?” I squeeze my eyes closed and shake my head. “You did! You just said, and I quote, ‘Don’t mind me. This baby has me all messed up.’”

“Um…”

“Holy mother of God! Sophie Jean Grates, you’re pregnant!” Maggie yells as she climbs up to stand on the bed. “You’re pregnant and you weren’t going to tell me?” She starts to jump up and down, and just like that, my stomach flips, I stand up and run to the bathroom, and proceed to get rid of my breakfast and lunch. “Oh shit, I’m so sorry! I didn’t even think.”

I feel a cool, wet washcloth run across my forehead. “It’s fine. Just the whole jumping-on-the-bed thing was a little much,” I say, flushing the toilet before taking the washcloth out of her hand and bringing it to my mouth.

“Why the hell were you jumping on the bed?” I hear growled.

Maggie and I look at each other in shock before turning our heads to the open bathroom door.

“Seriously, babe. You have a hard-enough time keeping food down as it is, so tell me why the hell you would feel the need to jump on the bed,” Nico demands, walking into the bathroom.

He is so hot that I have to look at Maggie and see if it’s just me who is affected by him. Nope. The look on her face says that he does it for all women. Today, he has on jeans, boots, and a black Henley with the neck unbuttoned, showing off his tattoos. The area between my legs starts to tingle just from looking at him. I watch as he gets out my toothbrush before putting some toothpaste on it and setting it on the side of the sink. Then he walks over to where I’m still sitting on the floor, picks me up, and places my butt on the bathroom counter.

“You said you were only going to be gone a couple hours,” I complain right away. He has been gone for the last six hours. I try to avoid pouting out my bottom lip like a two-year-old who’s not getting her way.

“I know. I got held up. Now open,” he instructs, and I do before I realize what he’s doing.

“I can brush my own teeth,” I grumble, pulling the brush from his hand to clean my own teeth, and shake my head at him.

“No more jumping on the bed, okay?” he prompts. He looks really worried, and I don’t think it’s from seeing me sick.

“Are you okay?” I ask, searching his face.

“I hate seeing you sick.”

“She wasn’t jumping.” Maggie laughs, looking between us. “I… Well, she slipped up about the baby, and I was excited, so I started jumping on the bed.”

I watch as Nico’s eyes start to narrow, and I pull his face towards me. “Maggie is my friend. I don’t care what you say about not having to be nice to your friends, but you treat mine like you treat me. Got it?” I say, waving my toothbrush around, foam flying everywhere.

“I don’t like you getting sick.”

“Well, then you shouldn’t have gotten me pregnant.”

“I like you pregnant.” His eyes go soft before he runs his hand along my stomach like he often does. I smile then realize I probably look like an idiot with my mouth full of foam and a big cheesy smile on my face.

“You guys kinda make me want to vomit,” Maggie says, making me laugh.

I look across the room at Nico, who has his head tilted towards Devon. They’re both standing next to the bar wearing suits, and each has a glass of what looks like scotch in their hands. Whatever they’re talking about looks really serious.

“What’s that about?” Maggie asks, coming to stand next to me.

“No clue.” I shrug, not taking my eyes off the guys.

“Well, Nico has Devon’s seal of approval.”

“Really?” I ask, finally looking at Maggie, who looks beautiful in her wedding dress. The creamy color against her dark skin is stunning.

I look back at the guys, thinking how much the two men are alike. Devon is one of the hardest people to get along with. His childhood made him into an adult who doesn’t easily trust, yet he always sees the glass as half full. He is also very protective of those he cares about; he is a lot like Nico in that aspect. He is one of the first people who made me feel safe. I knew when we were in Job Corps together that Devon would hurt anyone who even thought about messing with Maggie or me.

“Really. I guess they have a mutual friend, and Devon said he heard about Nico Mayson a long time ago.”

“Seriously?” I whisper, this time in shock. Tennessee and Seattle are really far apart. Knowing that someone in Seattle heard about Nico makes me a lot more curious about his job.

“Yep. Seems your man has made a name for himself.”

“I knew he was good, but wow,” I breathe, my heart filling with pride.

I look over at Nico and Devon again, seeing that they both have their heads turned towards Maggie and me. Nico’s eyes travel from my head to my toes, and I can see the hunger in his eyes. I have the urge to pull him into the bathroom.

“So how does it feel to be married?” I ask, turning back to Maggie.

“No different, I guess.” She shrugs her bare shoulder. “You know, we’ve been living together so long we may as well have been husband and wife already. This is just a piece of paper that says we’re married.”

“I can’t wait to have that piece of paper,” I mumble under my breath.

Yes, I’m living with Nico, and yes, I’m pregnant with his child, but I want his last name. I want his ring on my finger, and I want mine on his. I really wanted it after the one night I was looking at all his tattoos and he told me why he didn’t have one on his left ring finger when he has them on all the others.

“When we get married, I’m gonna tattoo your name there,” he said, and I felt my heartbeat double-time at his words. I want my name on him. I love that idea, but I want him to wear a wedding band as well.

“Do you know the history of the wedding ring?” I asked him, tracing the empty space between his knuckles.

“No. Tell me.”

“In ancient times, the circle was the symbol of eternity, no beginning or end. The hole in the center of the ring also had significance. It wasn’t just considered a space, but rather a door leading to things and events for the couple. When an Egyptian man gave his woman a ring, it signified his never-ending love. Later, when the tradition was adopted by the Romans, the ring symbolized ownership. They also believed the ring should be worn on the left ring finger because they thought there was a vein in that finger, referred to as the ‘Vena Amoris,’ or the ‘Vein of Love,’ that was said to be directly connected to the heart.”

“How do you know that?” he whispered.

My eyes met his, which were warm and soft. “I read it somewhere.” I shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal. I had been fascinated by that little piece of gold on my mom’s finger since I was a little girl.

“Now tell me the truth about how you knew that,” he said, running his hand over my hair.

I sighed, loving and hating how he could read me so easily. “When I was little, I used to play with my mom’s wedding band on her finger. I remember always being curious about what it meant. I knew it meant forever. I just wanted to know why. So one day, my mom took me to the library, and we found this old book about the history of the wedding band. The first ones were made out of grass then later out of ivory or wood, depending on your wealth. But no matter what they were made from, the meaning was always the same.”

“Jesus,” he growled, flipping me onto my back, and before I had a second to think about what was going on, he was inside me.

“Sophie? Sophie?”

“Wh…what?” I ask, snapping out of the memory.

“Wow, that man must have it going on if you can stand in a room full of people and still be with him somewhere else.”

“It wasn’t that.” I blush, lowering my eyes.

“Uh-hummm. Whatever you say, girl, but I know that look anywhere. Hell, I plan on wearing that look later tonight.”

“What are you to talkin’ about?” Devon asks, walking up and putting his arm around Maggie’s waist as Nico does the same around mine.

“Girl talk, and you know we can’t tell you.”

“You and Sophie’s girl talks always mean trouble,” Devon says with a smirk. “Man, you gotta watch out for these two. They’ve always been nothing but trouble.”

“That’s a lie.” I laugh. “You were always trying to get us in trouble.”

“I’m a cop. I take offense to that.”

“Whatever.” I roll my eyes and shake my head.

Devon was always trying to talk us into doing things we weren’t supposed to. Job Corps was very strict; we weren’t allowed to leave the grounds unless you had earned it. We had a curfew and other rules as well, and he was always breaking them and dragging us along with him.

“Sophie loved the drama.” Maggie smiles.

“Anyways, are you excited to go to the Bahamas?” I ask, changing the subject.

“Yes! Two weeks of beautiful beaches and sun. I love Seattle, but I hate that it rains all the time. It will be nice to get out of town,” Maggie says, leaning deeper into Devon’s side, smiling up at him. It used to make me jealous watching them, but now I have that kind of love for myself.

‘That’s one thing I don’t miss. I love Tennessee,” I tell them, feeling Nico’s fingers flex on my hip.