I threw out “right,” hoping he’d think I was trying to protect my left hand. I was actually right-handed. My heart raced as I anticipated the extreme pain I was about to experience.
Tami probably knew the truth, but she was whimpering on the ground.
“Take the left,” Rat told his guy.
My hand was held down, my middle and index fingers in position. I braced for it, but could anyone really prepare themselves?
I held my breath, squeezing my eyes shut. I couldn’t watch my fingers get chopped off. Blinding pain hit when the metal crunched through my bones and connected with the concrete.
I screamed like a weak-ass pussy. My eyes flew open when Rat and the others laughed. I shouldn’t have dropped my gaze to the floor. Blood drained out of my hand. I gagged and heaved, staring at my two fingers.
I wasn’t strong enough to bear the pain after they’d beaten me up. Exhaustion hit me hard. I tried to fight through it, but I lost the battle.
My vision blurred, darkness rolling in like a dense fog.
Everything went black.
13
Dodge
My whole life was in this bed: my fiancée and my son. As soon as I could go into town, I’d buy Emilee a ring, like I’d promised her last night after we made love two more times before Dante woke for his midnight feeding.
It wasn’t easy being quiet in the bedroom. We’d tried, but the damn bed squeaked too much, so I carried Emilee into the living room. I sat on the sofa and let her go to town on me. Surprisingly, her knee didn’t bother her at all while she rode me. My sweet Em had taunted me with her delicious tits bouncing in my face. It was fucking beautiful and erotic.
She’d said Dante would be up around six in the morning, and she was right. At the first sound he made, I jumped out of bed. I didn’t want him to wake Emilee up. She was exhausted after her ordeal and our reunion celebration.
Guilt burrowed in my chest. Thoughts of Justin threatened to steal my joy. I hated him for causing Emilee and me so much misery. Even so, I didn’t want him hurt or worse. I was sure Storm would’ve called us if there were any news on his whereabouts. If Cobra’s crew had found Justin, we would’ve been told.
I look at my gorgeous woman. We needed the time we had together. I was sure her dad was on her mind too. We weren’t heartless people, but we needed last night together.
Little D, as Emilee called him, didn’t take his eyes off me. I was lying next to Em on my back, my legs bent and my little man propped against them. His finger was wrapped around mine, drool on his lips. I must’ve dabbed it away a dozen times already. I couldn’t believe the difference one month made. Dante seemed a lot more alert and curious compared to Birdie.
I scrunched my nose. He needed a fresh diaper, but I didn’t know how to change one. Maddy hadn’t gotten to that lesson in daddy boot camp.
In some ways, Little D looked like me. He had my exact hair color and shape of eyes. Then he’d make a face and remind me of Emilee. He was perfection, like his momma.
Boy, he was serious too. That was definitely more me than Em.
Did he know I was his dad? Could he feel how much I loved him?
I hoped so.
I caressed his soft cheek with my thumb. His eyes brightened, the corner of his lip twitched like he wanted to smile.
“Hi,” I whispered. “I’m your daddy. I’ve been waiting a long time to meet you, son.” I swallowed the emotion building in my throat. “I want you to know I’ve loved you since the day your momma peed on the pregnancy stick.”
Little D finally cracked a smile. My heart soared.
It was official. I had the cutest kid on the planet.
Emilee stirred beside me and scooted closer. Her eyes stayed closed, but there was a faint smile on her pretty face. Her blonde hair was a wild mess.
Perfection, sheer perfection.
My heart grew ten times larger.
I kissed her forehead to gently wake her up. Our boy was in desperate need of a new diaper.