“Many people have.”
“And he hurt Blair.”
Flinching as if I’ve slapped her, Landry replies, “That’s why he’s dead.”
“He broke her arm, so I broke his face.”
“I feel like you want me to applaud,” Landry says and stands up. “But I’m tired. It’s not a regular kind of exhaustion. This is ‘cooking a baby’ kind of tired.”
Standing, I feel too large next to her. Landry isn’t even a tiny chick, but she’s fragile despite how calm she remains. Life has beaten her down for so long that she no longer reacts to shit. Everything just happens and she moves on.
Though I wish Landry would stay up longer, I notice her limping and holding her small baby bump. She has a painful ligament thing from being pregnant so much. I overheard her say she hurts when she doesn’t sit down enough. I should have remembered that earlier, but I got agitated and greedy.
“Do you want a shower?” I ask after she checks on her kids.
“Do I smell?”
“No.”
“Then, I don’t want to do anything except sleep,” she says, kicking off her shoes and climbing onto my bed. “Are you sleeping with me?”
“Yes.”
“Can that room monitor tell me if the kids wake up?”
“Yes. The system notices if there’s an increase in noise or movement.”
Smiling at the idea, Landry doesn’t crawl under the blankets. Instead, she rests her head on the pillow and closes her eyes. Without another word, she’s asleep.
I strip down to my boxers and a T-shirt before joining her. Leaving the light on, I want to see her up close for a while.
This wasn’t how I imagined our first night together. I wanted Landry to give birth, so she would feel more confident about her body. She told the person on the phone how she’s sick of pregnancy. She’s always sweaty and bloated.
Despite how she sees herself, I find Landry to be gorgeous. Though Kati was cute and sexy, Landry is a classic kind of beauty. She looks beautiful, even when eight months pregnant, exhausted, and sporting a swollen lip.
Despite how right I was about her beauty, I’m bothered by how overly relaxed she was tonight.
As if responding to my internal worries, Landry wakes with a gasp. She sees me and then looks at the door.
“I’m so tired,” she says and stares wide-eyed at me.
“You should sleep.”
“Do you promise you won’t hurt my babies?”
“I promise, and my word is golden.”
Watching me with exhausted eyes, Landry rubs her belly. “I want to believe you, Silas.”
Before I can respond, she returns to sleep. I think about her use of my name. Silas reminds me of my crappy childhood. Nothing good can come out of that. Nomad is the man who earned respect. He made money. He rides with a solid club. That’s who can do right by Landry and her kids.
However, I like how she wants to call me something special. I need Landry to give me a genuine shot. The day I first saw her, she awoke something inside me, and I’m afraid to feel it die out.
So rather than focus on everything that went wrong today, I embrace what went right.Neal Copper is dead. Those sweet kids are safe in my house. The woman I’ve wanted for months shares my bed.
When I consider all that, my plan went off without a hitch.