The knocking came again, and she frowned, wondering who in the hell would be pounding on her door at this hour. Her cell phone lay silent beside the clock. If someone needed her, why hadn’t they just called?
With a sigh, she rose and donned a terry cloth robe, ignoring the ominous rumble in her tummy that signaled an impending onslaught of morning sickness, and hoped the visitor didn’t wake Kalen. Her poor mate was exhausted from all the crap he’d been dealing with and deserved to sleep. But later she had something to share with him that she hoped would make him happy. The idea of telling him gave her a little thrill.
She was thinking about whether to share the news over omelets or take him for a walk instead when she opened the door without looking through the peephole—
And found herself face-to-face with General Jarrod Grant of the US Navy.
“Dad!” she squeaked.
“Baby girl!” he boomed, giving her a big smile. “Surprise!”
Instantly she was wrapped in a huge bear hug, the stuffing squeezed out of her. “Oh my God! Isn’t it, though?” Oh, shit. She was almost always overjoyed to see her dad. Except when her new Bondmate was lying in her bed, sexually sated and snoozing.
“Let me look at you,” he said, setting her back from him a bit. “You’re lovely, as always. Almost glowing.”
Imagine that. “You look rather handsome yourself.”
It was the truth. Her father was still a very good-looking man, even pushing sixty. Everywhere he went, he turned heads with his toned, military-hard physique. His dark hair was more salt than pepper these days and there were laugh lines in the corners of blue eyes that looked just like Mac’s, but it all added to his ruggedly masculine appeal.
“Thanks, pumpkin.” He glanced to the kitchen with a hopeful look. “Got any coffee?”
“You bet. Coming right up.” Please don’t let the smell of it make me sick. She kissed his cheek, then moved into the kitchen to put on a pot. They were all going to need it. Idly, she gestured toward his crisp dress uniform. “Here on official business?”
His happiness dimmed some as he took a seat at the small table. “You could say that. Got a call from Nicky a couple of days ago that I couldn’t ignore. So here I am.”
“That’s rather vague,” she said drily, fetching three mugs. She resisted the urge to bite her lip, figuring the extra mug wouldn’t go unnoticed.
It didn’t. “You got company?” he asked, tone carefully neutral.
“Um, you could say that.” Ugh. How awkward. “But it’s fine, really. In fact, there’s something I need to—”
“Hey, baby. Do I smell coffee?”
Yawning sleepily, her Sorcerer walked right past her father seated at the table without noticing him. Her dad’s eyes widened and his brow shot up. Thankfully, Kalen had put on his jeans before venturing out of the bedroom, but given his disheveled state, the top button undone at his waist, and no shirt, it was pretty darned clear that this man was her lover.
Her enthusiastic lover, who wrapped his arms around her and gave her a soul-melting kiss while her father smirked at her behind Kalen’s back.
She managed to pull away with an embarrassed laugh. She was a grown woman and this was her life, but still. “Uh, Kalen, sweetie. There’s someone I want you to meet.”
“Huh?” Confusion furrowed his brow until she turned him to face her dad. “Oh! Damn, sorry! I didn’t realize we had company. I’m Kalen Black,” he said politely, voice uncertain, as he stuck out his hand.
Her father rose to his full six-foot-four height, smirk gone. In her dad’s place was the man who could—and had—made grown men pee their pants. “General Jarrod Grant.” He took the offered hand, giving Kalen the unmistakable once-over that let the other man know he was being measured. And that the jury was out.
“Nice to meet you, sir.” To his credit, Kalen didn’t flinch. He stood straight and tall, meeting her father’s gaze with a level one of his own, silently communicating that while he was respectful, he was no pushover.
“You too, Kalen.” Her dad paused, narrowing his eyes as he released Kalen’s hand. He glanced between his daughter and the man in her apartment. “You’re the Sorcerer Nick was telling me about. You’re the reason the Pack is having so much trouble with that Unseelie bastard.”
“You’ve got the right Sorcerer but the wrong impression,” Kalen said stiffly. “Malik doesn’t need a reason to make everyone’s lives miserable, but he’s got a couple all the same, and his plans happen to include me.”
“And what do your plans include? Balancing on the fence until you figure out which side you’re going to land on?”
The temperature in the room seemed to drop about twenty degrees and Mac’s stomach twisted. “Daddy, please—”
Kalen interrupted her plea. “That’s a fair question. No, sir, I’m not sitting on any fence. I’m fighting as hard as I can against the asshole who wants me in his camp. And I’m determined to win, but if I don’t . . .” He swallowed hard, but held her father’s steely gaze. “I’m prepared to do what I have to in order to protect your daughter and my team.”
Her dad nodded, new respect easing the harshness of his face. “If it looks like you’re going to fail, I’ll help you do it. Believe that.”
God. They were discussing Kalen, her mate and the man she loved, losing his life, right in front of her! Mac’s stomach lurched again, and she knew she was going to be sick. She clapped a hand over her mouth.
“Excuse me.”
She ran for the bathroom, hit her knees, and heaved. As she did, her father’s incredulous voice floated in the air. Made her pulse pound with panic and regret.
“Sooo . . . when the hell were the two of you going to tell me that my baby girl is pregnant?”
Twelve
Pregnant?
What the fuck?
Kalen made like a statue, stared dumbly at the undoubtedly badass General Jarrod Grant and searched for an appropriate reaction. Unfortunately, his brain short-circuited and he gaped at the general with his mouth hanging open and his heart doing a weird stuttering thing in his chest. Maybe he was going to have a heart attack.
“What? Don’t tell me you didn’t know,” Grant demanded. “She’s been rubbing her stomach since I got here, she didn’t take a single sip of her coffee, and now she’s throwing up her guts. And the kicker is, she’s not really sick—in fact, I’ve never seen her more radiant. How long has this been going on?”