Ryan nodded, and Damien led Nikki to the back corner of the bar. She paused on the way, grabbing her purse from where a pile of them had been collected on a table.
“I was so scared,” she admitted, sliding into his arms. “I believed we’d be okay—I believed in you—but I was still so damn scared. Especially when—Oh, God, for a while I thought you were dead. I told myself you couldn’t be, but—”
A sob escaped her, and he kissed her forehead, then simply held her. “I know,” he said. “Baby, believe me. I know.”
After a moment, he felt her draw a breath. She leaned back, her smile soft as she said, “I have something for you. I wanted to give it to you earlier. I wish I had. I would have liked you to know all of it.”
“All of it?”
Her smile warmed his heart. “All of what you were fighting to protect.”
He frowned, confused. Then even more confused when she put a small, rectangular package in his hand. He unwrapped it, then opened the box to reveal a pregnancy test—positive—with a blue ribbon around it.
His heart fluttered, and he looked at his wife, afraid he was misunderstanding. “You’re pregnant?”
She nodded, her smile so wide she was practically glowing. “Three months now. Safe,” she added, as if he didn’t already know what three months meant for them.
He swallowed. “And the ribbon? Are you saying it’s a boy?”
He wouldn’t have thought it possible, but her smile brightened.
“I am,” she said, sliding into his arms.
“Oh, baby.” Joy washed through him. Another child. Another little person joining their family. A baby brother for his girls. A son for him and Nikki. Dear God. What had he ever done to deserve to be so damn lucky?
“I thought this would be the best Christmas present,” she said. “I didn’t think it would be competing against keeping us alive.”
He had to laugh. Then he kissed her head, his entire being buzzing with happiness. “Yippee-ki-yay,” he said, then kissed the woman he loved.
Chapter Fourteen
“Daddy, Daddy! Can we see the big tree again? Please?”
“Please,” Anne adds, backing up her big sister.
“Soon,” Damien promises. “Our guests just arrived.”
We’re in the penthouse suite at the Manhattan Stark Century Hotel with the girls. It’s the day after our adventure, and though Christmas is officially two days away, today is our celebration. And in a weird way, we have to thank Aubert and his crazy scheme. If it weren’t for him, we wouldn’t have been in mortal peril, and our friends and family wouldn’t have hurried to Manhattan to share a few precious days with us.
Our assumptions had been right. It had been Aubert’s insurance scam, and he was the one who had hired the team. The dead woman had frequented Aubert’s bed and had learned about the plot. He’d offered to cut her in, then made sure that Malone knew to take her out. To be honest, as criminal schemes go, it wasn’t bad. But not good enough to keep my husband from figuring it out.
“I’d say you acquitted yourself pretty well,” Ryan says to Jackson, his arm around my life-long BFF, Jamie. “You’re practically one of the team.”
“Don’t tell my wife,” Damien teases. “She only wants me leaping tall blogs in a single bound metaphorically.”
“Which you do so well,” Dallas says. He’s on the floor with Mystery and Jane. I look around for Jackson and Sylvia and find them in the kitchen, getting snacks for their kids. Even Red is here. We’ve become fast friends since the ordeal, though I like to think we would have under any circumstances. He’s a solid guy, and Damien and I are both looking forward to getting to know him even better when we’re back in LA. Ryan’s already dropped about a million hints about how Red should join Stark Security.
Now Red laughs as he pours his own brand of gin and whiskey into glasses for the adults, along with a juice concoction for the kids. And for me, since alcohol is out for the next six months at least.
I sigh as I look around, soaking up the friendship, the love, the life. And in looking, I think about what we could have lost. How close we came to losing each other forever. Then I take Damien’s arm and tug him to the side. “We’ll be back,” I say. “I just need to borrow my husband for a moment.”
“Anything wrong?” he asks as I lead him onto the balcony.
“Nope,” I say. “I was just thinking.”
He cups my face, then kisses me. “Were you?”
“Mmm-hmm.”
“About what?”
“I was wondering why you didn’t tell Ryan that you’re going to be more active now at Stark Security.”
His brow furrows. “I’m not.”
“No? Why not?”
It’s clear that I’m confusing him, but he answers simply enough. “Because I already have a job. And a family,” he adds, resting his hand on my small baby bump.
“You do. But I know you. And while I don’t want you jumping out of planes into gun battles, I do know that this compels you. You started Stark Security for a reason, but others implement it.”
“I hire good people in all my divisions, and they hire good people. Engineers. Chemists. Designers. Marketing. You name it. I’m good, but I’ll tell you a secret. I’m not that good. It’s the same with Stark Security. I staffed it well. It’s fulfilling my vision.”
“And you want to get your hands dirty.”
“Maybe. But sometimes you can’t get what you want.”
“That’s not what you said when you were going after me.”
“Ah, the arrogance of youth,” he says.
I laugh. “Yeah, well, the arrogance part is true.”
He grins. “Nikki—”
I shush him with a finger. “If you truly don’t want to, then don’t. If you have other reasons that compel you to stay on the sidelines, then I am all for that. But if the reason you’re not pushing into a more active role is because you think the idea of you in the field frightens me, well, it does. But the world frightens me. You know that better than anyone, and you know why.”
I draw a breath and go on. “I’ve always known that you can do whatever you put your mind to. But yesterday—well, now I think that you won’t be living up to who you really are if you stand back. I’m not saying I want you out every night chasing down the bad guys, but if you want to get more involved, you don’t have to worry about me. I’ve seen what you can do, and you amaze me.”
“Nikki, sweetheart, do you have any idea how much it means to hear you say that?”
“So you’re going to do it?”
“I don’t know,” he says. “But when I decide—whatever I decide—I’ll know that you’re with me.”
“There’s no place else I’ll ever be.”
“I know,” he says. “That’s my anchor in this life. You’re my strength, Nikki. And they’re my ambition,” he adds, looking into the room at our girls, now bouncing on the sofa.
I laugh, watching their antics. Then I take Damien’s hand and put it back on my belly. “And this little guy?”