But he said he was hesitant. Why?
“You and I haven’t had the easiest time together. I rescued you from your crazy ex’s family, and then I did something stupid to get your brother killed.”
I pressed a finger to his lips. “I know that wasn’t your fault, Marco. Sure, you had a part in it, but you weren’t the one to kill him. I’m as much responsible for his death as you are. None of this would have happened if it hadn’t been for me choosing the wrong guy to spend my time with.”
“I mean, I’m not going to tell you that you didn’t choose the wrong guy, but I will tell you it’s not your fault.”
I slapped him on the shoulder and laughed.
He was sweet to say that, but I wasn’t dumb. I had accepted the fact that I had a role in everything that had happened. I had to live with that.
“There is one thing I will tell you right now, and that I will keep telling you.” He laid his hand on my stomach and held my eyes with his. “This baby will never be a mistake or have blame laid on it for what happened. The only thing this baby will ever know is the love you have for it and the family he is going to be surrounded with. That is the only thing he will ever know. Love.”
Tears clouded my eyes and I gasped. “Marco,” I whispered.
“Let me finish, Royal.” He closed his eyes for a second and then continued. “You and I are still in the middle of a shit storm, but we’re going to be okay. This baby is going to be okay. Because you might not have known it back when you picked Rider, but that choice, that path, brought you straight to me. I’m not going to give you up. Or this baby. I thought about it the day I met you, and I’ve thought about it every day since. I want you, and I know that if I want you, that means I want this baby.”
“Oh, Marco,” I sobbed. I couldn’t see anything now with the tears falling from my eyes. “I don’t know what I did to deserve you. How did I find you when I needed you the most?” My words were slurred and had hiccups tucked into them. I might have to get a pad of paper and write down what I was trying to say so Marco could understand it. I didn’t want him to miss a single word.
He pressed a kiss to my lips and held it there.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and held him close.
How had this happened?
Not even an hour ago, I was running from Marco. Now, I was in his arms and wishing that he would never let me go.
“I can’t believe you want me and my baby.”
Marco laid his hand on my stomach. “I mean what I say, Royal. This baby is going to come into this world surrounded by love and never know anything different. Just like I was.”
I blinked up at him. “But you said you didn’t have a dad until you were sixteen.”
He smiled softly. “That’s true, but I had my uncles and all of my mom’s family. It took me a little bit to realize that even though I didn’t have a dad in the sense of the word when I was little, I was still surrounded by love. And then when my mom met Slider and the Devil’s Knights, everything just slid into place. I just had to wait a little bit for it happen.”
But I was lucky enough for everything to slide into place before my little baby came into the world. “You’re my family now, Marco. You and everyone in this house is my family.”
He nodded. “For so long you only had Grit and Indiana, but now you have so much more.”
“Only took until I was twenty-seven to get that,” I laughed.
‘Twenty-seven, huh?”
I tipped my head to the side. “Yup.”
“Uh, how old do you think I am, Royal?”
I laughed and brushed my fingers through his hair. “Old enough to be wise with a sprinkling of gray at your temples, but young enough to keep up with me.” I knew how old Marco was. Greer had mentioned it in passing. The number didn’t bother me. “I would have to say forty-four.”
“Well, I guess it’s good you say forty-four and you’re okay with that because I’m actually only forty-two,” he chuckled.
“Stop,” I laughed. “Greer told me you were forty-four.” Why that Greer. She was a bit of a troublemaker.
“I’m going to have to have a talk with her. She’s making me older than I actually am.” He pressed a kiss to my lips. “She had me being sixty-two when our kid graduates, not sixty.”
I sighed. “Our kid,” I whispered. I didn’t think I would ever be able to say that. Certainly not before he was even born. Or she. “You’re gonna be the hottest dad at graduation,” I laughed.
“Yeah, hopefully I can hold off on needing a walker and oxygen for a bit longer.”
I slapped his chest. “Stop it. You’re not that old.”
“I might be when our kid graduates.” He looked down at my stomach. “Though I’m not going to think about that now. I don’t want to rush him growing up.”
I yawned and smothered it with the back of my hand. “You keep saying him. Are you hoping for a boy?”
He shrugged. “I don’t care, mio amore. As long as you and the baby are healthy, I’ll be the happiest man in the world.”
I sighed and burrowed into Marco. “Are you sure you want this?” I asked softly. It had barely been two weeks since Marco and I had been swept up into a whirlwind of rescues, death, and psychos. Maybe he was riding a high and didn’t really know what he was getting into.
“This?” he asked.
“Me. A baby.” I held my breath, afraid my words would snap him out of the cloud of bliss we were in.
“Did you not hear a word I said?” He voice was hurt and soft.
“I just want to make sure you know what you’re getting, Marco,” I whispered. He had a choice in all of this. He didn’t have to be with me and be a daddy. He was taking on a responsibility that most would not.
“You’re mine. Your baby is mine, Royal. Don’t question my words.”
I tipped my head back. “Okay. But it was just more of me double checking to make sure you know what you’re getting into. It might be madness.”
He pressed a kiss to my lips. “I know, and I can’t wait for the madness to start.”
I closed my eyes and took in the moment.
The moment I knew my life was never going to be the same, and I couldn’t be happier.
*
Chapter Thirteen
Marco
“Things seem different this morning.”
I dropped my pen on my desk. “How so?”
“I’m talking about you and Royal,” Apollo chuckled.
I shook my head. “Sorry. I thought you were talking about the whole Meeks bullshit.” I had just spent ten minutes trying to focus on a deal Leo had sent me, but I couldn’t concentrate.
“I wish I was, but the coward really did disappear.” Apollo shrugged. “Maybe we’ll never hear from him again.”
I leveled my gaze on Apollo.
“I know, that’s wishful thinking,” he chuckled.
“People like Meeks don’t just disappear. He’s not smart enough to do that.” I glanced out the window. “What time do the doctors start arriving?”
“First one will be here in twenty minutes. Next one would be an hour after that.”
I sighed and leaned back in my chair. “What kind of questions am I supposed to ask?”
“You?” Apollo laughed. “Is that a roundabout way of telling me that you and Royal finally figured your shit out?”
I rolled my eyes. “It really hasn’t been that long. Two weeks since everything started.”
“Feels like it’s been a hell of a lot longer than that.”
I had to agree. By the time Royal and I kissed, it felt like I had been trying for years to make her mine. “I couldn’t even imagine having to wait any longer like you did with Greer.”
Apollo chuckled. “Yeah. I don’t even know how I managed to wait that long.”
Apollo and Greer had known each other for years before they got together. Apollo had told me before that he had waited years to take Greer because he needed her to be sure that he was what she
wanted.
Thank God it hadn’t taken years for Royal to figure out she wanted me.
“Well, things are far from over, but we are at least on the same page.”
“That page being you’re sleeping in her bed,” Apollo laughed.
I flipped him off. “I don’t know how you’re the older one.”
Apollo shrugged. “My wife keeps me young.”
“Right,” I drawled. Hopefully Royal would do the same for me. I know she said our fifteen year age difference didn’t bother her, but it might bother me a little bit. Not enough that I wouldn’t be with her, but it would always be in the back of my mind that she might want to trade me in for a newer model.
“So back to the doctors.” Apollo crossed his leg over the other. “Just make sure you feel comfortable with him, and Royal is, too. The dude is going to be staring at her hoo-ha for a good bit of time before she shoots a baby out of it.”
“Did you just say shoot a baby out of her hoo-ha?” I didn’t have a ton of experience when it came to childbirth, but I didn’t think the kid shot out of her.
Apollo waved his hand. “Maybe shoot isn’t the right word, but you get my point. You asked me to find the best OB doctors within a hundred miles. I got you covered.”
I leaned forward and rested my head in my hands.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Apollo called.
“Nothing,” I mumbled. Everything just seemed to rush at me at once.
Two weeks ago, I was living the confirmed bachelor life with no intention of ever getting married or having a family. Now, I was going to be a dad and discovered the woman who made me feel whole.
“Bullshit,” Apollo chuckled. “What the hell is going through your head right now?”
I laughed loudly and sat back in my chair. “I’m gonna be a dad, Apollo.”
Apollo nodded.
“And not in like nine months. I’m going to be a dad in weeks.” I ran my fingers through my hair. “More like days.” Wow. Holy fucking wow. I wasn’t scared.
I was fucking excited.
“Yeah. I guess your mom and Leo did good raising you all of those years.”
“And Slider. Slider was there when I really needed him.” When I had met Slider and he started showing interest in my mom, I had been resigned to the fact that the family I had was it. Things normally didn’t change when you were sixteen.
Slider and the Devil’s Knights had proved me wrong.
“He really is a good guy even if he’s in a motorcycle club and took your mom from Chicago.”
I waved my hand. “You and I both know when mom met Slider that it was only a matter of time before she made Rockton her home.”
Apollo chuckled. “Fuck. That seems like forever ago.”
The doorbell rang.
Apollo pressed his finger to his ear. “Is the first doctor here?” he asked. He listened and then nodded. “Copy. Marco will be right there.”
I stood and buttoned my jacket. “What’s the name of the first doctor?” I asked.
Apollo moved to the office door and pushed it open. “Dr. Jake Slang.”
I wrinkled my nose. “I don’t like him.”
Apollo chuckled and held open the door. I moved past him and down the hall to the entryway. “Do I even want to know why?”
“I don’t like his name. I don’t want to tell people my kid was delivered by a guy with the last name Slang.”
“Oh, Lord,” Apollo chuckled. “I’m gonna tell you right now, I can’t even remember the names of the doctors who delivered Beau and Grace.”
“Poole and Chain.”
“Jesus Christ, woman,” Apollo jumped. “Where the hell did you come from?”
Greer laughed and stepped out of the side hallway that led to the indoor pool. “I was coming to get some towels from the laundry room. Gwen pushed Gambler and then Meg cheered for Gwen.”
“Uh, what?” Apollo asked. “I don’t understand how that means you need more towels.”
“Then Meg thought it would be funny if she pushed King in with his clothes on, but that backfired when he was able to grab her and pull her with him.” Greer giggled. “I literally just have to sit back and watch the show unfold when I hang out with the ol’ ladies. There really is never a dull moment.”
“Why weren’t any of them wearing their swimming suits if you guys were at the pool?” I asked.
Greer shrugged. “I really don’t know. I’m not going to question it.”
I stepped to the side and let Greer past. She jogged ahead and gave a shout to Royal when she passed the entryway. “Your baby doctor is here, Marco.”
I briskly walked to the entryway and was surprised to see Royal standing there with a worried look on her face.
“What’s wrong?” I asked. I gathered her in my arms and pressed a kiss to her lips.
Some of the worry slipped from her face, and she looked up at me. “Nothing. It just hit me that I’m going to have a baby.”
Apollo smothered a laugh.
“You’ve been pregnant for nine months, mio amore. How is it just now hitting you?”
She laid her hands on her stomach. “I guess it just feels real now. We’re meeting with the doctor who is going to deliver our baby.” She gulped. “Any day now.”
“When is you due date?” That should have been something I asked sooner. I was still getting used to this whole “concerned dad” gig. Maybe by the time the kid was ten, I would have some grasp on it.
She counted on her fingers and grimaced. “Uh, seven days from now?”
“Holy shit,” Apollo chuckled. “You could have the kid right now.”
I laid a hand on Royal’s stomach. “Try to keep him in there a little longer, mio amore.”
“Not like she can cross her legs or something.” Apollo moved to the front door and pulled it open. “I’m not a doctor though,” he mumbled under his breath.
Murphy stood on the other side of the door with who I assumed was Dr. Slang.
Royal laced her fingers through mine and gripped my hand. “I don’t like him,” she whispered.
I glanced down at her. “Any reason why?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. It doesn’t feel like he’s the one.”
“Apollo,” I called.
Apollo turned and looked at me. “Yeah.”
“We’re done. Let us know when the next doctor arrives.”
Apollo nodded and didn’t question me. I had said I didn’t like the guy from his name, and now Royal said she didn’t like him after one glance. I tugged on her hand and pulled her toward the kitchen.
“Marco,” she hissed. “We didn’t even talk to him.”
“You said you didn’t like him. I wasn’t going to drag it down any more than I needed to.”
She glanced over shoulder back at the entryway. “I feel bad that he drove all the way here and he didn’t even get to step into the house.”
I laughed and maneuvered Royal over to one of the stools at the kitchen island. “Apollo will make sure Dr. Slang is compensated for his time.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Slang?” She slid onto the stool, and I moved to stand between her legs.
“Yeah.”
“I’m more okay with not talking to him,” she laughed.
I draped my arms over her shoulders, and she wrapped her arms around my waist. “Did you eat?”
“Yes.” She pressed a kiss to my lips. “Though I wouldn’t mind having a piece of cherry almond bread.”
“Bristol,” I called.
“Marco,” Royal laughed. “You didn’t need to holler for her.”
I shrugged and pressed another kiss to her lips. “She likes to cook, remember?”
“Hey,” Bristol called. Her hair was piled haphazardly on her head, and her apron was crooked.
“You okay?” Royal asked.
Bristol waved her hand at us. “Of course. I was just, uh, inventorying the freezer in back.”
I tipped my head to the side. “Is th
at so?”
A bang sounded in the staff quarters, and Bristol jumped. “Uh, I must have left the freezer open.” She straightened her apron and pasted a smile on her face. “What can I get you guys?”
Something was off with Bristol. We had discovered that she didn’t do well under pressure, and I had to wonder what kind of pressure she was under while inventorying the freezer.
“Uh, is there any cherry almond bread left?” Royal asked.
“Of course,” Bristol chirped. “Let me just get you a slice. It’s in the back pantry.” She flitted back into the staff quarters.
“Something is up with her,” I mumbled.
Royal leaned to the side and tried to look down the entry way she had walked through. “You are so right, Marco. What do you think she was doing back there?”
“You mean who was she doing back there?”
“No,” Royal gasped. “You think she was fooling around with someone?” Royal leaned heavily on her chair and pressed her body against me. “Who do you think it is?”
The house was full of possible people. “Uh, anyone of the Knights who doesn’t have an ol’ lady, or even Murphy or Princeton.”
Royal pressed her breasts against my arm in hopes of catching a glimpse of Bristol and her possible mystery man. “Or it could have been a she,” she suggested.
“You think?” I tried not to focus on the warmth of her body pressed against me.
“Well, yeah. I mean, it wouldn’t be any of the ol’ ladies, but it might be one of the other staff,” Royal whispered.
I couldn’t focus anymore. Not with Royal so close. I slipped my arm around her shoulders and gathered her in my arms.
“Oh,” she gasped. “This is nice.” She laid her palms on my chest and smiled up at me. “Hi there.”
I didn’t want to talk anymore. I needed to taste her again. I pressed my lips to hers, and she melted into my touch. Our tongues danced with each other while her hands gripped the lapels of my jacket.
“I’ve never been into guys in suits, but you’ve completely changed that for me, Marco,” she gasped against my lips. “Though I’m dying to know what you look like underneath it.”
I pulled my phone from my pocket, pressed a button, and held it to my ear. “How long until the next doctor?” I barked.
Royal Mess (Devil's Knights 2nd Generation Book 3) Page 12
