I unzip my cut and place my hands against my belly. “I didn’t lose the baby. I’m pregnant, Farris.”
The words hang in the air between us, thick with emotion. I watch as his expression shifts from confusion to disbelief to something else, something that looks like hope, but it’s buried deep.
“You’re pregnant?” His voice cracks, and I nod, my throat tight. “You didn’t… You didn’t tell me.”
“I should have,” I admit, my heart in my throat. “You deserved to know.”
For a long moment, neither of us speaks. I don’t know what he’s thinking. I don’t know if he’ll walk away again or if he’ll stay.
But then, slowly, he takes a step closer, his hands reach out, fingers trembling slightly, as if he’s afraid I might disappear. He hesitates to touch our baby.
“You’re really pregnant?” he asks softly, his voice thick with emotion.
I grab his hand and press it against my stomach. Farris goes rigid. His breath hitches, his fingers twitching like he doesn’t dare believe it. Like, if he moves, the world might crumble all over again. I cover his hand with mine, holding it there. Letting him feel, letting him know.
“The baby’s still here, Farris.” His body jolts like I just shot him. His eyes snap to mine, wide, searching, desperate. I nod, voice breaking. “You didn’t lose us.”
Farris’s breath shudders out of him. His hand presses harder against my stomach, like he needs to anchor himself to the truth.
And then, suddenly, he’s moving. One second, he’s standing there in shock, and the next, he’s hauling me against him, crashing his mouth onto mine. Farris kisses me like he’s been drowning for weeks, and I’m the only thing keeping him alive.
His hands are everywhere. One grips the back of my neck, the other stays against my stomach, his palm warm, reverent, like he still can’t believe it.
I moan against his lips, my fingers digging into his cut, holding on as he devours me. He tastes like whiskey, blood, and pure desperation. I kiss him back with everything I have because I need him to know. I need him to feel. I need him to come back to me.
When we finally break apart, I’m breathless, wrecked, and shaking. Farris stares down at me, his chest rising and falling like he’s trying to fucking breathe again.
His hand doesn’t leave my stomach. “Say it again,” he rasps.
I swallow hard, looking him straight in the eye. “The baby is still here.”
His jaw trembles, and for the first time, Farris Law Dog Dalton looks breakable.
I reach up, brushing a hand over his scruffy jaw. “You didn’t fail me.” My voice softens, a whisper. “You never could.”
His throat bobs as he squeezes his eyes shut, inhaling deeply, struggling to hold himself together. He pulls back, his hold tight, possessive, and everything I’ve been wanting. “God, Calypso.” Farris’s breath is warm against my hair. “I’m sorry. I should’ve never walked away.”
I close my eyes, pressing myself against him. “Don’t leave me again,” I whisper, the fear still lingering in my chest.
There’s still shit to fix, damage to undo.
Farris pulls back, his gaze darkening again. “You lied to me.”
I brace myself. “I did.”
His grip on my waist tightens. “That’s not gonna happen again.”
I exhale. “No. It’s not.”
Farris nods, but his expression turns lethal. “Good.”
He rests his forehead against mine, his voice rough and broken. “I love you, Amanda.”
I close my eyes, letting the words settle into my bones. “I love you too, Farris.”
Even though Dave Train is gone and the Bloody Femmes are in hiding, we’re not out of the fire yet. There are still pieces of this war that haven’t burned. And if there’s one thing I know about Farris Law Dog Dalton? He’s not done ripping apart anyone who tried to take us down. I’ll be right beside him.
19
