Page 85 of Stay Little Fighter

I stride out the front door before they can argue about which of us she’s going to legally marry. A piece of paper doesn’t mean shit to me as long as she wears my ring, so they can fight that out between themselves.

CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

CHLOE

NOW

Nerves roll through my belly, leaving a wave of nausea in its path.

I’ve never particularly enjoyed flying, especially on private jets. Something about their size has always made me anxious, but turbulence is the least of my worries right now.

The plan is simple, and I know the guys have gone over it a million times, but there are so many variables we can’t prepare for, and that’s what makes me nervous.

Camilla and her guys are meeting us in Jacksonville, but as excited as I am to see her, it doesn’t overshadow how terrified I am that I’m going to lose someone today.

I can’t shake the feeling that something is going to go wrong, and I learned a long time ago to trust my gut because it’s usually right.

Maybe it’s because everything about this was too easy.

Corbin intercepting the meeting request.

The location on neutral territory.

Even how casual the Lombardis have been since we registered the flight path under Damon’s full name.

They know at least one of us is coming, and yet they haven’t made a single move that would indicate that.

“You need to relax, Mama,” Kingston croons. “You’re making us all anxious.”

I glance up into his deep brown eyes, allowing the calm in them to settle my raging emotions. “Something doesn’t feel right.”

“I know.” He nods. “I feel it too. But we’ve done everything we can to prepare. We have multiple teams in place to mitigate the risk, and although we would love to be able to remove it altogether, that’s not the reality of this kind of job.”

“I just want this to be okay. I want us to be safe.”

“We will be, and then we can get started on building a life that suits all of us.”

My chest tightens at his words. I’ve been thinking so much these past few days about what I want for the future. I’m still not sure I can put my body through pregnancy. Not because I don’t want to, but because the trauma I have from losing my first baby is just as strong today as it was ten years ago. I don’t think I would survive another loss.

But the idea of having a family has been calling to me.

Not anytime soon, and maybe we’ll decide as a collective that it’s not a path we want to walk, but I’m open to it.

Ryker drops down into the seat across from us, his golden eyes moving over me as if I may have suddenly hurt myself in the twenty minutes since he stepped away to help Corbin with something I definitely don’t understand. “You look stressed.”

I huff out a laugh. “Nothing gets past you.”

“You have no reason to worry, Chloe. We’ve got this. And the next time we’re on this jet, it will all be over.”

I want to argue with him. I want to tell him he doesn’t know that for sure. But arguing with Ryker is a lot like arguing with a brick wall.

King drops a kiss to the top of my head as the pilot announces we’ll be landing in the next twenty minutes.

“I think you should all go,” I say quietly. “I know you’re planning to have Ronan stay with me, but I think it’s the wrong move.”

There’s a beat of silence and I hold my breath, expecting them to shoot down the idea immediately. “What makes you say that?”

“I would feel better if you guys had all the backup you can, and contrary to popular belief, I can take care of myself. I have hand-to-hand combat training, and I know how to shoot a gun. I don’t need anyone to babysit me.”