I shake my head, looking to the sky. “How the hell was I supposed to admit I never wanted to be a mother when I’d just promised to be your wife.” My eyes hit his and his features soften instantly.

He stands, pulling me off the swing with him.

He tilts my head up, looking me straight in the eye. “Zoey?”

I nod, gripping his fingers with mine. “She deserves better than I could ever give her.”

His jaw flexes and he smiles tightly. “You’d be surprised how easy she is to love. You wouldn’t even have to try. I have no doubt you will love her with all you are and for all she is,” he says quietly before adding. “Just like she’ll love you, and just like you’ll love your own baby when he or she gets here.”

“I fucked up, Cap. I told him and when he looked at me like I was a twisted bitch, I just... closed my mouth, let him tear himself apart on the inside.” A harsh huff leaves me. “I let him think it was yours.”

“And he got his ass punched in the jaw for suggesting it.”

I can’t help it, a laugh bubbles out of me and I drop my forehead to Cap’s chest.

Wait.

I pull away. “He knows?”

“He knows. Only one move to make now.”

“Run?” I joke and this time Captain laughs, and damn if it doesn’t feel good to hear it. “How is he not standing here right now?”

“You think he has any fuckin’ clue what to say to you?”

My shoulders fall. “What the hell do we do, Cap?”

“Since when do you stop and think, Raven?”

My eyes move to his, narrowing. “If I fly off the fucking rocker, Cap, I’m busting balls the entire way down.”

“Good thing we wear cups.”

I push closer. “Tell me now if there is even the slightest concern over Zoey.”

“No one will ever touch my daughter and anyone who threatens to...”

I nod, fire creeping into my soul.

Cap’s forehead tightens as he gives me a hard look. “Donley called a meeting today.”

“Why would he do that? They meet in two days.”

“Someone told him I was shot and in the hospital. Coma.”

“Well, you’re not.”

“But he doesn’t know that.”

I eye him. “You leaked this?”

“I had help.”

“Help?”

He nods. “He’s been fishing since you ran him off anyway. This way he thinks I’m still out of it, giving him the advantage.”

“Advantage to what exactly?”

“We agreed to be Graven, you told him we got married. If I’m out of commission, who does that leave in lead of this town?”

“Me,” I snap instantly.

Captain chuckles, shaking his head. “In your mind, yeah. We’re talking Donley and the rest of the men on that council.”

My brows pull in. “Him.”

“Exactly.”

“How much time do we have?”

Cap eyes me. “Couple hours.”

I step away, taking a deep breath. “I’m gonna need a shower. And Chloe.”

“Chloe,” he deadpans.

I shrug my shoulders. “Can’t be a queen in Kmart clothes.”

Captain’s smile is tender as he reaches out, placing his palms on my face. “You could be queen in trash bags and no one would dare question you.”

A full shot of air fills my lungs for the first time in weeks and I stand tall, nodding.

“Thanks, Cap, but let’s catch them all off guard in every way we can. Your dad said this place is the best of both worlds, grit and glamour. Let’s give it to them. Question is, are we walking in as husband and wife?”

“We walk in as Brayshaw.”

My smirk is instant. “Damn straight we do.”

The squeak of the slider door draws our attention, and Victoria steps from the back of the Bray house, her bag slung over her shoulder.

She eyes us a moment before I wave her over, meeting her halfway.

She stares, and when I reach for the borrowed duffle, she rolls her eyes with a slight tip of her lips. “Last thing you need is to carry this beast.”

“I’m not a fucking flower. I can carry a bag.”

“You wanna know what I told him?” she suddenly offers, referring to hers and Maddoc’s conversation.

“I told you I trust you. Get it through your head already.”

She shakes her head, faux disappointment on her face. “Again, with that dirty little word.”

I shove her and she laughs lightly. “Go, I’ll be there by the time you’re out of the shower.” Her eyes fly over my shoulder to Captain.

I eye her, backing away. “All right.”

I turn to Cap, who brings his eyes to mine.

“I’ll call them, we’ll be ready,” he assures me.

“Cap...”

He’d walk away if he felt like it, but I can always make her leave, so he doesn’t have to.

He shakes his head. “I’m good, girl. Go.”

“Do you like her?”

His eyes cut to mine, narrowing.

“I mean, I know I’m your wife and all, but you can tell me,” I joke.

With a chuckle, he gently nudges me away, so I go without another word.

I walk back the way I came, down the dirt road I used to stare at, wondering where it could possibly lead, and into the house I never imagined I’d be a part of, the home I haven’t set foot in in weeks.

Rolland jumps from the barstool the second I enter, rushing for me. “Raven.”

“We’re ready to end this. Are you with us?”

He looks behind me, a frown pulling at his brows when the door doesn’t open behind me.

“They’ll be here. All of them.”

He nods. “And I’ll be with you, too.”

“I need a shower.”

He understands what I’m asking, I told him to take my room and make it Zoey’s after all, so I’m not sure I have a right to walk up those stairs.

He holds a hand out, leading me the opposite way of the house, back behind the pool table and down the hall where the gym once sat, his office not far from it.

I enter, finding a brand-new bed, a California king with a large, dark grey headboard that almost meets the ceiling, plush pillows covered in royal purple lay atop of a stark white comforter. A matching grey dresser sits across from it, a rocking chair with cushions the same color perched beneath the window.

Something catches my eye on the nightstand beside it, so I head that way, finding a small double frame.

With shaky hands, I pick it up.

My sonogram cased behind the delicate glass, my mother’s right beside it.

I bite into my cheek.

“I thought the purple would work well for you, too,” he admits quietly, having noticed the color of the writing on my mother’s image.

I set it back down, turning to meet his eyes.

He walks over to the closet, pulling it open. My clothes hang on one side, while the other holds nothing.

“This is mine? You did this for me?”

“This is your home, Raven, more so than anyone else’s. This is where you will live, Graven be damned,” he says, leaving no room for query. Strong, final.