“I love you,” he whispered to my stomach, making my chest feel like it was going to burst. The feeling only grew when his hazel eyes looked up at me. “Are you happy?”

It was unplanned. A total shock. So many thoughts and emotions rushed through my head, but there was happiness. A lot of it.

I’m going to have a baby.

I ran my hand through his hair, spotting more salt mixing with the pepper at his temples. It just added to his handsome features. Smiling down at him, I nodded, too overwhelmed to choke out the words.

“Good, honey,” he whispered before grinning up at me. “I mean, good, Mama.”

Mama.

Planting a kiss on my stomach, Eddie stood and righted his clothes before gripping my cheeks. He pulled me close so he could kiss me long and hard and demanding—always demanding. “I knew it was just a matter of time. This is the best news. This,” his hands dropped back to my stomach, “is everything.”

With one last kiss, he released me and started walking. He paused in the doorway, looking over his shoulder expectantly.

I repeated the same words I said every time he left. “Stay safe.”

“I will…” He grinned. “Mama.”

Mama.

I’m going to be a mama.

1. A Front Yard Steroid Scandal

CHAPTER 1

A FRONT YARD STEROID SCANDAL

HOLLYWOOD

Fuck, I was tired.

Not just physically—though I was sure as shit that, too.

Riding up the coast to Maine, then down to North Carolina before returning home to Massachusetts within two days would wear on anyone.

After all those hours on my bike, my ass hurt. My thighs ached like I’d done a thousand squats. My arms muscles still twitched. Toxic sludge energy drinks and shitty gas station coffee were all that fueled my body.

But it wasn’t the physical exhaustion that got to me.

It was the mental kind.

I was being a pussy. Knew it. Owned it. That shit might have been hard on me and my brothers, but it was far worse for the people we helped escape their nightmares. Their monsters.

And there were always people.

Always nightmares.

Always fuckin’ monsters.

And that was why the exhaustion had sunk deep into my bones, leaving me defeated. Discouraged. Kicked in the damn crotch and spit on.

’Cause it was never-fuckin’-ending.

Slowly climbing off my bike, I headed for my house as something caught my eye. I looked over to see a moving van parked at the curb next door. Usually, I was a nosy fucker, but I was too tired to give a damn. I hiked my pack up my arm and walked up my front steps.

I didn’t give a damn who was moving into old Mrs. Anderson’s place.

Right up until I glanced over to see a woman holding a big box.

Fuckin’ hell.