Ryley's Revenge (Gloves Off #2)(47)
Tears sprung to my eyes and my lips trembled. Even Ryley appeared teary-eyed, but I could tell he held them back.
“Let’s see if we can get you some pictures of your little peanut,” she said. Tilting the wand this way and that, she stopped and pressed a button at various times.
It wasn’t until she gasped that my body froze and Ryley tensed. “What’s wrong?” I asked quickly.
Karen’s eyes went wide and so did her lips, her face beaming. “Oh, dear me, nothing’s wrong at all. It looks to me like you have not one, but two little peanuts in there. Look.” She pointed at the screen and right there, in clear sight, she pointed out the babies snuggled side by side.
“Twins,” I whispered.
Karen winked up at Ryley. “It looks like it runs in the family. Congratulations, you two.”
I was in shock. Two? I wasn’t sure I was ready for one, but now there were two? It was surreal. After Karen printed off our pictures and handed them to Ryley, she left the room.
He stared at them in silence. I watched him through the tears in my eyes, until he set the pictures down and leaned over me, brushing my tears away with the pads of this thumbs. His eyes were heated, but also full of torment . . . rage.
“Angel, I don’t know what to say or what to do. I’m so goddamned furious with my brother for trying to take all of this away from me. I’d give anything to hunt him down right now. If we’d lost our babies because of him . . .”
“Shh,” I whispered, bringing him down to my lips. “The babies are fine. I’m pissed off too, but you’ll get your chance to make him pay. And since I don’t need you getting carted off to jail right now, I’d prefer you save it for the ring.”
He lowered his forehead to mine and breathed me in. “I love you so f*cking much, you know that?”
“Yes, and I love you too.”
“As soon as we get out of here, we’re going back to my house and packing up our shit. I’m not staying there. We need to leave or I’m going to go after him and there’s no telling what I’d do. It goes against my nature not to protect . . . I failed to protect you.”
“No, you didn’t,” I murmured. “We didn’t know your brother was going to do what he did. You can’t blame yourself.”
I could see his internal struggle. He didn’t want to leave, but he felt he had no choice. He wanted to go after his brother, but stayed to take care of me. In a way I wanted him to go after Camden and just beat the shit out of him for what he did. But in the long run, what would that accomplish? Camden would still be the same.
I WAS EXHAUSTED by the time we rushed to Ryley’s house and packed a week’s worth of clothing. Thankfully, he decided to drive the four hours it took to get to his cabin in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. If not, I would’ve fallen asleep at the wheel since it was so late at night. It didn’t shock me when I woke up in his bed with the sun shining through the window. It was already eleven o’clock in the morning. Holy hell, I can’t believe I slept so long. We were in his cabin and it felt more like home to me than anywhere else I’d ever been. Even his home in Los Angeles didn’t feel like a true home. Maybe it was because Camden made me feel violated there.
I heard him moving around downstairs, so I got out of bed and changed into a pair of yoga pants and one of my favorite USC T-shirts. The smell of bacon and eggs wafted up the stairs and my stomach growled. I was so hungry.
“I’m sorry I slept the morning away,” I called as I was halfway down the stairs. “You should’ve woken me up.” When I turned the corner to the kitchen, I gasped. There was someone in the kitchen, but it definitely wasn’t Ryley. “Oh my God, I’m sorry. I thought you were Ryley.”
The old lady turned to me and chuckled before spooning a helping of eggs and a couple of pieces of bacon onto a plate. Her hair was as white as snow and pulled back in a low ponytail. She reminded me so much of my grandmother back home. Even though her skin was wrinkled with time, she was still beautiful—almost angelic.
“No worries, dear. He’s actually outside in the garage. He spent all morning working out in there. The poor boy has a lot on his mind.”
That he does.
She pointed to the table and set the plate down, along with a fork and a glass of orange juice. I sat down and took a deep breath. The food smelled amazing.
“I have homemade biscuits in the oven. They should be done soon.” Taking a seat across from me, she smiled and reached for her coffee. “I guess I should introduce myself . . . I’m Ryley’s grandmother, but you can call me Mamaw. That’s what he calls me. I should also mention that we all heard about what happened.
“Ryley called us this morning and told us you were here in town, so that’s why I thought I’d come by and visit. His mother will be stopping by this afternoon. We’re all excited about the grandbabies though.”
“Oh wow, so I guess he did tell you everything,” I remarked, scooping a forkful of eggs into my mouth.
Laughing, she drank the rest of her coffee and got up when the timer went off on the stove. She pulled out the biscuits and put one on a plate with a spoonful of butter. “Yes, dear, he tells me everything. I remember the day he came up here and sat on the porch all day . . . even when it began down pouring.” After handing me the plate, she sat back down and frowned. “I had never seen him quite so upset. He wouldn’t talk about it, but I finally coerced it out of him. I’m glad you two found your way back to each other. I was growing rather tired of his bachelor ways.”