Being trapped in Ridge’s house has me going stir crazy, but it’s better than putting ourselves in danger just to be able to leave. After making it back from the ultrasound, grabbing my stuff from my brother’s, and the subsequent trip to Shadow Security yesterday, we spent the rest of the night at home.

    Ridge’swyeres by early the next morning, and Quincy, Ridge, and hiswyer go into the downstairs office to handle whatever business they need to tackle.

    I have no idea what anyone else’s ns are for the day, but I need to get my ass in gear where courting gifts are concerned.

    It still bothers me on some level that Quincy thought I would just dip out after she and Ridge bonded.

    That’s not how I was raised.

    Not at all.

    I wouldn’t have spent all those months covertly courting her as we worked together if I had nned to walk away if she found the baby’s father.

    I’ve always known that it was a possibility, but I also know what I bring to the table. Which is why I’m still having trouble understanding why I was so pissy yesterday afternoon.

    I wasn’t lying when I told Quincy I was in this for the long haul. She’s meant to be mine, even if I have to deal with Trigg and Ridge to keep her.

    Some of my emotions might be erratic from processing that I more than likely killed someone. It’s wild how it hits out of nowhere, and the flood of anger, grief, and sadnesses back in rolling waves that I was unprepared for.

    I don’t regret acting.

    The risk was too great if I didn’t.

    I guess it’s all part ofing to terms with the fact I’m not who I thought I was. It’s hard to exin, but I would do it all over again if I had to. I just never thought I would be capable ofmitting murder.

    Then I think about how those motherfuckers weren’t afraid to catch Quincy in the crossfire, and I know I would do much worse things to keep her and the baby safe.

    Idle hands and too much time to think aren’t doing me any favors.

    I need to keep myself busy…hr

    I tapped my mom in a while ago to help brainstorm cute courting gifts, and that was long before Ridge and Trigg came into the picture.

    Being able to take Quincy out for courting dates would be ideal, but it’s not feasible with everything going on. Not that I me Ridge for pushing to keep the ultrasound appointment yesterday. If I were in his shoes, I might have done the same thing. Seeing the baby moving around on the screen made everything even more real than when I’m able to feel her wiggling around when I touch Quincy’s stomach.

    With my options limited, I take over the living room, setting up for Quincy’s courting gift. There’s still a random pile of presents in the corner from Briar and Saylor, as well as baby shower decorations, which all point to how chaotic life has be.

    My mother made a point of telling me how important it is to tailor Quincy’s gifts to her as a person.

    Ridge already tackled the nursery stuff I was going to help with before he came back into the picture.

    Trigg is on jewelry and, apparently, murdering all of our enemies.

    That left me with a small window of opportunity. A few things came to mind, mostly a wardrobe offortable clothes in a variety of sizes to amodate any changes to her body after giving birth.

    My mom warned that idea might be well-received or it might not go over well, depending on how Quincy is doing mentally after she delivers.

    So while I did purchase a variety offortable dresses, socks, and lounge clothes, I think I’ll hold off on giving them to her even after they arrive. That way, they’ll be on hand if she needs them, but if not, I can save them for some other asion.

    Which brings me back to what I finally settled on for my first courting gift.

    The living room is covered in colored paper, glue sticks, stickers, markers, and a whole heap of other craft supplies.

    I bought a photo printer, and it’s doing its thing, printing any of the candid shots I had from different stages of Quincy’s pregnancy. Almost all of them were taken in the restaurant, so hopefully she finds it romantic and not creepy that I took so many pictures of her over thest few months.

    Hell, I’m figuring if Trigg can get away with putting cameras in her house, then she shouldn’t be too upset over a few pictures that were taken in a public ce.

    That’s my hope, anyway.

    Thinking of the psychopath seems to summon him, and he approaches, shoving up his sses. “What is all of this?”

    “A courting gift,” I grumble, grabbing thetest printed picture from the tray. “It’s a photo album—scrapbook thing—of her pregnancy.” I also have two more in a box next to my thigh that are baby books to bepleted during the first year of the baby’s life, and one that’s a journal, which has questions for Quincy to answer. It’s meant to be given to your baby once they are an adult. I figured it was a cool connection to the past, and it’s something that will be truly meaningful one day. “Wanna help?”

    King lies on the carpet next to my left leg, and he raises his head, resting it on my thigh as he eyes Trigg with suspicion. He no longer growls every time Trigg walks into a room, so I guess that means he’s getting over whatever distrust he had of him.

    “Once Ridge is done in his meeting, I’m afraid we have an errand we have to run.” Trigg adjusts his shirt sleeve and appraises the coffee table covered in decorating materials. “I usually try to put myself into a state of almost meditative calmness when I know I’ll be torturing someone, but I suppose this is a good reminder of what he’s being punished for.” He nods like he’s agreeing with himself. “Mindset is everything. I have several pictures of Quincy that I’m fond of. Can I print those?”

    Every time I think this shit isn’t as absurd as I’m making it out in my mind, Trigges in like a battering ram to prove just how wrong I was.

    My mouth opens and closes a few times as he takes a seat across from me on the other side of the coffee table.

    What the fuck happens if someone like Trigg goes feral? If he’s this unhinged when he’s lucid, I don’t want to find out what he’s capable of while being disconnected from reality.

    “Just connect to the Wi-Fi, and it should pop up as a printer option,” I mutter, patting around for the scissors I must have dropped at some point. Once they’re located, I put them on the coffee table alongside the picture I just printed and dig around for one of the loose album pages before shoving it toward the psychopath. “You can pick a background color or pattern from the stacks there.” I gesture to those. “Then you cut them out to make a border for the picture and paste it all down where you want it. There are calligraphy pens somewhere. You can use those to write out a message or the date, or if your handwriting is as bad as mine, there are stencils somewhere.”

    “I have several lovely still photos from the cameras in Quincy’s home that I’m fond of. Those would be a good ce to start.” Trigg pulls his phone from his pocket and begins to scroll. “We really need to make a point of taking more pictures together in thesest few weeks. I could ess her camera roll with little difficulty, but there’s a possibility that she might be rmed if she saw those pictures in the album without any forewarning.”

    “Yeah.” Iugh, shaking my head.

    What fucking does he live on where that’s even a question?

    Then again, Quincy does have a ridiculous soft spot when ites to him.

    Trigg doesn’t say anything else, and King begins to snore with his mouth hanging open as his head lies on my thigh.

    I still can’t believe I thought life would be boring when I came home to Burlington. My roommates in Charleston are probably still living it up. Partying every night and sleeping until three in the afternoon before getting up and doing it all over again.

    After retiring, I didn’t have much to focus on, so I fell into bad habits. I spent my days feeling sorry for myself and kinda just existing, but I was getting tired of that life before Harrison even called. I almost told him to hire someone else to run the ce while he was out.

    I grew up around here, anding back for months on end sounded like fucking torture. Vermont was the most boring ce on the in my mind.

    Ridge and Trigg proved me wrong, or maybe life needed to teach me a lesson. All my dreams now revolve around getting back to a more sedate kind of life—one where we can leave Ridge’s neighborhood without needing an escort of two security teams.

    I grab the stack of patterned pages and flip through them to find something to put on the sheet I’m working on.

    Trigg clears his throat, and my eyes fly up to meet his.

    “You didn’t kill that assant,” he says, stretching over to grab the picture that just finished printing. “He was still breathing when I took my shots. I thought you might like to know that.”

    My mouth goes dry, and my head tilts. I’ve spent a lot of time wondering exactly that.

    It’s not like Trigg is omniscient, so I have no idea why the urge washes over me to ask if he would have died anyway. Like, if Trigg didn’t finish him off, would that brick to the temple have done the job?

    Everything I know about physics says I probably would have killed him, but it’s a relief to know I didn’t.

    “Thank you.” I don’t even know if I’m thanking him for telling me or for taking those shots. No, it’s definitely both. “Seriously, thank you, Trigg.”

    “Of course. I’d like it if the two of us could be friendly, if not actual friends.”

    I nod. “I want that too.”

    It’s a shocking revtion, but it’s the truth. Not just for Quincy’s benefit, either. If the three of us don’t find somemon ground, life will be miserable for all of us. I don’t want the baby growing up in an environment where we only tolerate each other.

    “Very good.” He shoves his sses up and examines the picture he printed. “Now, I’ve noticed Quincy doesn’t wear much jewelry, but I bought her a ne and a ring. From what I’ve read, her fingers might swell the farther she gets into her pregnancy.”

    I’m not sure what he’s getting at, so I stay quiet.

    “Even if she can’t wear the ring, I believe the ne will be a decentpromise,” he says, dropping the picture on the sheet I gave him. They’re meant to be decorated individually, then you clip them into the album in whatever order you choose. “I intend to ask her to wear one or the other whenever I get back. If you’d like the opportunity to bond Quincy before that happens, I suggest you not squander your time alone.”

    My eyes narrow.

    Does that mean he’s going to ask her to marry him tonight?

    “Are you saying the ring you bought is an engagement ring?” I ask, trying to keep the annoyance out of my tone.

    “Yes.”

    “Jesus Christ, Trigg,” I mutter. “There are three of us who should all be involved in picking her engagement ring. At the very least, you should let us chip in on whatever the one you bought cost. And we should get the chance to ask her together.”

    “Okay,” he says, smiling tightly. “I’ll give her the ne. I want her to have at least one gift that’s solely from me.”

    I sigh. “Can you send me a link or something so I can check it out?”

    “Fine.” He grabs his phone, clicking away on the screen. “Although this is just to give you an idea. The one I selected wasn’t listed online. I was torn between a round and an oval shape, but I believe the oval will fit her hand to perfection. None of this means much to me, so I took his word for it. It’s just under four carats, E color rating, super ideal cut, rity FL. The jeweler assured me it was the best he had in stock. I could have saved a few thousand dors if I paid by wire transfer, but it was after five p.m., and I didn’t want to wait to pick it up.”

    I grab my phone as it vibrates and unlock it before clicking on his text. The picture is of an oval diamond solitaire in tinum.

    “It’s set in a low basket setting, which should keep her from snagging it on things. That was purely by luck, because again, I didn’t want to wait to have the band swapped out.” Trigg sighs. “Are you going to give me your opinion?”

    “I don’t know what most of that means either, but I’m sure she’ll love it.” I smile tightly, tossing my phone down. No matter what I give her, it’s going to pale inparison to that thing. Hell, I could buy her a brand-new car, and I bet it wouldn’t evene close to what that ring cost. Jabbing a finger at him over the table, I say, “Warn Ridge, and don’t ask without us. That’s how a friend would handle that situation. The three of us have to get better about working together.”

    Trigg’s eyes narrow, and his face morphs into something terrifying for a split second. It disappears as quickly as it appeared, and a shiver runs down my spine.

    “I’ll tell him while we’re at the warehouse. If he’s even up for apanying me,” he says. “Don’t worry. There will be a team here to watch over you and Quincy.”

    Not once in my entire life have I ever felt incapable of protecting myself or someone I love.

    This whole situation is a mindfuck.