Page 136 of Tears of Gold

I nod, a lump lodging in my throat. “We can.” I reach for his hand and lay it over the bump. “We can be anything we want.”

“Even on telly.” His grin widens.

“Even on telly.”

“Even when I want to paint in the attic and see where that takes me?”

“Even then.”

“Even when you are my wife and we love one another until the day we die?”

I catch his lips with mine, squishing the salad under my feet. Our kiss is hot and magical. Two souls finally working their way free.

“Even then.”

Thirty-One

“You okay?”

I try to wipe the frown off my face and smile at Eli. “Yes, I’m fine. It’s just the baby is sitting in some daft position across my bloody ribs.”

A smile eases the tension across his face, and he bends down so his lips are close to my stomach. “Stop hurting mummy, she needs to be together right now.”

“I am together,” I snap.

“Faith.” Eli straightens and slips his hands around my shoulders. “Relax. You’ve got to let Reggie do his job. Answer honestly and let the truth speak for itself.”

I nod. “I know, I know. I’m sorry, I’m just so tense.”

“You don’t have to face him. You can give your account from behind a screen. Reggie even told you to.”

“No. I want to see the look on his face when I tell everyone what he did.”

Eli nods slightly but I know this is hurting him, killing him that I’m exposing myself like this. The door opens and Abi walks in.

“You okay, sister sledge?”

I groan. “Seriously, everyone needs to stop calling me that.”

She lifts an eyebrow and purses her lips. “What would you rather, Mama bear?”

“No. I’d rather no stupid names, just Faith.”

There’s a pause and then she peels a loud laugh. “Nope, not going to happen. I think sister sledge has stuck.”

“Can you go away if you’re going to be annoying. I can’t cope with it today.”

She might be as annoying as hell but she’s also my oldest and bestest friend for a damn good reason. “Adam sends his love and says, 'Make sure that fucker gets bum rushed in jail'.”

I have to laugh despite the uncomfortable sweat I have going on. “That would make me truly happy.”

The door opens again. It’s like a packed London train station in here. Don’t they all know I’m exploding with pregnancy and have the internal body temperature of a nuclear plant about to blow? Gerard pokes his head around the door and then troops in followed by—well followed by bloody everyone. Tabitha, Jennifer, Saskia, Sienna…

I wait and watch the door, my stomach sinking when Dan doesn’t also come in.

“Guys come on. You can’t all sit there and listen. I’d hate it.”

The door opens again and Philip Duncan walks in. What the hell is happening here?