Page 53 of His Surrender

“I know,” I reply, unable to stop smiling.

Lincoln notices. “You’ve gone soft.”

“I have not.”

“You absolutely have.”

Before I can defend myself, the elevator dings again.

Roman and his wife, Eva, step into the foyer, followed closely by Walker and Jessie, who are engaged.

“What the hell?” Roman says the second he spots Liana. “Sawyer wasn’t lying.”

“Told you,” Sawyer calls from behind them as he and Kayla step off the elevator. “None of you believed me.”

Jessie walks straight toward me, already reaching for Liana. “Can I?”

I nod without hesitation. The second Liana settles into Jessie’s arms, every woman in the room crowds around her.

“Oh, look at her little nose.”

“She’s so tiny.”

“Look at those cheeks.”

“I can’t get over her eyes.”

The men instinctively hang back.

Roman folds his arms. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to be looking at.”

Eva rolls her eyes. “The baby.”

“I see the baby.”

“No, you’re supposed to appreciate the baby.”

“I appreciate that it’s a baby.”

Walker laughs. “You’re hopeless. Hey, Dean. What are the odds that both of us had kids we didn’t know about? Does that say something about us?”

Roman smiles. “That you were both man-whores.”

Another chime sounds from the elevator before I can react. Colton and Melissa hurry inside.

“Sorry we’re late,” Melissa says breathlessly. “Traffic.”

Then she notices everyone gathered in the living room.

Her mouth falls open. “Is that …”

Sawyer grins. “Yep.”

Melissa immediately joins the growing circle around Jessie.

Within seconds, my daughter has become the center of attention.

Lincoln wanders over beside me, bumping my shoulder.