King Queen (POV)
Chapter 1 the beginning
The ride home from the courthouse was silent.
Too silent.
Quin hadn't said a single word since we walked out of Sofia's will hearing.
I understood why.
Hearing Sofia's lawyer read her final wishes, hearing her voice in those letters she left behind, hearing that she trusted us with the most important thing in her world—it had broken something open inside both of us.
Belladonna wasn't just a baby we were raising.
She was our daughter.
But Sofia's legacy.
Her last gift.
The second we walked through the front door, Quin dropped onto the couch like his body had finally given up holding itself together.
Jordan stepped inside a moment later carrying Belladonna's car seat.
Without a word, he placed it on the coffee table in front of the couch.
Quin looked over immediately.
The exhaustion disappeared from his face for just a second as he reached down and carefully lifted our daughter into his arms.
He pressed a kiss against her forehead.
"My Mafia princess," he whispered softly. "My Bella."
I stood there watching them.
Watching the man I'd loved for almost half my life hold our little girl like she was the most precious thing in the world.
Maybe she was.
Belladonna yawned and curled against his chest.
Quin smiled for the first time all day.
A real smile.
Small and tired, but real.
My chest tightened.
God, I loved him.
His phone started ringing in his pocket.
He glanced down at it before looking back at Belladonna.
"Get that for me, King," Quin said quietly.
He stood slowly, adjusting Belladonna against his chest before heading toward the stairs.
Halfway there he stopped.
"Can you call James and have him bring some baby stuff?"
I raised an eyebrow.
"Baby stuff?"
"We kind of became parents overnight, Devil."
I couldn't argue with that.
A laugh escaped me despite everything.
"Yeah. Go lay down."
Quin nodded once.
He looked exhausted.
Not physically.
Soul exhausted.
The kind that sleep couldn't fix.
He disappeared upstairs with Belladonna resting against his shoulder.
I looked down at the phone still ringing in my hand.
James.
I answered it.
"Yo."
Silence.
Then—
"King."
My expression hardened immediately.
"What?"
"Richard tried to get out of town."
Every muscle in my body went tight.
Jordan had men watching every road, airport, and bus station in the state.
Richard Carson wasn't getting far.
"Jordan told me you wanted him," James continued.
I looked toward the staircase.
Toward where Quin and our daughter were.
"He ain't leaving," James finished.
Good.
Very good.
Because Richard Carson had helped Veronica find Sofia.
And people who hurt my family didn't get second chances.
"Good," I said coldly.
There was a pause.
Then I sighed.
"Can you bring some baby girl stuff over?"
"...Baby girl stuff?"
"Yeah."
"King, are you asking me to buy diapers?"
I rubbed a hand down my face.
"Apparently."
James laughed.
"The Devil himself defeated by diapers."
"James."
"Right. Formula, bottles, clothes, blankets?"
"I don't know, man. Infant stuff."
He laughed harder.
"Got it."
I hung up before he could say anything else.
A Mafia king ordering baby supplies wasn't exactly how I imagined my evening going.
But if it was for Belladonna—
I'd buy the entire store.
I headed upstairs.
The bedroom door was cracked open.
Inside, Quin was asleep on our bed.
Dried tears stained his cheeks.
Belladonna was tucked safely against his chest, one tiny hand gripping his shirt.
For a second I just stood there.
Quin looked younger when he slept.
Peaceful.
Like the world hadn't spent years trying to break him.
Like he hadn't buried his little sister three days ago.
Like he wasn't carrying enough guilt to drown a man.
I crossed the room quietly.
Leaning down, I pressed a kiss to his temple.
"Sleep well, my love."
Then I kissed Belladonna's forehead.
She scrunched her tiny nose in her sleep.
I smiled.
"Sleep well, Daddy's sin."
Our daughter.
Our little princess.
Our reason to keep going.
I slid into bed beside them and wrapped an arm around both of them.
Quin shifted closer immediately, even asleep finding me.
Finding home.
Tomorrow we'd figure out bottles and diapers and cradles and everything else that came with being fathers.
Tomorrow we'd learn how to raise a baby.
Tomorrow we'd sort out our little girl.
And tomorrow—
We'd start hunting our monsters.
Richard Carson.
Jason.
Anyone who thought they could threaten our family.
They had taken enough from us.
They weren't taking anything else.
Not Quin.
Not Belladonna.
Not our forever.
Not while the Devil was still breathing.
