Emma woke to the low rumble of Marcus’s truck outside the small apartment in the suburbs nothing fancy, just a two-bedroom they’d paid cash for after the auction on her old house. The baby monitor on the nightstand crackled softly with their son’s faint breathing, the same room Marcus had set up for the first child they’d conceived in the back of the truck. She was twenty-three weeks now, her belly round and heavy, the dark line of stretch marks still faint but proud under her skin. The silver collar rested against her throat like it had always belonged there, the chain ending in a tiny bell that jingled once when she rolled over.
She slipped out of bed without waking them. Jax was sprawled on the other side, one arm thrown over her old sagging t**s, while Marcus sat up against the headbo
