I grunted. "Thanks, Mom."

"I think the ring is beautiful," said Trevor, examining the ring on my finger. Our eyes met. "Do you like it?"

"Of course I do," I said. "But, it's too expensive."

"I'll be the judge of that," he said. "How much is it, anyway?"

She told him and he didn't even flinch.

"I figured it was something like that. How many carats?"

"One-and-a-half."

"Is that big enough?" he asked. "Maybe we should look at two carats."

I laughed nervously, wondering what he was thinking. We hadn't even told my mother about moving in together, and here he was looking at engagement rings with her. It felt a little surreal. "No, I don't think we need to look at two carats. This one is more than I need anyway."

He smiled. "You're worth every penny."

"She is," said my mother as I handed her back the ring. "So, is there something that you two wanted to tell me?"

Trevor and I looked at each other and then he cleared his throat.

"Actually, yes. We're thinking about getting married," he said.

"Thinking about getting married," she repeated. "I'd say that if you're looking at engagement rings, you've been thinking about it pretty hard."

"We both have," I said, grateful that there were only a couple of other customers in the store and they weren't nearby. I didn't want anyone to hear the lecture that I knew was coming.

"Why do you want to marry my daughter?" she asked him.

"Because I love Adriana with all my heart and couldn't imagine living my life without her," he said softly.

My eyes misted up and I smiled at him.

Mom looked at me, her expression unreadable. "And why do you want to marry Trevor?"

"Because I feel the same way. We're in love."

"You're so young," she said, now looking at me sadly. "Can't you wait?"

"We could, but why?" I asked.

"You have so much living to do," she replied. "And then there's school. Don't jump into something you might not be ready for."

"Mom, didn't you tell me that your parents tried talking you out of getting married, because they didn't think you were ready?"

"I was older and they were wrong. I was ready."

"I'm ready, too."

She looked at Trevor, who'd been quiet. "And what do you have to say about all of this?"

"I'm willing to wait until she's ready. It's totally up to her. I just want her in my life and I'm willing to do whatever it takes to make her happy."

"Even marriage?" asked Vanda.

"Especially marriage."

She took a deep breath and exhaled. "I see. Well, you're both adults and I know you're going to do what you want."

"We'd like your blessing, though," said Trevor.

She nodded slowly. "If you promise to honor, love, and protect my daughter, I will give that to you."

"Really?" I squealed, shocked that she'd relented so easily.

"I promise, Vanda. I will. Thank you," he replied, just as surprised as me.

"I want you to know, though," she said, her eyes narrow, "if you hurt her or she gets involved in something illegal, because of your gang or lifestyle, I will hunt you down and shoot you myself."

"I understand," he said, smiling. "And I take your threat very seriously. She's safe with me."

"She'd better be," said Vanda, her shoulders relaxing. She smiled. "Now, do you like that ring? I know the owner of this joint and I think if we play our cards right, we can talk her down in price."

Trevor and I both laughed.

Chapter Forty-two.

Although my mother took the news of us getting married surprisingly well, we didn't tell her about the pregnancy. I didn't want her to think that we were getting married just because I was pregnant, especially after the talk we had with her in the shop.

"We forgot to tell her that you were moving in with me, too," he said afterward, when we were getting into our vehicles.

"About that," I said. "I think we should wait a few weeks."

"Why?"

I told him how she'd fainted in the shop. "She said she'd seen a doctor, too, about her headaches."

"What did the doctor say?"

"I'm not sure. She brushed it off."

He sighed. "You're going to stay the night though, right?"

"Of course," I said. "We'll break the news of us moving in together on Christmas Eve. She's making dinner. You're invited, by the way. Unless, you have other plans?"

"This year, my plans are with you," he said, pulling me into his arms.

"What about your grandmother?" I still hadn't met her yet. All I knew was that she lived in Florida with her "Old Man" and that they traveled a lot on their bikes.

"She's on a cruise right now," he said. "But, I spoke to her about two weeks ago and told her about you. She wants us to visit her soon. Maybe after the holidays?"

"Sure. I'd love to meet her. That's your mom's mother, right?"

"Yeah." He told me about his mother showing up at his doorstep, earlier in the day.

"What did she want?"

He went over their conversation. When he got to the part about the Devil's Rangers, I gasped in horror. "There's a 'hit' on you?"

"From what I hear, it's been canceled," he said, smirking.

"Canceled?"

He told me about Bastard and April.

"Do you think she sought him out on purpose?" I asked, surprised.

"Oh yeah," he replied, smiling. "But, he knows and doesn't seem to care."

"I guess that worked out in everyone's favor then," I replied, relieved that the Mother Chapter was finally stepping in. "Does that mean we don't have to worry about the Devil's Rangers anymore?"

"For the time being. At least that Chapter."

"They have a Mother Chapter, too, don't they?" I replied.

"Yes."

"What will they do?"

"I don't know."

"Could they retaliate?"

"Probably."

"This is nuts," I said, frustrated. "I feel like there is always going to be some kind of threat for us."

"Don't think that way. It's not going to be like that. We're going to get married, have this baby, and live to see our grandkids do the same thing. Hell, I shouldn't have opened my big mouth. The Devil's Rangers aren't worth stressing over."

I knew that he was saying it so I wouldn't worry, but I wasn't naive. Our lives were still in danger and it would always be the case, as long as long as there were Devil's Rangers.

"I promised your mother that I'd protect you, and I will," he said, pulling me back into his arms. "Just don't ever shut me out, Kitten."

"I won't, Trevor." I closed my eyes and let him hold me. As worried as I was, I loved him and would never walk away. This was now my life and there really was no turning back.

Chapter Forty - three.

Trevor showed up on Christmas Eve with a bottle of champagne, a shopping bag filled with presents, and a pecan pie.

"You look beautiful," he said, as I took the pie from him.

"Thank you."

I had on a lacy red blouse with a camisole, and a short, black skirt. I'd also curled my hair, spent extra time on my makeup, and had splurged on a manicure.

"I'm kidnapping you later," he murmured, kissing me on the lips. "I need to see what's hiding under that sexy little skirt of yours."

"It's a surprise," I teased. I'd purchased a new red thong, along with a matching pushup bra at the mall, knowing he'd approve.

"Mm... I think I'm going to skip the pie and take you home early for a bite of yours," he said, sliding his free hand under my skirt.

"Stop," I giggled, pulling away.

He laughed.

"This looks really good. Did you make it?" I asked, looking down at it.

"Of course. I hope Vanda likes it," said Trevor as he followed me toward the kitchen. "You said it was her favorite."

"Oh, yeah. She goes absolutely crazy for pecan pie. You're going to win a lot of extra brownie points with this."

"I hope so. We're still telling her tonight, aren't we?"

"Yes," I said, my stomach twisting in knots at the thought of how she was going to react.

"Merry Christmas, Trevor," said Vanda, when we walked into the kitchen. She was standing at the counter with Jim, drinking a glass of red wine.

"Merry Christmas," he replied. "You too, Jim."

"Thanks. Same to you," replied Jim, smiling.

"What do we have here?" asked Vanda, noticing the pie.

"Your favorite, Mom. Trevor made it."