Chapter 179Chapter 179 I love you
Early that morning, Madam Maxwell was a bit on the edge as she walked around the kitchen, tasting
and giving instructions for every meal the maids were preparing.
Her eyes would occasionally flicker from stove to pots and pans, her lips pursed in concentration.
Finally, the sound of Miss Grace’s voice
drew her attention to the kitchen doorway when she heard, “Elijah, Peach, and the baby are home.”
A look of raw excitement came over Lisa’s face and she smiled widely as she rushed out of the kitchen
with Miss Grace following closely behind.
When they got into the living room, both their eyes were wet with tears to see little Piki in the car seat
that Elijah was hoping for, and suddenly, the two days of waiting felt worth it for both grandmothers.
Not wasting a second, Miss Grace ran to Elijah while Mrs. Maxwell rushed for Peach and they pulled
the couple into a tight hug.
“Thank you, Elijah. Thank you.” Miss Grace cried at her son-in-law.
Even though Elijah was trying to keep up the tough appearance, hearing his mother, wife, and mother-
in-law all crying historically, he just couldn’t find anything but happiness inside, at the moment.
They had been through so much together and knowing that these were tears of joy just made this
moment even more special to him.
The sound of footsteps made everyone turn to see Mr. Maxwell walking through
I love you the doorway, and when he and Elijah’s eyes locked, he whispered, “Father,”“Come here, my boy.” Mr. Maxwell said with open arms.
Immediately, Elijah handed the car seat to Peach and walked over to his father, who engulfed him in a
big hug.
“You did it. You did it, son.” Mr. Maxwell whispered, his voice cracking.
‘Did I?’ Elijah thought as the nagging feeling returned.
Looking at both Elijah and then Peach, Miss Grace said, “Give me Piki… You two should head upstairs
and freshen up for breakfast.”
A moment later, when Peach and Elijah entered the room, she stopped in her steps, looking at him with
this hesitant look on her face when he said, “Gosh, I miss you and I having privacy in our own space.”
At first, Elijah didn’t notice her because as he took off his shirt, his mind was still on Dean and how
everything went down.
Finally, when his t-shirt was off, he turned to see her standing there, looking at him with this unsure
look on her face, pulling at the edge of her t-shirt.
“What is it?” Elijah asked softly, seeing that she was struggling with something.
“It’s nothing.” Peach mumbled with a shaky smile. “You should take a shower first.”
It took him a moment to process his thoughts and then he looked at her in confusion before saying,
“Why can’t we do it together?”
The past months of pregnancy had changed her body so much that, for once in Peach’s life, she was
insecure to take her clothes off in front of someone else, especially Elijah.The more he stared at her, Peach started to fiddle with the hem of her shirt again as she tried to think
of something to say, but she found nothing. When Elijah noticed her discomfort, his curiosity was now
aroused.
“Is there something wrong?” He asked, stepping closer to her, concern evident in his expression. “Are
you uncomfortable or something?”
As much as his heart would be hurt if she was unhappy, he wanted to make sure she was okay, and
Peach’s heart ached
when he put his hand gently on her shoulder, and she swallowed her fear, but it got stuck in her throat.
“Peach, talk to me. You are scaring me right now.” Elijah softly said.
Immediately, she closed her eyes, taking I love you deep breaths, and slowly opening them when the
urge to let Elijah know what was going on was overwhelming her, and then she finally found the
strength to mumble out, “I just don’t feel comfortable with my… body. My stomach is not how it used to
be… I have gained a bit of…”
“I love you,” Elijah said, looking straight into her eyes as she silently stared at him. “I love you so damn
much, Peach Hayes. Maxwell. I am in love with your smile, your beautiful heart, the sound of your
laugh, how your eyes sparkle when you’re happy and excited…”
Then he cupped her face in his hands and kissed her on the forehead before pulling her closer, resting
his head in the crook of her neck, inhaling her scent deeply before whispering, “I love the smell of you,
the rhythm of your heartbeat, how kind and sweet you are… How you care… How you worry… I love
the taste of your food, of your lips, of you…You are perfect. Every inch of you, in and out.”
Slowly, Peach melted into Elijah’s warmth and wrapped her arms around his waist, sighing contently as
he whispered, “It’s okay for you to feel this way. It’s okay if you don’t want us in the shower together… Ifyou want me to turn around while you undress, I will even do that. But know that I will wait for you… for
the day you don’t need me to do these things anymore.”
Looking up to meet Elijah’s eyes, Peach chuckled lightly at his words before pulling away slightly,
cupping his cheeks.
Then she leaned forward slowly, tapping- toe her to place a small peck on his soft lips before kissing
his nose bridge, the corners of his eyes, and his cheekbones. 1
Once she reached his chin she kissed him fully, smiling when she could feel his breath catch and when
he placed his hands on her back.
Pulling back slightly, she stared directly into his eyes, letting her gaze travel down his face and then
lower, landing on his lips. “How about we go shower together?”
A moment later, Ethan and Peach were fully dressed in black sweatpants, the mood between them
light. a
But then Elijah looked over at his phone. and his mood shifted a bit as he got lost in the feeling that has
been haunting him for a while now.
Suddenly, he felt Peach’s hands wrapped around his waist as her chin rested on his back, and he
heard her mumble, “Say it?”
“I don’t think Dean was the one that hired Michael.” Elijah finally sput it out, feeling relieved that he had
gotten this off his chest.
“Okay,” Peach said in an understanding tone.
“Officer Michael had been working at the courthouse for years. His salary is a good figure. I just can’t
wrap my head around how Dean was about to paid him when he had nothing to his name.”“That makes sense.”
Turning around in her arms, Elijah met Peach’s eyes and said, “I also feel like I am reaching-”
“Honey, you are not overreacting. You have a gut feeling, and you should do what it’s telling you.”
Peach interjected, rubbing her thumb across his jawline.
“You think?”
“Yes!”
A faint smile came over Elijah’s lips and then he said, “I should call Rookie then.”
The dining table was covered with food and yet, no one was eating as Rookie, Matt, James, and Ryan
sat there, in their thoughts.
“Who’s going to ask the boss?” Rookie finally blurted out, breaking the silence.
“Since you just volunteered then you should call him.” Matt said, grabbing Rookie’s phone off the table
and pushing it against his chest.” “Do it.”
“I never volunteered… also, You have the phone. Go on and dial it. My password is 152…” Rookie
said, pausing when the phone suddenly started ringing.
Immediately, Matt threw the phone across the room when he saw it was
Elijah calling, causing it to almost hit Ryan in the head, but he dodged it, and the device landed on the
floor.
“It’s boss!” Matt mumbled.
“Dude!! What the hell! My phone!”Rookie shouted, giving Matt a hard stare. “You just broke it!”
Frowning, Ryan bent over and picked up the phone, mumbling, “Amateurs.”
Afterward, he answered the call, saying, ” Hello, boss.”
“Is everything okay?” Elijah questioned as Peach watched him nervously.
Staring at the eager faces around the table and knowing what was running through their heads, Ryan
finally decided to say it, “It’s just that the guys and I were wondering if we can book a ticket today to
come over and see the baby.”
Immediately, everyone around the table’s ears perked up as they waited anxiously for his answer.
In response, there was a long pause from
Elijah’s side before he finally responded, “I am sorry guys.”
The moment the others saw Ryan’s face fall, they knew Elijah didn’t agree, and the three dropped back
in their seats, sighing in disappointment.
“But,” Elijah continued, “Can you guys please try to reschedule because I have something that I need
your help on.”
“Of course, boss,” Ryan said, looking at the others with a serious expression that made them all sit up
straight. “What is it that you need, boss?”
“Micheal confessed that Dean was the one that paid him to let him enter the courthouse with a gun-”
“You think he’s lying?”
“Yes, And that is where you guys come in.I need to find out if Dean is the one paying Melina’s hospital bail, and get in contact with Mr. Bamford. I
need the CCTV cameras from the courthouse, during the time of Jewel’s hearing. I want you guys to
scan through it and see if you can find out anything useful.”
“We are on it, boss!”
There was a brief pause, and then Elijah said, “Thanks… You guys are doing me a solid on this one
since I can’t be there… Piki and Peach need me-”
“We understand boss,” Ryan said immediately.
“Ask Dice, Jerome, Scorpio, and Mr. Bamford for help if needed, and don’t forget to keep me in the
loop.”
“Will do boss.”
“About Piki, I will send you guys her picture. Once everything is clear and my doubts are gone about
Dean, you guys can come over to meet her.”
“Thank you, boss!”
After ending the call, Ryan looked at Matt and Rookie and said, “The boss needs us to investigate
Dean.”
Frowning in confusion, Matt said, “But the case was an open and shut case.”
“Yes, but the boss has doubts that we need to relieve him of. So, Rookie, you will have to find out if
Dean had been paying Melina’s hospital bill, and Matt and I will talk to the chief constable about getting
access to the courthouse camera.”
Ryan said calmly.“Got it.” Rookie replied.
“Also, he’s going to send us baby pictures of Piki-”
Th€ connection to th€ §ource of thïš dat@ r€§t$ in n0v3lebook“What? Ryan, is my phone cracked?”
“Umm,’
After staring at the crack marks on the phone screen, Ryan showed it to Rookie, and immediately,
Rookie lunged for Matt, but he was quick to jump from his seat, running for safety behind James, who
was chuckling his head off.
“You fuck off my screen! How am I going to make baby Piki’s photo my wallpaper, you fool!” Rookie
blurted out.
“Buy a new phone?” Ryan mumbled like he had just solved an easy math problem.
“We should head out. The sooner we can find out what the boss needs from us, the quicker we will be
able to go back home to see the baby.”
A knock on Elijah and Peach’s door made the couple stare in the direction of the sound, listening to
Miss Grace’s voice, ” Peach, Elijah, are you guys sleeping?”
“No, mama. We will be out soon.” Peach called out.
Then she gazed down at Elijah’s hand and laced her fingers with his, and the two left the room,
meeting Miss Grace in the hallway with Piki in her hand.
“There you are my sweet pea, snuggled up nicely.” Peach whispered, picking up Piki from Miss Grace
and placing her on her chest. “Did Grandma wrap you up nicely?”Afterward, the four of them headed downstairs, and a moment later, they and Mr. and Mrs. Maxwell
were seated around the table.
The sound of gentle laughter and chitchats filled the room as everyone ate their breakfast, and the
atmosphere in the dining hall felt very peaceful.
“Elijah,” Mrs. Maxwell said, smiling wildly at her son. “How about we schedule a baby photography
session for Piki and-”
“No!” Elijah blurted out with a raise in his voice.
The table immediately grew quiet, and Peach shot him a worried glance, the same as his mother,
father, and Miss Grace.
“I am not allowing strangers into this house… Around my daughter and wife.” Elijah clarified, his
expression becoming stern.
Even though no one said it, they were all thinking the same thing… He had not recovered from Peach’s
incident, and it was clear in his eyes that he was still triggered by it.