Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 63165 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 316(@200wpm)___ 253(@250wpm)___ 211(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63165 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 316(@200wpm)___ 253(@250wpm)___ 211(@300wpm)
“I don’t know,” she says truthfully. I’m impressed by her honesty. “I didn’t know how you’d react, so I’ve been weighing my options. I didn’t want to decide anything until I knew for sure.”
“And now you do?” I prompt.
“Now I do,” she confirms, pulling her paper gown tighter around herself. “Are you mad?”
I think this over for only a second.
“I’m angry about a lot of things,” I say. “But not this. I wish you hadn’t kept it from me, but I’m not angry we’re having a baby.”
“You want this?” she asks in an impossibly small voice.
Again, I only have to consider the question for a second. Years ago, I wanted this more than anything I could have expressed. Then the chance was stolen from me, and I didn’t think it would ever be given to me again. So I answer as truthfully as I can.
“I want both of you breathing and safe,” I say. “I’ll do anything to make that happen.”
Some color comes back to her face. She looks like she might cry, but she holds it back. I take the chair from the corner and set it by the table so I’m not towering over her.
“That’s good,” she sighs out, looking lighter than before.
“I am angry that you slipped your guards,” I add. “And I do need you to get dressed right now. We have to go.”
Her eyes go wide again as she reads between the lines. She hears the warning I don’t say out loud. She just nods and shoos me out the door so she can change.
I wait in the hallway, nodding to a very pregnant woman who walks by with a nurse. They both eye me suspiciously, but I don’t mind. Seeing the woman, it hits me how real this is. Mari is having a baby. My baby. I’m going to have a family. And losing them is not remotely an option.
17
MARI
We don’t talk on the ride back. Lev sits next to me in the SUV, his knee bouncing the whole way. His phone lies facedown on his thigh, like he’s forcing himself not to touch it. Yuri rides up front. No one says a word. I watch the buildings slide by and try to keep my breathing steady.
This could be bad. Catastrophic, even. I can’t read Lev at all right now, and it’s freaking me out. He said he wasn’t angry with me for keeping the pregnancy from him, but even that doesn’t stop the anxiety climbing in my chest. The tension in the car is palpable.
When we pull up to our building, the garage gate lifts. No one says a word as the driver pulls into a spot and we climb out. Lev, Yuri, and I take the private elevator up to the penthouse. As soon as we step inside, Yuri and Lev exchange a look.
Yuri nods and speaks into his comm, alerting the security staff, then disappears from the living room with his usual quiet grace. Lev steps farther into the living room and turns to face me.
“We have a lot to discuss,” he says.
“We do.”
I set my bag on the coffee table and sit on the couch, bracing myself for war. He stands in front of me, his hands on his hips. He looks me over like he’s checking for obvious damage. Then he sighs and sits down on the opposite end of the couch. He folds his hands in his lap and leans toward me. Every hair on my body stands at attention as I wait for his reaction.
“How far along are you?” he asks.
It’s an easy enough question.
“Six weeks.” I shrug. “Maybe seven. My bloodwork will confirm the exact date.”
He just nods, stands, and goes to the wet bar to pour himself a drink. He doesn’t say anything as he pours brown liquor. He looks up at me like he’s about to ask if I want one, then remembers that I’m pregnant and stops himself.
“It’s yours,” I say into the long silence, unable to stop myself. “I haven’t been with anyone besides you since we started… whatever this is.” I gesture lamely between us.
“I wasn’t going to ask,” he says.
“I know you weren’t,” I say, realizing how endearing that is. “I just wanted to make sure that was clear.”
“I don’t need you to,” he says, almost offended now. “I don’t doubt your intentions, Mari.”
“I don’t know what you’d question anymore,” I say honestly. “You have me followed twenty-four hours a day. You’ve had me locked up like a princess in a tower for weeks.”
I sigh and look around the living room, reminding myself it’s still a prison. Nothing about that has changed. But he’s a little warmer now, at least, and this secret isn’t hanging around my neck like an albatross.
“All of that has been for your protection.”
“As you’ve stated over and over.”