Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 67534 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 338(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67534 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 338(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
“How do you feel?”
“Everything hurts,” I answer.
He nods once then steps closer to the bed. His hands stay at his sides. He doesn’t touch me.
“The doctor says you have two cracked ribs,” he says slowly.
“Might as well be all of them,” I mutter.
His mouth twitches faintly, but he doesn’t let himself smile.
“I wish you could have more pain medicine, but…”
He trails off, but he doesn’t have to finish his thought. I know what he’s thinking. If I confirm it, though, it’s out there forever. There’s no taking it back. I’m not sure if I’m ready to be the first one to break.
Viktor’s gaze sharpens. “You shouldn’t have moved me out of the way.”
That’s not at all what I expected him to say. Maybe he doesn’t want to be the first one to break either.
“I saw the shooter,” I say, because I refuse to let him rewrite the moment into reckless stupidity. “You didn’t.”
His jaw tightens slightly. He doesn’t argue the logic. He can’t. A thick and uncomfortable silence settles between us, and the truth is too much to bear. I force myself to say the thing that has been clawing at my throat since the moment I opened my eyes.
“I should have told you,” I breathe out.
He blinks once. “Told me what?” he asks, playing coy.
“Stop pretending you don’t know what I mean,” I say with as much frustration as I can muster. “I should have told you about the baby.”
His gaze drops to my stomach immediately, even though there’s nothing to see there. That automatic movement makes my spine stiffen. It makes me want to curl around myself like I can hide it.
He looks back up at me with an emotion I can’t quite decipher.
“You should have,” he agrees. “So why didn’t you?”
His voice is calm and controlled. I think I would prefer anger.
“Because it wasn’t safe,” I answer.
His eyes narrow. “Safe for who?”
“For anyone,” I say bluntly.
Anger crosses his face for just a moment, but I know he knows I’m right. A baby in this world is a liability. Not just for me, but for him, too. It’s something his enemies can use against him. It’s something Mikhail would absolutely kill me over.
“We’re in this together now,” he finally says. “No matter what, we both have to keep our child safe. That means no more stupid maneuvers. When I tell you to stay in the car, you sure as hell better stay in the car.”
“That doesn’t work for me,” I argue. “You can’t dictate everything I do just because I’m pregnant.”
“I thought you were going to die!” he nearly shouts.
He doesn’t sound angry, though. He sounds desperate. He sounds afraid. Like he watched his whole life slipping through his fingers and there was nothing he could do to stop it. Did he feel that way before he knew about the baby, or was that fear just for me?
My throat tightens instantly. I hate the sensation. I hate the way my eyes sting for a fraction of a second. I don’t want to cry in front of him.
“My death has always been an inevitability,” I say calmly. “Since the moment you took me from that car. It’ll either be a quick death from one of Mikhail’s soldiers, or a slow, agonizing death being married to that monster.”
“Those aren’t your only options,” he argues tensely. “Why don’t you trust that I can keep you safe?”
“No one is safe from him, Viktor. That’s the point. Unless you’re prepared to kill him and deal with the fallout, we will never be safe from him. Neither will this baby. So what is the point of pretending differently?”
“Do you really think I would let anyone hurt my child?” he asks carefully, moving closer to the bed and resting his hand on mine. “Do you think I wouldn’t move heaven and earth to keep that baby safe?”
His gaze holds mine for a long moment.
“I’m not going to let anything happen to the mother of my child either. No one is touching you.”
“You’re being delusional,” I try to argue, but I can feel the pain meds starting to kick in and I grow incredibly tired. “You shouldn’t make promises you can’t keep.”
“I never have, and I don’t intend to start today,” he says, with a small smile on his lips. “No matter what happens next, I promise you that I’ll always protect you.”
Maybe it’s just the nice feeling I’m getting from the meds, but I start to believe him. I start to imagine a future where Mikhail doesn’t find me, and I’m able to give this baby a relatively normal childhood.
“That’s a nice idea,” I say out loud, though I’m not sure if I’m talking to Viktor or myself.
My body is so heavy and I’m so exhausted. I feel like I’m floating away from this room, toward a place where his promises might actually mean something.