Total pages in book: 41
Estimated words: 39687 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 198(@200wpm)___ 159(@250wpm)___ 132(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 39687 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 198(@200wpm)___ 159(@250wpm)___ 132(@300wpm)
Having the wealth and power he possessed as the capo’s son, he walked right into one of the private rooms where his wife was already sitting, waiting for him. Her shirt was pulled up, and he didn’t see much of a bump.
“Can you even tell the sex or if it’s even alive at this point?” Laura asked.
The doctor offered her a smile, and Marcus moved toward Laura. He reached for her hand, but she pulled away from him.
The doctor saw too much, and Marcus didn’t give her a chance to pull away again. He took hold of her hand, and made sure she didn’t have control; he did.
This time, she didn’t fight him as he took her hand and locked their fingers together.
“We won’t be able to determine sex today. Your little baby has a little more growing to do before we can do that. We’ll be able to hear a heartbeat, and maybe see something small on the screen.”
Marcus didn’t let her go as the machine was set up.
“This will be a little cold.”
“It’s fine,” Laura said.
She let out a little gasp as the ultrasound wand was placed on her stomach. For several seconds neither of them spoke, and then he heard it.
The sound of a heartbeat.
He had never in all of his years heard anything quite so precious as he did from her stomach.
It was beautiful.
His child.
“I don’t know if you can see anything, but it’s right there. Strong heartbeat already.” The rest of the doctor’s words faded away as he marveled at what they’d created together.
This was beautiful.
Sweet.
Their baby.
Leaning down, he kissed her cheek. “I will protect you and our child at all costs.”
He meant it.
Every single word.
Chapter Eleven
One year ago
Marcus sat at the dinner table in the restaurant as men and women continued to make their speeches. None of them were important, all of them complete bullshit, and he was fucking bored.
Glancing down at the time, he knew there was no way of getting out of this. No way of finding the time or the space to be free of the lies and manipulation.
“When do you think you’ll be getting married?” Laura asked.
He didn’t know why she was always around during these events. It wasn’t like her family was even important, and seeing her now pissed him off.
She was supposed to be a civilian, but he knew more about her than most of the fucking bitches he protected.
Laura offered him a smile, and it wasn’t a mocking one either. Just a smile. There were times he didn’t know if Laura was a bitch or just a pain in his ass.
Either way, it wasn’t going to stop the way he felt about her. He hated her, but his feelings weren’t always directed to hatred either. She was a source of contention between him and his father.
He had to protect her, but he wasn’t told why. As his father always liked to berate him, it’s not his job to know why. It’s his job to do as he was told, and if he didn’t follow instructions, he would be punished for it.
The family didn’t have room for questioners, and he didn’t like it.
“Why are you here?” he asked, not in the least bit interested in the wedding around him.
Staring into Laura’s dark brown eyes, he felt himself drawn to her. No matter how much he hated her, he couldn’t allow anything to happen to her. He often spent a great deal of time thinking about her at the most inappropriate moments. It didn’t help how she invaded his thoughts when he least expected it.
Pushing those feelings to one side, he waited for her response.
She took a bite of her strawberry and shrugged. “I don’t know. I was told I didn’t have a choice.”
“Yeah, well, it would seem you and I have something in common.”
“You don’t have control either? You’ve got to do as you’re told.”
“Every freaking day,” he said.
“Look at us, talking like normal people.”
“There is nothing normal about us.”
“You got that right.” She smiled at him, raising her glass. “To forced weddings.”
****
Four months pregnant and Laura felt sick to her stomach. She put a protective hand on her child and took several deep breaths.
Her baby was a little girl.
Marcus had been there with the announcement, but the moment the doctor told him the sex, he’d been gone.
One of his loyal drivers had taken her home, and now she was all alone in the big, scary house. She hated this place more than anything. It wasn’t a home, and no matter how many times Marcus told her to find the means of making it a home, she couldn’t bring herself to do it. This wasn’t a home for her.
The house was more of a prison.
She couldn’t go anywhere without anyone’s say-so.
If Marcus wasn’t around, the guards on duty had to call him.