Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 79097 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 395(@200wpm)___ 316(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79097 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 395(@200wpm)___ 316(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
I should be angry with him—should be fucking furious. And maybe I am, somewhere deep down below the surface. I’ll give myself space to feel, to process, and to deal with whatever happens. At least I didn’t expect this to be all sunshine and roses. But right now, all I feel is… relief.
Javier is gone.
And while he might have some who are still loyal to him—and we will weed every last one of them out—he has no power over me anymore. Over any of us.
I hold my belly. It’s too new, and I’m not far enough along yet to make it feel real. But I have to admit… I don’t feel the way I thought I would.
I told him I didn’t want any children. I told him I didn’t want to be a mother. But now that it’s happening, I’m surprised to find it doesn’t feel like the death sentence I thought it would.
A baby. Children. Maybe a little girl who has her daddy’s eyes and my spirit. Perhaps a little boy with that dimple in his cheek. Here, in the Romanov family, my children will have people who love them. Aunts and uncles, a grandmother and cousins… a father who actually wants them and a mother who will do anything for them.
I swipe at my cheeks.
I can run the Los Sangre Dorada and have a family, too.
Right?
“What are you thinking?” Lev’s voice is rough and husky in the early morning quiet. He gives my ass a playful swat. “You should be sleeping, woman.”
“So should you,” I retort. I sigh and close my eyes. Nestle my ass closer to him. He groans and hugs me tighter. A shiver of pleasure washes through me at the warmth and weight of his arm over me. I don’t need a man to protect me, but damn, does it feel good having one who will.
“Sleep, beautiful,” he says softly. “We have a ton of shit to do tomorrow.”
And the day after, and the day after.
I close my eyes. Wordlessly, he runs his fingers through my hair. Tension seeps out of my body with every gentle stroke. I missed him. I want him.
I’m totally madly in love with him. I focus on my breathing. My rapid heartbeat gradually begins to slow. I close my eyes, and I fall back asleep.
When I wake hours later, the bright light outside my window tells me it’s well past sunrise. The smell of bacon and coffee wakes me up. I stretch my arms overhead and sit up in bed, waiting for a wave of nausea. Thankfully, I feel mildly queasy, but that bacon smells like heaven.
I stretch and put my feet on the hardwood floor, the memory of what happened the night before plaguing me.
I should feel more remorse for killing my brother. It was brutal, it was savage… and it had to happen. I knew it did. I’d practiced for that moment for years, and when the time came, I did not hesitate.
But that doesn’t mean I liked it.
The door to the bedroom creaks open. Lev stands there, shadowed in the doorway, a silhouette against the frame.
“Morning,” he says in that deep rumble of a voice that makes me shiver.
“Morning.” I stifle a yawn.
“Coffee?”
“You know it.”
A beat passes where the silence hangs between us, and neither of us moves. We have so much to say that it seems words fail us.
Then both of us talk at once.
“I should be pissed at you—”
“I fucked up—” His voice is choked. Repentant.
“I know why you did it, but you shouldn’t have—”
“I did what I thought I had to, but—”
“Maybe having a baby isn’t the worst thing—”
“I love you.”
Well. That does it.
I stare at him, dumbfounded. “Guess you just pulled the ace. Dealer takes all.”
The corner of his lip quirks up, but then he sobers. “I promise you. I’ll be the best husband and father I can.”
I swallow the lump in my throat. I can’t speak above a whisper. “You already are.”
I reach for him as he crosses the room with his big strides, invading my space and pushing me back. I welcome the weight of his body on mine. I cherish the taste of his lips. I sigh, sinking into this one stolen moment of peace and forgiveness, such rarities in families like ours.
He tangles his fingers in my hair and gathers my wrists in his strong, rough hands.
“I’ve missed you,” I murmur, my body waking up as if he waved a magic wand in front of me. My pussy tightens, and a low hum of need vibrates through me.
“I’ve been right here.”
I reach for him and pull him over to me. We roll over together. Slowly, our clothes fall to the floor in a heap until we’re stripped. I revel in the hard planes of his abs and the broad expanse of his shoulders. The way he looks at me as if I’m the most precious person in the world.