“It’s nothing.”
“It’s not nothing.” I squeeze his hand. “If it weren’t for you…”
I don’t need to finish that sentence. “Brad can’t touch you here,” he growls. “He won’t ever touch you again.”
The flash drive burns a hole in my pocket. “I took something before I left,” I confess. “Hidden documents. From his laptop.”
Yulian frowns. “You think there’s something in there?”
“Maybe.” I sigh. “I don’t know. It’s all coded language.”
“Send it to me.”
I blink. “What?”
“Send it over,” Yulian repeats. “I’ll have Tikhon take a look. He loves a good puzzle.”
“Thank you,” I whisper, not knowing what else to say. “I… I don’t know how I can ever repay you. For all of this.”
He shakes his head, firm. “You don’t have to repay me. We’re—”Family,he starts to say, but stops. “We’re in this together.”
“Right.” I swallow the disappointment. Every reminder of how badly we’ve destroyed each other’s trust makes the guilt stab deeper. “I’ll send you everything in the morning.”
There’s a lull in the conversation. Silence wraps around us, filling the room with the weight of every word left unsaid. I watch Yulian’s muscles ripple on his face, his neck, the space where his collarbone meets his chest. His shirt is unbuttoned, letting his tattoos peek out.
For a moment, I let myself feel it. His presence, his warmth. His cologne, strong and woodsy and everything I’ve missed.
His lips are right there, I realize. If I leaned just an inch closer, I could capture them. I could feel them on me again.
For a moment, it would be like before.
And then he’d break your heart again.
“I—I’m a little tired, too,” I blurt, scrambling off the stool.
Yulian stiffens. I feel like I’ve broken a spell between us. “Of course,” he says tightly.
“I’ll just, um… go to sleep, if that’s okay.”
He nods. “Get all the rest you need.”
“Great. I’ll, um—see you in the morning.”
I start dashing away, but then he calls out, “Mia.”
“Yes?”
“I’m here for you.” His voice sounds rougher. Huskier, somehow. “For all three of you.”
Three.
I follow Yulian’s gaze to my belly. There’s an intensity there, a spark I didn’t know could exist, like a fire burning high. A claim.
It dawns on me, finally, that the baby growing inside me isn’t just mine anymore. It’s his, too. Half of him, half of me.
And he’ll protect it with all he has.
“Goodnight,” I whisper.
