I’m pregnant.
After spiraling for a couple of hours, practically pulling my hair out of my head thinking about what I’m going to do, I come up with a solution.
Ivan gave me more money than I’ve been able to count, but that’s not enough to cover everything I need. Being a working mom is a possibility, but I know I’m never going to get a good enough job to give this kid the life it deserves if I don’t go to school.
The money I have now is not enough to cover my tuition as well as living expenses during my pregnancy, much less when there’s a baby in the mix.
I concentrate on the money aspect, not even wanting to think about the part of actually raising a child by myself. That part is too scary right now.
I hail a cab to take me to Ivan’s penthouse. He has to know about this. It’s something the two of us are going to have to figure out together.
I still don’t know the code to the penthouse, so I talk to the doorman and explain a little bit of my situation. I convince him to call Ivan and have him meet me downstairs.
I wait in the cold for him to arrive, and only a few minutes later, he shows up. He looks worse for wear. I can’t imagine what he’s been up to over the past couple of weeks. The minor wounds on his hands and arms from the warehouse have all recovered, but his beard is longer and unkempt now. I can see small bags under his eyes, like he hasn’t been able to sleep.
I’m sure the guilt of what he did has been eating away at him. Despite knowing that he deserves that at the very least, a part of me feels bad.
“Danielle,” Ivan says, his eyes widening as he sees me. A hint of a smile grows on his lips just at the sight of me, and I can’t help the excitement that flutters in my chest.
“We need to talk about something serious,” I say. He leads me inside and types in the code to get to the penthouse. I watch carefully this time so I can learn what it is.
As soon as the door opens, he guides me to the dining room, and we both sit down at the table.
“What’s going on? Are you okay?” There’s a hint of panic in his voice as he asks, but I just turn and look at him.
“I’m pregnant.” There’s no use sugarcoating it.
I didn’t know what to expect coming in here. He pushed me away and sent me off to live in the hotel alone, like I was nothing to him, like what he did to me meant nothing.
But telling him this now, I can see the light behind his eyes glowing and the smile on his lips is wild.
“Are you sure?” he asks, scooting closer and instinctively grabbing my hands. I have an urge to pull away, but I don’t. Being here, holding his hand, feels right.
“I peed on a stick a few hours ago, and it came back positive,” I say, taking a deep breath. “I thought you should know because I can’t go through all of this on my own.”
“And you don’t have to,” Ivan quickly says, moving closer and wrapping an arm around my shoulders. “Danielle, I neverwanted you to go. I wanted you to stay here because I care about you more than I’ve cared about anyone. You mean the world to me, and giving you up almost killed me. Maybe this is fate’s way of stepping in and correcting this. Of bringing us together.”
“Ivan, I haven’t forgotten about what you’ve done,” I say, pulling my hand away from him. “You manipulated me, and you could have ruined my entire life. How am I supposed to trust that raising a kid with you is going to be any different?”
He moves forward, grabbing my face with his hand and forcing me to look at him. In his eyes, I can see an intensity I’ve never seen before. Not even when he looked at me after he killed Nikolai.
“Because I love you, Danielle,” he says, catching me off guard. I can see that he means it. “I have since the moment I laid eyes on you, and I would do anything to protect you. I wish I could take back all the things that I did, but if you give me another chance, I promise you things will be different. I’ll be honest with you, and I’ll make sure you have everything you need and want. You and our baby have the entire world at your disposal.”
I look down at our hands, how he grabs mine again and holds them close to him. I can feel how much he wants this vibrating in the room around us, and I know that I want it to. I want it badly.
“You promise you’ll be honest from now on?” I ask, tears welling in my eyes. Ivan leans in and dries them, kissing my forehead gently.
“I swear to you. I’ll never do anything to hurt you again.”
I know he means it.
His lips find mine, and the warmth of them wraps around me in a way that I haven’t felt in weeks. I’ve needed this. Since he sent me away, I’ve needed to feel this again, and as soon as he pulls away, I grab his face and hold him closer.
“I’ve missed this,” I whisper, kissing him again.
Ivan’s tongue fills my mouth slowly, as if he hesitates to be with me. After everything he’s done, I can understand why. He pushed me away for a reason, but I’m back here now. I won’t leave so easily this time.
I pull him closer, in desperate need of his body against mine again. It takes a moment for him to warm up to it, but when he does, his arms wrap around me and he holds me close to him, not willing to let me go.
