And, though the joy of being pregnant hadn’t diminished, the excitement had taken a nosedive.
She’d taken hours after her appointment on Monday morning to plan the pregnancy reveal, and she’d been bubbling with anticipation and nerves. What would Gideon think, say, do when he found out they were finally parents after so long?
Since their first date, she’d known Gideon wanted children; he’d been upfront with her about wanting an heir for the Maddox empire. She’d told him she’d always wanted children, and he’d told her that he was settling down, building a home, starting a family.
On their third date, he’d told her—over chilled champagne and $11,000 Russian caviar—that she was the one he’d wanted to start a life with. His expression had been intense, his eyes burning hot like emeralds glittering in dragon fire, and the hand holding hers on top of the table between them had been warm,grasping hers tightly, as if her response was a matter of life and death.
Three weeks later, they were engaged, and she was over the moon—her fairytale Prince Charming was really a billionaire god, and he had chosenher—average in every possible way—as his wife.
That was over three years ago—three years of failure, defeat, hatred of her own body, and dwindling hopes and dreams—that desperate desire for a family she’d never had moving further and further from reach.
Until last week.
The midnight hour chimed on the hand-crafted German grandfather clock in the sitting room, and Kendra sat in her usual spot in the lounge, blanket over her lap, feet curled up under her, a mug of peppermint hot cocoa cooling on the table beside her, and barely-creased paperback book held loosely in her hand.
She wasn’t reading the bestseller by Maya Alden she’d picked up that morning; she was watching the hallway leading to the front door, waiting for the familiar sounds of her husband returning home.
She hadn’t seen him since he’d left their bed Sunday morning.
Since he’d told her, his voice cold, his manner even colder, that he would call her if he’d be gone longer.
She’d waited Sunday night, then all day Monday, then all day Tuesday, then all day today.
Not a single call. Not a single text. It was as though he’d swallowed up by the massive, gleaming edifice of the Maddox Tower building. Then again, she knew that wasn’t the case, because her husband—the all-powerful God of Manhattan—had been spotted by paparazzi.
In Brooklyn.
With another woman, one she’d seen in the society pages enough times to know everything there was to know about her.
Isabella Mancini, the daughter of a wealthy businessman who happened to be one of Gideon’s biggest clients.
Isabella often accompanied her father to Maddox business events, stealing the spotlight and Gideon’s attentions, and sending not-so-subtle digs at the “homely little wifey.”
She was beautiful, wealthy, connected…and whenever she was photographed out with Gideon, she always grasped his arm with a kind of possession that made everyone wonder if there was a scandal there, waiting to be uncovered.
The backs of Kendra’s eyes burned, unshed tears clamoring for freedom, but she’d viciously held them back.
Her husband wasn’t a cheater. He was a man of control, loyalty, and though he was a ravenous beast in bed, she felt like she fulfilled his carnal needs. Why would he stray, right?
Then again, he only ever reached for her in bed on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays…maybe Isabella Mancini was fulfilling his carnal needs on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, leaving Saturdays as a day of rest.
God, she hated how her thoughts went there; Gideon had never given her a reason to think he’d cheat. Then again, as cold and distant as he’d become over the last year, she did wonder if, perhaps, he was having second thoughts about their relationship.
She loved him. So madly, so deeply, she couldn’t imagine a life where they weren’t husband and wife. She’d tumbled head over heels on their first date, when he’d shown up at the door of her apartment with a bouquet of daffodils, sunflowers, tulips, and bluebells, telling her the arrangement meant hope for a beautiful life together.
Over the course of their short dating period, she grew more and more in love with him, and she knew he loved her, too—though he’d never actually said the words, she knew he felt that connection between them. Gideon wasn’t the kind of man to wear his emotions on his sleeve. She knew no real details about his parents, only that his mother wasn’t in the picture, and his father had been a bad husband and father—at least that’s what she gathered listening to conversations between the four Maddox brothers when they all had the time to sit down for a meal together, and from gossiping with Cora whenever Kendra spent time with her and her girls.
Usually over the holidays, or when she and Cora could convince them all to get together so Pearl and Winne could see all their uncles in one place. Those hard, gorgeous, powerful Maddox brothers were soft and squishy when it came to those two little girls—even the eldest Maddox, Gideon, who rarely cracked a smile, would soften his gaze when Pearl, who was four years old, wanted his attention. But it was when he was holding Winnie, Cora and Adrian’s five-month-old, that Kendra felt her heart really melt. That man deserved to be a father.
And now he was.
She just needed to wait a few more weeks until Christmas to tell him—because it was the perfect Christmas present for the man she loved fathomlessly.
Her plan for the baby reveal always made her smile. She couldn’t wait for Gideon to open the box holding the tiny green onesie that read: “Merry Christmas, Daddy” in scrolling white lettering. And she certainly couldn’t wait for him to open the box of Cuban cigars, each wrapped in deep red paper and gold labels that read: “Baby Maddox Coming – 2026.”
As restrained and controlled as Gideon was, she knew he’d want to crow about their baby, so the box of cigars was a great way for him to share the good news with all his business cronies.
Finally, she took the pregnancy report from Dr. Chaudry’s office, and framed it. Simple. Tasteful. A keepsake they would have forever.
