“And?” I whispered.
He chuckled darkly. “I wish Brady was ours. That can’t be changed. But…he would be a good big brother, don’t you think?”
This time the heat drenched my panties. Wicked ideas consumed me. Feeling Ivan inside me,bareinside me. Giving me the one thing I dreamed of most.
That was why I had a child, after all. I wanted a family.
And here was a man, offering me everything.
Everything but himself.
He didn’t love me. Wanted me, cared for me, protected me—all good things. But he wasn’t the piece my soul was missing. The puzzle of my life would still be incomplete.
“Does that scare you?” Ivan pushed himself against me, angling his body so that his cock pressed against my body.
No!
Yes….
“Maybe a little,” I murmured.
“And yet you turned me down, condemned me to torment.” His accent thickened.
And spoke to a business rival, possibly committing treason. Yup, I was in over my head.
The only self-defense mechanism I knew sprang to my aid. “You haven’t spoken to me. In days. And then, what?” I snapped. “You can’t sleep, and you come unloadthaton me? That you want to get me pregnant!”
I stopped when I realized my voice was high and squeaky.
Ivan shrugged. “My proposal didn’t convince you. I thought honesty might.”
It was brutally shocking. I didn’t know what to say.
A man doesn’t suggest starting a family unless he feelssomething,right?
A small voice in the back of my mind reminded me that he didn’t believe in love. And there were plenty of children born between parents who weren’t in love. Hell! Brady was one of them.
“Ivan, I—”
“Don’t, little flower.” He nuzzled his nose against the curve of my neck before stepping back. “Don’t do that to me again.”
Ivan stepped back, and I staggered.
“Here.” Ivan dropped my phone on the kitchen table. “My men are tired of you begging to use their internet shopping accounts. If you have things you need to order for the house, use yours. My card is already loaded into your shopping wallet.”
I blinked rapidly. The rollercoaster of emotions was more than my heart could take. It pattered wildly in my chest. Like a mummy, I reached out for the device.
“Is that…?” Ivan peered into the stock pot.
“Oh, Brady said it was your favorite,” I said absently, swiping my fingers over the screen. “Can I…can I message some people?”
Ivan shrugged. “It’s your phone.”
Freedom. That was what he was giving me.
The gesture came with a leash, but it felt surreal to suddenly be attached to the world once more. Ivan disappeared back into his room without another word. But his revelation, that he saw us as a family, that hewantedme for more than quick satisfaction, made it hard to focus on anything on the screen.
I closed it, leaned back in the chair, and laced my fingers over my belly. Brady would make a good older brother. A family of my own sounded like a dream come true. But Ivan wasn’t the one I saw when I painted that picture.
