Her hands left my waist, and she took my face in her hands. “Look at me.”
I opened my eyes.
Her face was serene, and a smile curved on her lips. “Stop finding all the reasons you can’t love her and find the reasons you can. Do you really want another man loving her and Elias? Would he protect them better than you?”
My fingers curled into fists at the thought. Someone else loving her? Touching her? My teeth ground together. My baby in some other man’s arms? Elias was mine just as much as his mother was.
She chuckled. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.” Her hands dropped to her sides, and she stepped back. “All I’m asking is that you stop fighting it so hard and just see where things go.”
I hung my head. Anna was wrong. This thing with Cora was going nowhere. We would marry, prove that she had a stable home, and then quietly divorce so she could get on with her life.
“Fine.” Arguing was getting me nowhere. Eventually, she’d see that I was right. “We’ll see where things go.”
Her face lit up. “Good.”
Ari returned with Elias sans pacifier. “Everything okay?”
She beamed. “Everything’s great.”
I crossed the room and held out my hands. “Why don’t I take him, and you go out on a date with her?”
Ari grinned. “I’m not arguing with that,” he said as he gave me Elias.
“He just wants me out of his hair.” She huffed.
“That’s only partially true.” I winked.
She wrinkled her nose at me. “I’ll go freshen up and we’ll go.”
Ari nodded. “I’ll be right here waiting.”
She’d barely hit the top of the stairs when Ari turned to me. “She’s right, you know.”
I groaned, walked to the couch, and sat. “Not you too.”
“I’m a killer.”
There were rumors about a warehouse and a massacre. “I know.”
He shook his head. “No, you don’t. She does, though. All the gritty details, and she still chooses to love me. Give Cora the opportunity to choose. I’ve seen the way she looks at you. Given the chance, I think she’ll pick you.”
“If I care about her, I won’t let her pick me.”
“If you care about her that’s exactly what you’ll do. Your wife, your partner, is supposed to walk next to you. Not behind you. Stop trying to dictate your will and let her have a mind of her own.” He chuckled. “I watched Cora. That woman has courage and strength, and you’re discounting that when you tell her she can’t choose. Stop trying to be her boss.”
“Iamher boss.”
Ari narrowed his eyes. “You’ve asked her to marry you, and you’re holding her baby. You stopped being her boss a long time ago.”
I looked down at Elias. “They deserve better.”
“Of course they do. Anna deserves better than me, but for some reason, the universe had mercy and allowed me to be loved by her. I’m not wasting that by beating myself up. I’m taking the gift and being thankful for it.”
Footsteps sounded on the stairs. “I’m ready.” Anna sang.
Ari turned and whistled. “Look at that sexy woman.”
I grimaced. “Okay, please go now.”
