Because there were more.She hadn’t told me yet about her father, not directly and not enough.But I’d already figured out that he was the real villain in this story.
She nodded, but she still felt stiff—fragile.I held her close and slowly, her body relaxed.She whimpered and then she went limp.Glancing down, I noted her eyes squeezed shut and her mouth in a tight line.
Yet she settled against my chest as if she’d been made specifically to fit there.I closed my eyes, trying to ease the tension pulsing through my muscles.Now wasn’t the time to fixate on Millie’s past.Right now, we both needed comfort.I rocked her gently, enjoying the feel of Bree’s movements against my abdomen.
This woman.
“We’re going to have to talk about this more.”
“I know.I need to tell you my father’s part.”
And I needed to know.I was going to hate the details, but I couldn’t protect her without the knowledge.
“Justplease,not now.”
I kissed the top of her head.“Not here.”
I needed to get her home and fed andsafe.I needed time to think through what she’d said, and what that meant for me, to me.Ida Jane had warned me not to go after Millie unless I was serious, and I’d spent some time thinking over my options before I got on that flight to Sri Lanka.
Millie was such a series of contrasts.She cuddled closer, her hands gripping my shirt, her nose buried in the space between my pecs.Her body was soft but strong, lush with my child.
Millie was mine.Not because I needed to own her, but because she owned me.I’d already given her my heart; I’d given her my future and my happiness.
She just didn’t know.
Millie
Even after Lukaled me into his condo and brought up our luggage, even after we’d both showered and eaten, he continued to fixate on Trent.
I knew this because I did, too.
His fists clenched and released, clenched and released enough for me to realize he was fantasizing about hitting the guy.
I’d wanted to also, but that wouldn’t have solved my problems.Assault would have only increased them.But Luka wasn’t me—there was still so much I didn’t know about him, his history.Still, I had the sense that he lived by a code Trent never would.Solving matters with his fists, having a code of honor were things Trent couldn’t fathom.Keeping those two apart became paramount; no way could Luka lose his future, especially not because of my past.
“Are you tired?”Luka asked.
I felt drained.In fact, I spent a good portion of most days exhausted, thanks to the human growing inside me.
“You can have the bed,” Luka said.There was a rasp to his voice—an off-ness to him that worried me.
I’d known he wouldn’t want me once he learned I’d been unable to protect myself.Too young, too naïve, too weak to realize Trent was using me…
“Stop.”Luka was in front of me, his hands loosely caging my wrists.“Come back.That place—wherever you went—I don’t like it.I’m pretty sure it isn’t healthy.”
My lower lip wobbled as I looked up at him.“I…”
Luka dropped his gaze.“Let’s get you to bed.”
“I don’t want to go,” I exclaimed.“I mean, I’m tired, but we need to talk—”
“Not tonight,” Luka said.
“Don’t tell me not tonight,” I snapped back.“I hate when people decide for me!”
All the tension from the airport swirled around us.But it was more than that.I was so aware of him, his beautiful eyes, his plump lower lip, his hard-angled jaw.I wanted him.Desperately.I needed him to want me, too.To show me that Trent’s actions meant nothing—that he was still attracted to me.
I shook my head.No, that was foolishness.I’d check into a hotel in the morning.And the moment Ida Jane’s party ended, I’d get back to the airport—go back to my lonely, sad existence in Sri Lanka.
