Luka
Millie limped off with Ida Jane.
“A possum?Dude, who knew they were even out here?”the rookie chortled.
What was his name?Something douchey… Marcus Waters, maybe.I didn’t know—didn’t need to know yet.That was Cormac and Maxim’s problem.I’d waved off the trainer—no way I was dropping my pants to have him poke at my dick, particularly at a social engagement.
Still, my groin throbbed in a not-so-friendly way when I finally made it into the house, and I couldn’t find Millie.Her disappearance made me more anxious than anything else.I knew she’d try to pull some stunt; she was good at ghosting.
I caught her tiptoeing out of a guest room, headed toward the front door.
“And just where do you think you’re going?”
She whirled, once again almost toppling over.Millie had always been so graceful—balanced and aware of her body.Clearly, the added bulk of our baby in front was throwing off her game.I strode across the space, getting my palm under her elbow even as she righted herself.
“I…I…”
I closed my eyes—briefly, because I couldn’t take my eyes off Millie.She glowed and her eyes were luminous, drawing me in, but she was treacherous, too.With that devious mind at work, I never knew what she’d do next, except that I wouldn’t like it.
Her gaze dropped to my crotch, her cheeks blasted with pink, and she averted her gaze.
“You can look,” I said, sidling in closer.“After all, you did more than look before.”I paused.“Just last night.”
Her cheeks turned an even brighter red.Damn, I loved teasing her.
“Luka,” she breathed.
“I like it when you say my name, Millie.I love it more when you scream it.”
“I’m eight months pregnant,” she snapped, breaking the sensual haze I’d been trying to weave around us.“I’m sure you noted the stretch marks.I’m not for you.Not anymore.”
Her words smacked me in the face but also in my chest, burrowing into my heart.“You think I was only with you because of your tight body?”
She looked up at me, furious.But underneath her gritted teeth and anger, I saw the vulnerability.Millie was afraid.Of me.
Correction: of me not wanting her anymore because of the way her body had changedwhile carrying my child.
Of me dropping her like her father had.
Like the douche Trent did when Millie refused to play their twisted game.Ida Jane’s words came back to me, Maxim’s words: “She’s been hurt.”
Millie’s emotional wounds might well be deeper than mine, and I was going to spend a lot of time teasing them out, like a viciously tight knot.
I stepped closer, using my free arm to cage her in, pulling her near.“I want you to listen to me, and I need you to hear me,” I murmured into her ear.“You know what the most sacred thing is to me?”
Her breath caught as she slowly shook her head.But she kept her eyes on the far wall, the stubborn woman.
“Family.That matters more than anything,” I told her.“I meananything—money, my job, your job, where we live… Anything.I know it because of how I was raised: without one.Because it’s what I’ve craved mywholelife.And Millicent, you and Bree aremy family.”
She inhaled sharply, tilting her head back, her eyes flashing up to mine.“Luka.”
“I adore the way you say my name.Like a prayer and a wish all wrapped up together.I can promise you this, sweetheart: I’ll be that for you.”
She stared at me, expression open, longing building in her eyes.Her lips relaxed.She lifted her hand to cup my cheek.I nuzzled into her palm, kissing it.Bree started rolling and pushing against Millie’s stomach, and I dropped to my knees to press my cheek to her belly.
“Hey, Bree.It’s Daddy.”
Millie tried to back away, so I wrapped my arms around her hips.
