She squeezed me tighter to her. “Evil people chose to do fucked up things, Henry. You aren’t responsible for the actions of those assholes. Besides, I’m pretty sure you and your big problem-solving brain saved both our lives.”
“You’re the one who just went through hell; I should be helping you. Instead, you’re the one having to fix me.”
“We’ll fix each other,” she mumbled against my skin. “That’s what couples do. But not tonight. Tonight, we sleep.”
It was surprising how quickly I drifted off, with her safe in my arms.
“How are you feeling?” the nurse discharging Ri asked.
Ri nodded, fingers going to the back of her head, which was still a little bruised. “I’m doing better than I expected.” She looked up at me with that secret smile. The one that said, ‘we’re having a baby’.
I smiled back, nerves fluttering at the thought. Earlier that morning, we’d gone for a final ultrasound to ensure the baby was in fact healthy after Ri’s ‘hiking accident’. When she’d heard that tiny, fluttering heartbeat, her whole face had lit up, and I’d finally been able to convince myself that she really meant it when she said she wanted this.
I still had a whole catalogue of worries. I had no idea how to be a father. But if the last few months had taught me anything, it was that, with her by my side, I could face any challenge. And that I’d do whatever it took to make the rest of her life safe and full of joy … and a dozen kids, if that was what she wanted.
I pressed my palms against her belly tenderly. The urge to touch her was overwhelming. My pregnant wife. And our tiny human, growing inside her.
“Hey,” Ri said, humour and concern mixing in her tone. She brushed a tear from my cheek. “Are you having a synthetic pregnancy?”
“A … what?”
“You know, when the partner starts having pregnancy symptoms too?”
I grinned. “Oh, asympatheticpregnancy … no, I’m just happy.”
Ri’s eyes sparkled as she beamed back at me. “Well, that’s lucky, since you’re kind of stuck with me forever. Me and the tiny human.”
I wrapped her up in my arms, loving the way she moulded herself against me. “I’ve never felt less stuck in my life. And forever with you is the only suitable outcome.”
“And now you’re making me cry!” she whimpered, wiping her tears on my T-shirt. “I’m going to be a sobbing mess this entire pregnancy, I can just tell.”
“Well, we’d better get you home so you can sob in comfort.”
“I’m already home, Hubby,” she murmured, nuzzling her nose into the skin above the V-neck of my T-shirt. “Home for me is wherever you are.”
CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN
Never for Him
IRINA
“Catnip?” Henry’s voice filtered in from the living room, and two sets of footsteps traipsed across the floor. I sat cross-legged on our bed, Abernathy purring soothingly on my pillow. In sweaty hands, I clutched the box.
“In here!” My voice wobbled.
I needed to get the last secret off my chest. I didn’t want to set sail back to Sydney with it hanging between us. Our departure was one sleep away, under the watchful eye of our newly recruited captain. Oscar was older, gruff and serious, his demeanour nothing like Josie’s. Henry liked him a lot.
Henry appeared in the doorway with Lucian directly behind him. He’d be sailing back with us. Henry was taking no chances, and as much as I hated to admit it, I trusted Lucian. He was family, after all. And the splits on his knuckles told me he was prepared to get his hands dirty to keep us all safe.
I hoped Atlas’s face was a bloody pulp.
The last few nights I’d woken, gasping and on the verge of vomiting, the chill of a phantom gun barrel at my temple, Henry drew me close, kissed that spot and reminded me that it was all over, that I was safe. That we were all safe—him, me and the tiny human.
“Everything okay?” Henry asked tentatively, eyes on the box on my lap. Trink, ever attuned to his mood, leapt down from the desk chair and wound around his ankles, mewling. He reached down to scratch her head.
“Yes,” I began, then took a deep breath. “I have something I want to talk to you about.”
Lucian patted Henry on the shoulder. “I get the feeling this is a marital conversation. I’ll be downstairs in my room.” He strode off, and Henry joined me on the bed.
