He nods and kisses me back. “It will be.”
The timer goes off, but instead of pulling away, he gives me a sexy grin and says, “You’re going to look so beautiful with a big pregnant belly.”
“We haven’t looked at the test yet,” I remind him.
Bringing his hand to rest on my lower stomach, he says, “We haven’t, but I think you’re right. I think our baby is growing inside you right now.”
I place my hand on top of his, smiling at the image of our baby. Before I let myself get too excited, I look up at him and say, “Look over at it. Now I’m too nervous.”
He turns his head to look at where the test is lying on the counter, and I watch his face. I know the second he realizes it’s positive. I swear he lights up from the inside, and when his eyes meet mine, there’s so much emotion in them that mine start to fill. His thumb caresses my stomach as he leans down to kiss me.
“We’re going to have a baby,” he whispers against my lips, sounding just as awestruck as I feel. He laughs and lowers down to his knees. Lifting my shirt, he kisses across my stomach, whispering to our baby, telling them how much we already love them and how excited we are to meet them.
My fingers run through his hair while I watch him. Things went fast for us, and I know we’re still young, but I’ve never once doubted how I feel about Niki or what I want our future to be. I’ve second-guessed most major decisions in my life, even starting college before I knew what I wanted to do, but I was never confused about this man or the baby I’m carrying.
He looks up at me, brows starting to furrow. “We need to set up a nursery. We have a million things we need to buy, Van. I’m also going to put another bodyguard on you. One doesn’t feel like enough anymore.”
Smiling, I kneel down so we’re level. “I’m not even going to try and talk you out of worrying,” I tell him. “But just remember that we have nine months. We’ll get everything done in time. Plus, both our moms will be thrilled to help.”
“We need to tell them. They’re going to be so excited.” Instead of grabbing his phone, he scoops me up and stands. “But first I want to explore every inch of my pregnant fiancée’s body.”
I’m pretty sure nothing has changed yet, but I’m not about to argue. He carries me to our bed and then spends the next few hours reminding me of how deeply loved I am. I fall asleep exhausted and with a smile on my face, but when I wake, the bed is empty. It’s not unusual for him to get up and start working, but he’s been doing it more often, and I always worry about him not getting enough sleep.
Pulling on one of his T-shirts, I leave our room and walk down the hall to his office. I see the glow from his monitors before I step in. He immediately sees me because his desk is across the room and angled so anyone walking in won’t see the screen.
“Hey, baby,” he says, but even though his tone is light, I see the way his fingers skim the trackpad, clearing the screen of whatever it was he’d been looking at.
I start to walk to him and then sit in his lap when he scoots his chair back and offers me his thigh. I turn my head and kiss him before I say, “If I were a suspicious woman, I’d think you were looking at porn in here.”
He lets out a disbelieving laugh. “I would never do that to you, and I don’t have the slightest desire to waste my time with that shit when I have you.”
His hand rests on my stomach, and I know it’ll be a move he instinctively does for the entire pregnancy. I love it, and when I smile at him, he returns it before kissing me again.
“What are you really doing then?” I ask, turning my attention back to the now empty screen. “You haven’t been sleeping well, even worse than usual. What’s going on?”
He hesitates, but when it’s obvious I’m not leaving without an explanation, he leans forward and hovers a finger over the trackpad. “Are you sure you want to see this, Van? It’s disturbing.”
I have no idea what he’s about to show me, but I want to know what’s been bothering him enough to make him get out of bed in the middle of the night so he can work on it. Whatever it is, I don’t want him carrying it alone.
“I’m sure,” I say, hoping I can actually handle what’s about to pop up on the screen.
The photo that appears isn’t at all what I’m expecting. My eyes widen when I see the familiar face, the long, blonde hair and frightened blue eyes.
“How did you?” I start to say and then stop when I realize these photos must be new. The background isn’t the basement I still remember every detail of. In this photo there are wood-paneled walls and a mattress that’s lying on the floor. She’s huddled up on it and looks scared to death. “Where is she?”
“This is her, right?” he asks, pulling up a few more photos so I can see her from different angles. It’s unnecessary because I knew it was the poor girl Cupid assaulted in front of me the second I saw her.
“It’s her,” I say, stilling his hand because I don’t want to see any more. “Where is she?”
“Cupid sold her,” he says. “I’ve been trying to track her down since we found you.”
I turn my head in surprise. “You have?”
“I knew it bothered you to not know what happened to her.” He kisses my shoulder and rests his hand back on my stomach. “It bothered me, too.”
“But how did you even know where to look? She could’ve been anywhere. How did you find her?”
His grey eyes search mine, debating how much to tell me. While he caresses my skin, he says, “My family has a long history of fighting traffickers, and after I found out my mom was a victim, I don’t know, I guess I became a little obsessed with it. I couldn’t sleep at night. It’s all I could think about, and I knew I was in a unique position to stop it.”
