"I don't need you to be perfect." Her voice is soft. "I just need you to be honest. To let me in. To trust that I'm strong enough to handle whatever comes."
"You're the strongest person I know." I turn my head and kiss her palm. "And I love you. I've never felt this way about anyone. I didn't think I was capable of feeling this way. But you—you make me feel everything. You make me want to be better. You make me want to be worthy of you."
We sit there for a long moment, and it feels like something has shifted between us. Like we've finally broken through the barriers that we’ve been fighting to get through, to each other.
The doctor comes in a moment later. “Mr. Ciresa, Miss Beauregard. I can show you the ultrasounds if you like. Your baby looks like they’re going to be fine.”
Savannah nods, and I move closer so I can see the screen.
Dr. Morris pulls up the ultrasound images, and suddenly there it is—a tiny form on the screen, barely visible but unmistakably there.
"This is your baby," Dr. Morris says softly, pointing to the small shape. "Six weeks and three days, based on measurements.”
I stare at the screen, at the tiny flicker of movement. That's our baby. Our child. A person we created together.
"It's so small," Savannah whispers, and her hand tightens around mine.
"About the size of a lentil right now," Dr. Morris says with a smile. "But growing every day.”
I can't take my eyes off the screen. This is what matters the most. Not the war with Edgar or my revenge against Thad. Not the empire my father built or the legacy I'm supposed to carry. This. Savannah and our baby. Our family.
"Can we have a copy?" I ask, and my voice sounds strange, thick with emotion in a way that I’ve never heard it before.
"Of course." Dr. Morris taps the screen a few times. "I'll have the nurse print one for you."
She leaves, and Savannah and I are alone again, staring at the image.
"We made that," Savannah says softly. "We made a person."
"We did." I lean down and kiss her forehead. "And I'm going to spend the rest of my life making sure that person—and you—are safe and loved and happy."
The nurse returns with a printed copy of the ultrasound, and I take it carefully, like it's the most precious thing in the world.
“We’re partners,” I say finally, testing the word. “So I won’t continue anything I’ve been doing unless it’s what you want to, Savannah. But Thad isn’t going to let this go. You know that. And I believe that financial ruin, or prison… none of that is good enough to finish this. It has to be permanent.”
I see her expression waver. That kind of violence is something I wouldn’t ask anyone else to countenance. But she wants to be a part of this. So I’m trying to honor that, even though everything in me screams to just make the decision to protect her from it.
“All those women,” she says softly. “If we ruin him, he’ll just lash out. If he goes to prison, he’ll get out eventually.”’
I nod.
“Do it.” Her voice is a low whisper, as if she can’t quite believe what she’s saying. “End it, Romeo. So we can have a life without being afraid. But my father—” She takes a slow breath. “Do what you have to do to make sure we’re safe from him, too. But don’t kill him. Don’t hurt him physically, as much as you’re able.”
“So, prison.” I look at her, and she hesitates before giving a tiny nod.
“Alright.”
And there it is. I look at her, this beautiful, exquisite woman I’ve fallen in love with, and I realize that she really is stronger than I ever gave her credit for.
And I, the man who felt nothing, love her more than I ever thought possible in that moment.
I lean in and kiss her, lightly. “Alright,” I repeat. “I’m going to go find Thad. And I’m going to end this.”
29
ROMEO
Savannah is asleep when I return to her room, a little while later. They decided to keep her overnight for observation after the pregnancy scare. Dr. Morris reassured us that the baby is fine, but they wanted to monitor her and make sure there are no complications.
