He takes my hands and presses them flat against his chest. His heart is racing. “You’re not alone in this,” he says. “Not for one second. Whatever feels too heavy, give it to me. I will carry it.”
My throat tightens. “Roman, I’m scared.”
He doesn’t brush it off. Doesn’t tell me it’s nothing. Doesn’t tell me I’m going to be fine.
“Good,” he says. “Fear means you understand the stakes.”
“That’s not comforting.”
“It is honest.”
He shifts, lowering himself until he’s kneeling on both knees, his forehead brushing my thigh. The sight of him there, this man who inspires fear in the most hardened criminals of this city, has an effect on me that I can’t even begin to describe.
In that moment, the reality of everything that’s happened, the weight of it, hits me hard.
“They wanted to kill us,” I say, my voice shaking. “They wanted to kill me, you, our baby. And they came cl?—”
He shakes his head. “There is no need to finish that sentence. They tried. They failed. And now they will pay the price.” His voice hardens. “Someone tried to take what’s mine. Whoever they are, tonight they crossed a line that cannot be uncrossed.”
I swallow. “Yeah. And that’s what scares me.”
He leans in, pressing his ear against my belly. The sight of it brings a smile to my lips. “He’s not nearly big enough for you to hear anything,” I say. “He’s like the size of a grain of rice right now.”
He flicks his eyes up to me. “He?”
Why did I say he? “I wasn’t thinking. It just came out. It’s way too early to tell.”
Roman flashes me a small smile before the serious-as-hell expression returns. He splays his huge hand across my belly. The sensation comforts me.
“And this,” he says, “is why I will never hesitate to do whatever it takes.” His hands curve around my hips—careful, possessive, reverent. “You are my woman,” he says. “You’re carrying my child. And anyone who threatens either of your lives, or the life of my son, immediately forfeits their own life. On this, there is no negotiation.”
Part of me wants to argue, to push back against the darkness, the violence implicit in his words. Instead, I weave my fingers into his hair.
“I don’t need you to kill anyone else,” I say. “I just need you to be here. With me.”
He lifts his head, eyes burning, and presses a kiss to my stomach. “I’m not going anywhere. And neither are you.”
That’s exactly what I want.
CHAPTER 44
AMALIE
The clinic hardly feels like a clinic at all.
It’s more like a hotel, with soft lighting, pale wood floors, and calming art. Private entrance, private elevator. The waiting room has exactly zero other people in it. There’d been no indication in the lobby that there was even a clinic in this tower.
Of course, Roman would choose a place like this, somewhere discreet.
Once more, I’m seated on the edge of the examination table, paper crinkling beneath me. But this time is different because I’m with him. Roman’s seated in the chair in the corner of the room wearing an expression of intense focus, as if he’s about to take the test of his life.
He hasn’t said much since we arrived, which is concerning.
“You alright?” I reach over and touch his shoulder, bringing him back to the moment.
“Fine,” he says. He places his hand on mine, squeezing it in a way I didn’t know I needed. “Just fine. I am… eager.”
Always the master of understatement. I can’t help but smile.
