She didn’t respond to that. Instead, she continued to stare out the window.
I cleared my throat. “Are you hungry?”
She finally turned to look at me. “I could eat.”
“Come.” I nodded for her to follow me.
Quickly, she scrambled off the window seat and followed me downstairs in silence. I wasn’t sure what to say to her. I felt tongue-tied most of the time these days whenever I was around her.
“What would you like to eat?” I asked as we went into the kitchen. I glanced back at her to see her frowning and holding her stomach.
“What is it?” I immediately went back to her as she winced and leaned against the kitchen island.
“They’re kicking,” she said breathlessly. “My ribs.”
Instinctively, I reached out and placed my hand over her stomach just in time to feel a hard kick.
Despite my feelings for Dominic, I could not keep the smile from teasing my lips.
“They’re like their father. Strong,” I said. “Dominic was much the same when Anna was pregnant with him.”
“Really?” She breathed out.
I felt the babies move beneath my hand again.
“Yes.“ I nodded. “Of course, he didn’t have a Russian trying to hog all the space.”
She placed her hand over mine. I looked up from our hands to her pretty face, my heart catching.
“You cared when Anna was pregnant with Dominic?”
I pulled my hand away, went to the fridge, and pulled out a few varieties of jam before grabbing peanut butter and some bread.
She sat at the kitchen island, her blue eyes on me.
“Matteo?” she called out as I made us sandwiches. “Why are you so afraid of feeling anything?”
I slid a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to her.
“Feelings lead to danger, little princess. It’s best to ignore them.”
“By ignoring them, you miss out on a lot of good things in life,” she replied.
I said nothing and bit into my sandwich as she watched me. The girl was unnerving. I expected Dominic and the kings had their hands full with her. I assumed she had moments where she was one hell of an adversary when she wanted something.
She finally gave up and bit into her sandwich, chewing slowly and rubbing her swollen belly.
I hated that she was so damn sweet and seemingly innocent. She was a monster like me, though. She knew how to lure her prey in. She did it with her pretty face and probing questions.
“I cared when Anna was pregnant,” I said softly.
She looked at me with wide eyes.
“I cared,” I repeated. “I feared that he would be my father’s child, though.” I paused before continuing. “What’s worse is that I feared he’d be mine.”
“Why?”
I sighed. “Many reasons. For one, I was afraid of what it meant if he were mine. My old life, with a family already, would be over. Delilah would not want me. She’d never said as much to me, but I could only imagine the pain she’d have been in if she knew I had another child. I didn’t want that for her. I didn’t want her to live in fear because of my family. In a way, I was glad she disappeared and was safe. The other reason was because of how Dominic was conceived.”
