He shook his head. “You make it sound so simple.”
“It is simple.”
Julius said all in one breath, “Until we find out who the father is.”
She shrugged. “Then we don’t find out until we’re ready, until we know the results won’t change anything.”
“What if that never happens?”
“Then he can decide when he wants to know, if it even matters to him at that point.”
My eyes widened, winded, and Julius mirrored my composure.
“He?”
She bit back a smile. “Yeah… we’re having a boy.”
CHAPTER
TWENTY-NINE
KRAVEN
Hearingthose words for the first time was probably the most surreal experience of my life.
“The doctor told me after Kraven went after you. I was waiting for the right moment and… it just came out.”
“Does that mean you’re keeping the baby?” I asked, needing confirmation.
Julius still hadn’t said a word. He just sat there staring at her stomach.
“Yeah…” she rasped, grabbing her stomach. “I can’t imagine a life without him in it now, just like I can’t imagine a life without either of you in it. This is how we work. We’re a team, and I don’t ever want to lose that. Do you understand me? So you can either accept that, or you can walk away from it. From me…” She hugged her stomach. “From us.”
Julius’s eyes snapped to connect with hers. “I’m not walking away.”
“Good,” I stated. “She’s ours. They’re ours.” The words came out quieter than I expected.
Julius didn’t react immediately. I watched him closely.
Waiting.
He stared at her, the way she was standing there with her arms on her stomach, then he peered at me. After a few seconds, he slowly nodded. It wasn’t in a forced or reluctant way…
It was in a real one.
ISLA
I felt it the second it shifted. It wasn’t in a loud, dramatic way, where it was all perfect after that. Neither of them was fighting anymore. At least not like before. The realization hit harder than any words they could have shared. I’d been stuck between them for so long, and now they were pulling me in two separate directions.
I don’t have to choose.
My breath slowed as I looked at them. Julius’s jaw was still tight, like he was holding on to something he didn’t fully understand yet. Kraven was still steady, as always, but his eyes were sharper now. Focused on a way that told me everything I needed to know.
My chest rose as I looked between them again.
“I’m not choosing.” My words came out clear, stronger than they had been before.
Julius closed his eyes like he already knew what I was going to say next.
