“I’m going to be a dad,” he whispered with amazement.
The statement felt odd falling off his lips. And really fucking good to say.
“Are you…happy about this?” Ellena asked hesitantly. “I mean, I know it’s a lot to take in. The timing’s not the best, and it means even more changes for us both. Since this is the only bedroom here, we’ll have to get a bigger place soon, which means you’ll have to give up your apartment and—"
He grabbed the back of her neck and slammed his lips to hers. Rolling them both over so she was on top, he kissed her until his lungs burned with the need for air.
“I’m not happy, baby.” He stared up at her. “I’m fucking ecstatic.”
Lips that were swollen and red from his kiss spread into the biggest smile he’d ever seen her wear. “Yeah?”
He kissed her again. “I love you, Ellena. Heart and soul, good times and bad.” Gabe blinked against the sudden moisture in his eyes. “You and this baby are my entire world, and I will spend every day for the rest of my life making sure you both know that.”
“We know, Gabriel.” Ellena pressed her trembling lips to his. “We already know.”
* * *
Adrian Walker stood across the street from Jenna Shaw’s apartment, as he had off and on for the past two months. Yeah, it was a total stalker move. He owned it…but he couldn’t bring himself to stop.
Somewhere along the way, what had started off as mere concern for a woman who’d been through a traumatic ordeal turned into a full-blown obsession.
And he was obsessed. In ways he’d never been before.
He ate, he thought of her. He showered, he imagined his hands were hers. He slept, he dreamed about her.
When all that shit when down with Radcliff, he’d waited to make sure Dawson was going to pull through, then he’d done like he always did. He’d vanished.
Adrian had damn near convinced himself he was fine going back to life as he knew it. No friends. No family. No one to talk to.
And then Ellena Dawson had called and invited him over for dinner. How she even got his number was beyond him. But she’d called. He went.
Things changed after that. A need deep inside him had begun to grow and fester until he found himself unable to fight it any longer.
He’d needed to see Jenna. Needed to see her beautiful face and that hair that set his libido on fire. Most of all, Adrian had needed to see her with his own eyes and know that she was okay.
The first night he’d come here, he’d had full intentions of knocking on her door. Just to check on her, he’d told himself. But something had stopped him.
Somethingalwaysstopped him.
Maybe it was the fact that he didn’t want to scare her. Remind her of everything that had happened.
Or maybe it was because a woman like her deserved a hell of a lot better than him. After all, his past was about as fucked as any one person’s could be.
And it’s not like they could have a real relationship, anyway. Not with Jenna or any other woman. Not when he’d made countless enemies all over the fucking world.
Adrian flashed back to the day Jason Ryker had first contacted him about going under. Ellena Dawson had been right when she’d said they’d used his sister’s disappearance and his need for revenge against him.
Wish I’d told Ryker and those CIA bastards to go to hell.
Shaking off the needless memory, Adrian waited until Jenna’s bedroom light turned off before getting into his car and driving away.
As he made his way to the tiny house he’d recently rented not far from the spunky nurse’s apartment—under one of his many aliases, of course—he began thinking of things he hadn’t allowed himself to dream about in a very, very long time.
A life full of choices and freedom. A life that didn’t revolve around fucking lies and death and destruction. A life filled with laughter and love.
Later, when he woke from a dream in which he had all those things and more, Adrian made a decision he hoped like hell he wouldn’t regret. Before he could talk himself out of it, he got dressed, grabbed his keys, and headed for Jenna Shaw’s apartment.
Nerves twisted in his gut for the first time since he could remember as he knocked on her door and waited. When she didn’t answer, he knocked again, hitting his knuckles against the wood a little harder.
