“I don’t know if I’m worthy of your trust,” she says.
“Shh don’t say a word,” I say.
“I have to.” She shakes her head. “All my life, I had no one but myself. I grew up in foster care, I took care of myself. I never thought I would have someone who would love me more than life itself.”
“Well, I do,” I say “It didn’t matter that you couldn’t tell me the truth yourself. I just knew what was going on.”
“I had nothing left,” she says. “I couldn’t even defend myself.”
“You didn’t have to.”
She gives a broken little laugh. “That’s not how it felt.”
“I know.”
Her hand grips my shirt. “I was going to tell you. About the baby.”
“I know.”
She freezes.
I take the diary page from my pocket and show it to her. “I found this.”
Her face changes. Hurt first, then shame, then relief so deep it almost breaks her again.
“She’s yours,” she says.
“I know.”
“I tried…before.”
“I know you did.”
Her eyes fill. “I was scared.”
I nod and keep my hand on her cheek. “I should have made it easier for you to tell me.”
She shakes her head, but I don’t let her take all of it.
“No,” I say. “Listen to me. You were alone. Pregnant. Hurt. Then you walked into my family and all of us made everything worse. You don’t have to apologize for being afraid.”
She closes her eyes, and tears slip down her face. “I love you,” she whispers.
My chest tightens. “I love you too.”
Her eyes open.
I say it again because she needs to hear it clearly. “I love you, Sienna. I loved you before I knew the baby was mine. That didn’t change anything. It only gave me one more person to love.”
She covers her mouth with one shaking hand, but the sob comes through anyway.
I pull her close and kiss her hair.
Behind me, Maksim makes a rough sound.
I look back. He’s still breathing, but barely.
Sienna follows my gaze, then looks away quickly. “Is he dead?”
