Page 104 of Queen’s Gambit

“I’m sorry. I’m ruining our last night together, aren’t I?”

“No, you’re not,” I said, standing to come around and kneel beside her. “You could never ruin a thing. I’m worried, though. You’re lost in thought, and ever since Christov showed up here, you’ve been guarded.”

Ana bit her lip. “You knew he was here?”

“Of course I did, but not until after he was escorted back to his plane. Why didn’t you tell me? It’s been days, and you haven’t said a word.”

Sighing, Ana ran her fingers down my face.

“I should’ve known you’d find out somehow. I just didn’t want you to do something rash because he showed up to ruin this little bit of time we have.”

“If by rash you mean kill him…then I would’ve. Every day that he breathes is another day that I worry about you. I know living with your father is hard, but at least you’re safe. Once you’re forced to move in with that fuckpot….” I shook my head, the anger making my hand curl into a fist, but Ana giggled.

“Fuckpot, I like that. I wanted you to chase him down, kill him, and let this nightmare be over. But if you had killed Christov, my father would just marry me off to someone else. We have a plan, and as hard as it will be to marry that asshole next month, it’s still safer than running right now. If we conceived our baby this week, then everyone with us here would be at risk when my father found out I was pregnant. There is no telling what he may do. I just couldn’t take the chance that he might harm you or our child.”

I put my head on Ana’s lap, and she slowly ran her fingers through my hair. How had we gotten here? Was there anything that I could’ve done differently? Yes…I could’ve forced Vadin to sign the contract before her party. It was such a blatantly stupid mistake. My father told me that the hardest lessons were learned by doing them and failing. Wise words spoken, but not heard. There had been a harder lesson than that one mistake. I’d let my excitement cloud my judgement, but never again.

“You’re going to be an incredible mother,” I said.

“You really think so?”

“I do, and I know we did it. I have a feeling it’s a girl, and she’ll be as beautiful and tenacious as her mother.”

When I looked up at Ana, her eyes glittered with unshed tears.

“You’re happy with a girl?”

Pushing myself up, I gripped the arms of Ana’s chair as I stared into her eyes.

“Of course. If our daughter is even a fraction of the woman that her mother is, then she’s going to be a force of nature in this world. She’ll be our little queen, our reginette.”

Ana kissed me softly as she caressed her stomach.

“She’ll be a threat if we pull this off. Her life will be coveted and always in danger.”

“Then we’ll do everything in our power to protect her and ensure she grows into the woman she’s destined to be.”

“So, you’re saying you’ll name her as your heir?”

Nothing could wipe the smile off my face as I thought about doing just that.

“I’d be honored to let my daughter take the throne. Who says a Don of Dons must be a man?”

Sliding my hand behind Ana’s neck, she shivered as I kissed her.

“I love you, Ana, and I already love our child.”

“I love you more,” she said, her voice cracking with emotion.

“Impossible,”

What started as a little joke had become so much more. It had grown into a declaration that nothing would come between us.

“I have a surprise for you,” I said, standing up and offering her my hand.

She quickly wiped away a tear before accepting.

“What do you have up your sleeve,” Ana asked, and I couldn’t wait to see her face.