Page 126 of Ivory Oath

The only reason I can survive a morning like the one I just had is because, deep down, I know Mikhail will take care of me. Everything he’s ever done has been to take care of me. Even now, when he’s ripped my quivering heart out of my chest and packed it up for boarding school, I know he’s only doing what he thinks is best.

I hate it, but I trust him.

I’m livid with him, but I love him.

He slides away and then fills me again. Each time he pulls back, he comes back even harder. Faster.

“You’ve got me.” His arms bracket either side of me, the muscles flexing and straining with every thrust. Mikhail rises over me, driving into me harder and harder. “Fuck, you’ve got me, Viviana.”

I kiss the flushed skin of his chest. I hold onto him with my arms and my legs, memorizing the way he feels. The way his weight pins me to the mattress and how he can stretch me to my breaking point, but make it feel so deliriously good.

I come hard, digging my nails into his back and burying my scream in his chest. Mikhail curses and falls, too. He grips my hips and spills into me, holding our bodies together until he slides out and grabs my face instead.

“I’m going to do everything in my power to protect our family.” His eyes are bright blue and almost pleading. He brushes tears from my cheeks with his thumbs, and I didn’t even know I was crying. “I’ve failed before—but I’m not going to fail with you and Dante and our new baby.”

“I know,” I sob, circling my hand around his thick wrist.

He kisses my forehead and whispers. “I’m going to take care of you.”

I believe him.

52

VIVIANA

I stop at the base of the stairs to adjust the sleeves of my dress.

Maybe it’s stupid to dress up for a doctor’s appointment, but I’m about to see my baby for the first time and it feels kinda like a job interview I can’t afford to mess up. Plus, almost as momentous, it’s the first time I’ve been out of the house in two weeks.

The last time I was out was to visit Dante at his new school. It took most of my energy not to weep every second we were there, and the rest of it was spent not wadding Dante up like a contraband movie theater snack and smuggling him out of the building in my purse.

I got to see Dante again last weekend when he came to the mansion to stay. For two days, life felt normal. We swam and colored and watched movies. I slept in his twin-sized bed with him and we made smiley face pancakes for breakfast.

Now, it’s been a week since I’ve seen him and two weeks since I’ve seen a human not under Mikhail’s employ—so, yes, I’m wearing a dress. And makeup. And I curled my hair.

Sue me for needing to feel normal.

It’s just a doctor’s appointment, but if Mikhail wants to take me out for lunch afterward, I don’t want to show up underdressed. He wants to get me an iced coffee and a pastry after a long, lonely two weeks in the mansion? More power to him.

I swirl my lips together, smacking my gloss into place, and walk casually into the kitchen…

To find Raoul waiting for me at the counter.

He has a set of keys in his hand. “Are you ready to go?”

I look around like Mikhail might be hiding in the pantry or dangling from the chandelier. “I’m ready, but where is Mikhail?”

The look on Raoul’s usually-stoic face says more than enough.

“He’s not coming,” I grit out. “Is he?”

“Something came up.”

I can’t tell whether Raoul is lying or not, but it doesn’t matter. Mikhail booked this appointment for me. He pulled strings to get me in with, in his words, “the best doctor in the city.” He swore up and down that I was going to get the absolute best care imaginable and he would take care of everything.

Apparently, that doesn’t extend to showing up for me.

“Does he know it’s a scan?” I ask. “Does he realize we’re going to see the baby?”

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