Page 79 of Ivory Oath

Ten minutes later, Dante is at the table munching away and I’m heading towards the dining room with my plate when the front door opens.

For a few minutes, I almost forgot. Taking care of Dante distracted me. But as soon as Mikhail appears in the hallway, it all rushes back.

I’m not pregnant.

I have to tell him.

It’s the first time I’ve seen him since we got out of the car three days ago and there’s a hollow ache in my stomach. It takes everything I have to keep hold of my plate.

“Hi.” I’m not sure how I force the single syllable out of my tight throat, but I do.

Mikhail looks surprised, like he didn’t expect anyone to be home. He’s half-turned towards the stairs, but he stops and looks back over his shoulder. “Hey.”

Don’t tell him.

You can’t tell him right now.

“Are you hungry?” I hold my plate towards him. “I can heat something else up for myself if you want to?—”

“I’m not hungry.” His jaw flexes and somewhere deep in my head, I wonder if somehow he already knows. It’s the only reason I can come up with why he’s looking through me like I’m not even here.

“You should eat something. You haven’t taken anything from the fridge in a few days. Working as much as you have been, you need to refuel and?—”

“I know how to take care of myself,” he snaps.

I slam my mouth shut.

His brows pinch together. I think he might feel bad, but before I can get a good read on him, a chair scrapes away from the table and Dante hurls himself down the hall.

“Daddy!”

For the first time since he walked through the door, Mikhail smiles. It’s tight and dimmed, but he ruffles Dante’s hair. “How’s it going, kid?”

“Can you read to me tonight?” Dante asks, ignoring the question. “I want you to put me to bed.”

Mikhail glances at his watch. That’s all he has to do for me to know he’s going right back to work. He didn’t plan on us being right here. He was going to slip inside, do what he needed to do, and leave again.

“I’ll put you to bed, buddy,” I offer, trying to let Mikhail off the hook. “It’s my favorite part of the day.”

I wink at him, but Dante frowns and tugs on Mikhail’s pant leg. “Pleeeease. You let me sleep with four stuffies and Mama only lets me have three.”

Mikhail looks at me. The longer he stays, the more likely it is that I blurt out the news. I sigh. “You can have as many as you want tonight, okay? Just let me do it and?—”

“I want Daddy!” he snaps.

Don’t we fucking all?!

I take a deep breath, ready to tell Dante that we don’t always get what we want. Life is hard. The sooner you learn that, the sooner it can beat you down.

Thankfully, Mikhail interrupts me. “I have time to put you to bed. I’ll shower while you eat and we’ll meet in your room.”

Dante does an actual happy dance back to the table to finish dinner. I can’t even blame him; I’d do a happy dance if I could get away from me, too.

By the time I turn back to the stairs, Mikhail is gone.

34

MIKHAIL

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