Page 8 of Sinful Bride

My Daphne. My queen. She’s still asleep, even through all our talking, and I don’t blame her. “Do you think you guys could?—”

“Already on our way out.” Sofi pushes a pouting Mak toward the door. “We just wanted to make sure you two actually eat something. We’re out in the lobby when you need us.”

“Don’t you mean ‘if’?”

She grins. “No, I mean ‘when.’ Welcome to parenthood, bol’shoy brat. It takes a village.”

I tuck Taty close to my chest and rise out of the chair. She starts fussing again, so I carefully rock her in one arm and let her grip my finger with the other. Just like I expected, she’s strong and relentless.

As slowly as I can so I don’t wake her, I sit down on the side of the bed closest to Daphne. This is the first time I’ve seen her since I lost my fucking mind over a week ago. Since?—

Shit. I can’t let myself think about that. Not right now, anyway.

All I need is to gaze at her face. To touch her hair.

It’s breathtaking how messed-up and perfectly right everything can be all at once. This is not how I pictured this to go, and yet it’s exactly what I’ve dreamed of. Holding our baby girl in my arms, feeling Daphne’s warm breath fan across my skin while she sleeps.

I’m a man determined to conquer the world.

So how is it possible that my whole universe is right here, in this small room?

3

DAPHNE

I haven’t been asleep for a while. I just want him to think I am. It’s probably the only way he’ll let me see him be real.

For once.

I was dreaming of labor and babies and dancing sheep when I felt like someone was near me. It pulled me out of my dreams until I was able to open my eyes.

Pasha crying and whispering over our baby is the last thing I expected to see.

My heart hurt watching him. I wanted to sit up and pull him to me, but I was too afraid of losing this moment. He was so, so angry with me when he left. Wouldn’t he return to being angry once he discovered I was awake?

When Mak leaves, Pasha moves from the chair to the bed and sits down next to me. I don’t know why… Oh. He’s stroking my hair.

That’s… fuck. I can’t fake it anymore.

I feign a sleepy yawn and peel open my eyes. “Hey.”

“Hi.” Pasha smiles at me. I’m… I’m not sure what to think about that. “How do you feel?”

I don’t know why I laugh. It’s an ugly snort that makes me regret moving because shit, my stitches hurt. “Like I just ripped myself in half. Worth it, though.”

It really was worth every second. She’s so beautiful. So perfect. I can hardly believe she came from me.

Pasha doesn’t stop caressing me. He’s all warmth and love and tenderness and I need to focus on something else before I break.

“When did you get in?” I ask.

He blows out a heavy breath. “I don’t even know. I was just… I was so focused on getting here. I wasn’t even paying attention to that.”

“You’re here now.”

“Yeah.” His smile wavers. “I’m here. Now.”

The air feels heavy around us. It’s thick with the thousand things we’re choosing to ignore, a thousand little and not-so-little things that need to be addressed at some point.

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