Page 65 of Bad Duke

“No more walks.” I made that point very clear last week. I don’t want her walking in the woods, even if she’s with me.

“And we’re not going to do anything that would put you into labour early, Dr. Stevens said the baby could come anytime from now, not that it should,” I remind her, pushing her plate of food closer in case she’s forgotten it’s there.

“Well, we better stop having sex then, because that’s also on the list.” She smiles at me cleverly, making me want to bend her over the chair and thrash her hot-as-fuck ass for giving me sass.

“Then we will just have to be more careful,” I point out, nodding my head towards her plate again. “The longer he remains inside you, the stronger and healthier he’ll be when he arrives.” Seriously, does she want me to chop the damn croissant up and feed her it?

“That's easy for you to say, you're not the one getting fatter by the day and needing to pee every five minutes. Which reminds me…” She rolls her eyes as she starts to drag herself back up.

“Where are you going?” I ask standing up myself, so I can help her.

“To pee,” she growls at me, making her way to the door.

I wait for her to come back, feeling bad that I put her in this condition and that she’s suffering. I’m trying hard to be attentative to her, but nothing I do is going to make up for the changes her body is going through.

When she eventually comes back and sits down I see the way she pouts and decide she needs something to focus on. I’ve had a surprise planned for her for some time now, one I was going to give her after the baby was born. But, today seems as good a day as any.

“If you eat that food, I’ll take you somewhere special,” I bargain with her, watching her eyes widen and an instant smile lift her cheeks.

“You mean, we’ll leave the house?”

“Yes, Olivia, we will leave the house,” I confirm, knowing that it’ll make me a nervous wreck; but we made it to the doctor’s yesterday and if the baby can come anytime, I need to be prepared to get her to the hospital.

“Where are we going?”

“It’s a surprise, and the sooner you eat that, the sooner you’ll find out.” I pick up her fork and hand it to her

* * *

“What is this place?” she asks, looking up at the three-storey, derelict building when I open the car door and help her out onto the pavement. I have Patrick and Levi in a truck in front of us, and Hugo and Spencer in one behind but I’m cautious about having her out here in the open. For all I know, Fox could be a fucking sniper.

“This is your dance school,” I tell her, watching all her confusion turn to shock as she stares up at it.

“My dance school?” she repeats.

“I bought it for you a few weeks ago. We can’t go inside, not until after the builders come in and do some structure work, but after that, it’s all yours. You can plan how you want it, from top to bottom.”

“Alex, this is too much.” She shakes her head and looks the happiest I’ve ever seen her.

“No, this is me proving to you that I would never want to change you. If I don’t have to worry about the clubs and the restaurants, I can play a bigger role in our child's life. I want to see you flourish, Olivia, just like you have these past few months, while you’ve been growing our child.”

“You’re insane.” She holds back her tears. “I’m a foundation grade teacher, Alex. I can’t have my own dance school.” She’s giggling now, and the sound of it makes my heart beat faster.

“Then become a higher grade teacher, hire higher grade teachers. You make this yours and you run it however you want. The estate can fund it, you can offer scholarships to kids who need them, just like Hilda did with you,” I explain, knowing how much that’s going to mean to her.

“Alex.” She bursts into tears and launches herself at me, kissing me all over my face and looking so ecstatic that, for a few blissful seconds, I forget there's a threat on her life.

“I have the blueprints in my office, back at home, you can start planning how you want it to look inside. This is your baby, it’s your project and I already know you're going to make it incredible.” I kiss her lips and usher her back into the car. Just a few minutes out in the open is longer than I deem safe and, as I slam the door and look over my shoulder, I can’t help sensing that we’re being watched.

* * *

All the excitement of seeing her new premises seems to have knocked Olivia out. She came up to bed early and since being close to her is the only place I want to be right now, I decide to go upstairs and soak in the bath. I’ve got so much on my mind. I’m still trying to find out who Fox is. I’ve got Kenzo on my back because supply isn’t coming in fast enough, and the fact that I know Olivia could go into labour, any minute, has me on edge.

Lying back in the warm water I close my eyes and try to focus on the bigger picture.

“Alex.” The door opens and when Olivia steps through it, seeing how her stomach sticks out of her open dressing gown makes all my stress seem worth it.

“You okay?” I check, as she steps towards me and slides it off her shoulders, standing in front of me naked and looking like some kind of fertile goddess from a painting.

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